Rhetoric in “Animal Rights” Every day, more and more people are becoming vegetarians, or at least are considering the idea. Why? One reason is animal rights. One woman, Marcia Clemmitt, wrote an article about this topic named “Animal Rights.” In this article, published in 2010 in the CQ Press, she argues that while society has come a long way with regulating the treatment of animals, there still remain issues with animal rights. Clemmitt constructed her reliability with reputable sources, citing conclusive facts and statistics, and effectively touching the readers’ pathos. In her article, Clemmitt starts by introducing the topic and touches her claim that animals need more rights. She cohesively transitions to the overview as well as provides …show more content…
Her facts are full of emotionally-charged words and phrases that create a sympathetic image: “On hog farms, sows kept for breeding purposes ‘lie covered in their own urine and excrement, with broken legs from trying to escape or just to turn, covered with festering sores, tumors, ulcers, lesions,” “dead or dying creatures discarded like trash,” and “hatcheries discard millions of unwanted male chicks every year…. I was at a hatchery once and watched living chicks … sent into a manure spreader to be spread on a field as manure.” The image she evokes of the animals effectively introduces the argument and its seriousness. Her goal is to make the reader feel sympathy for the animals. Clemmitt appeals to pathos, or to the readers’ feelings of frustration and anger with animal injustice. Through and through, Clemmit effectively persuades her readers of the unfair injustice of animals. She effectively strengthens her argument using ethos, logos, and pathos. She builds her credibility, uses credible sources, as well as appeals to the readers’ emotions effectively. Marcia Clemmitt’s article ultimately persuades the reader of animal injustice and poses a topic of