Emma Harrell
Apps of Composition 4
September 23, 2015
Rhetorical Analysis essay In the article by The Editorial Board from The New York Times, “The Pointless Banishment of Sex Offenders”, the author goes into detail showing that it really is not necessary to banish all sex offenders. The Board goes further to talk about how residency Laws “drive tens of thousands of people to the fringes of society, forcing them to live in motels, out of cars or under bridges” (par 3). There is a huge variety of offenses that could classify someone as a sex offender, so the court system, and society should not group them into one large statistic. The author is very effective using multiple techniques including ethos, logos, and pathos to prove that not every one of these offenders should be banished from society.
Ethos is the appeal to ethics, and it uses credible recourses to get to the point. In this editorial in particular, it is used to show that people we look up to are cracking down on sex offenders, and the idea is not, in fact, just an idea. “Lately, judges have been pushing back. So far in 2015, state supreme courts in California, Massachusetts and New York have struck down on residency laws” (par 4). The author uses judges as a reliable source to make the reader understand just how seriously these things are taken, so that they can see that it is unnecessary.
Another technique the author uses that is very beneficial to the readers understanding of the concept is logos. This is a literary technique that appeals to logic; it is helpful in this editorial, using facts and statistics to make the point believable. Talking of a predator waiting to take away a child, the author writes “Over the past two decades, that scenario has led to a wave of laws around the country restricting where people convicted of sex offenses may live- in many cases, no closer than 2,500 feet from schools, playgrounds, parks, or other areas where children gather” (par 2). This gives the reader information that will make them think about how truly unfair it may be for some of the offenders, that really haven’t committed a crime that is even in relation to children. Pathos is a technique that is used to appeal to emotion. The editorial is directed to parents, it uses children to make the parents reading it connect with the author. It also puts people in the sex offender’s shoes, and helps you understand what they may be going through. An example of pathos in this article is in the very beginning, drawing the reader in; “It’s a chilling image: the sex predator skulking in the shadows of a swing set, waiting to snatch a vulnerable child” (par 1). The author also uses multiple tone words with the same effect, such as “predator” and “abused”. Tone words help to exaggerate the point, and also make the reader feel for either the child or the offender. When you feel bad for someone, it usually will make you feel obligated to help them. The author uses tone words and the literary technique pathos, so people will connect with the offender in some way, or want to do something to help keep them from being banished from society. The effect of these will make the reader take sides with the author. The Board uses ethos, logos, pathos and tone words to get the point across that not all sex offenders are treated the same, and their punishment should fit their crime. They are very effective in their use of these to prove this, using the techniques to either make the reader know that the author is getting the facts from credible recourses, therefore making the point believable, or pushing the reader to feel for the offender. “Not all people who have been convicted of sex offenses pose a risk to children, if they pose any risk at all” (par 13).