Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Appeals to Credibility or Character [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility and Character (Ethos)" on page 182 can you recognize in your text?

The items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility and Character (Ethos)" on page 182 that I can recognize in my text are, References to credible sources, Information about the author's expertise, and Acknowledgement of counterarguments and refutations to those arguments.

How and why would the author(s) use these strategies?

The author used references to credible sources in order to make his claims more reliable. If he did not support his claims with evidence from credible sources, then the context would seem all opinionated. The readers might question where he got the information from. Next, the information about the author's expertise made him credible because he is a very educated man who works in a school of medicine for the government. In other words, he is credible enough to be trusted by the government to work for them. He used this by stating facts and writing a journal that informed readers. The readers will think his education will make everything that he says credible. Lastly, he used acknowledgement of counterarguments and refutations to those arguments which made him credible because he was not biased or one-sided. He was able to deliver bother perspectives on sugar without seeming totally one-sided; even though, he is trying to voice that artificial sweeteners are bad.

How do these strategies affect the audience’s perception of the author's/authors' credibility and character?

These strategies affect the audience's perception of the author's credibility and character because they offer more information about the topic and promote him as someone of great knowledge. This makes the audience feel that what they are reading is valid. If someone uneducated and opinionated wrote this journal, they would not feel compelled to read or believe anything that this man would be saying. However, the audience is supposed to feel compelled to believe that the author knows his material and that he approaches it in a professional manner.

How does the use of these strategies impact the effectiveness of the text’s overall message?

The use of these strategies impacts the effectiveness of the text's overall message in a huge manner. If the author did not employ these strategies, the audience would have no urgency to listen to the author's message. The author's education, professionalism, and approach is what allows the reader to believe that the message that the author is trying to get across is acceptable.

Does/do the author(s) seem to have any biases or assumptions that might impact their credibility?

Yes, the author has some bias toward artificial sugar being unhealthy because majority of the source was written about how it is harmful. I think he could have balanced out the benefits and harms more. However, he was trying to get the message across that artificial sugars are harmful. Therefore, this bias takes a little away from the text, but it helps bring his message across. In other words, no real harm is done.

Appeals to Emotion [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on pages 182-3 can you recognize in your text?

The items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on pages 182-3 I can recognize in my text are level of formality and shocking statistics.

What emotional responses is the author attempting to create?

His level of formality is trying to bring an emotional response that is captivating for the reader. He is very formal in how he presents his information due to his use of statistics and information. However, he compels the reader to read more because he writes in a formal but easy to read manner.  Through his use of shocking statistics, he wants to wake up society to the harms of artificial sugars. Most people perceive the benefits only, but not the harms that the chemicals can impose. Therefore, these statistics serve as means to make the audience agree with the harms of fake sugars and not eat them anymore.

Germeraad, Gert."Portrait of a Man." 4/15/11 via Wikimedia Commons.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

What is the actual result?

Personally, I felt the need to stop eating fake sugars because there are way more negative statistics than positive ones. Also, the level of his formality makes him seem like he actually cares about mankind as a whole and not to only convey his message. I feel this way because reading his source made me feel compelled to follow his lead and acknowledge the information that he provided.

Are these emotions effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

These emotions are effective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation because they convey the message of emotions that he wants to convey. However, people nowadays do not care so much about artificial sugars because it has come so readily available to society. In other words, this single article has not had a huge impact the the audience or situation as a whole.

How do these emotional appeals affect the credibility of the author(s) or the logic of the text?

These emotional appeals make you question the credibility of the author because nowadays people are not really focuses on the harms of fake sugars. Many people continue to care. However, it does not remain to be as large of a debate as before. Also, I think that the logic is not flawed in this because these issues continue today and more people are effected than before. However, many people just choose not to acknowledge the harms associated with fake sugars. There needs to be more of an urgency created for the audience to wake and to feel a greater need to not consume fake sugars.

Appeals to Logic [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 can you recognize in your text?

The item on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 I can recognize in my text is statistics.

What response is the author attempting to create by employing these strategies?

By employing the use of statistics, the author is trying to provide some actual evidence in order to back up his claims and other information that he has presented. He wants the audience to realize that this is a real issue that is occurring and that this needs to be addressed on a larger scale.

What is the actual result?

I think the statistics remain to be a very useful way to convey his message. I think the statistics and the main component of his work that allows the reader better insight and information on the issue at hand. I think if the author better explained the statistics instead of listening them, then he could have created a bigger response toward the importance of these statistics.

Are these strategies effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

I believe that this strategy was somewhat effective because most of his work consisted of statistics and information. Without statistics or information, his work would lack credibility, emotional response, and understanding. These statistics provided a base ground for the audience to grasp the enormity of this issue of fake sugars occurring.

Reflection

I read Olivia Wann's blog post. She utilized direct quotations, which I felt like I did not need because I was able to analyze the instances that he used his strategies very well. For her, direct quotation worked because she did not thoroughly analyze the text like I had. I think my post reflected that I spent more time than Olivia because mine was longer and had more examples. I felt like her post seemed rushed.

I also read Allison Perger's blog post. Her author utilized way more emotion than logic. It was the complete opposite strategy that my author used because he used way more logic than anything else. I think that my author used this approach because he needed to state the information to make the people more informed about the topic. However, Allison's author wanted the people to feel differently about family matters which is a very emotional topic. I think that Allison explained everything in great detail which was similar to mine.