In the article “America’s Real Criminal Element: Lead” by Kevin Drum, he describes crime rates and how they relate to use of lead in gasoline and many other things. The audience Drum seems to focus on primarily is parents and potential parents. Since they usually have full-time careers, parents may not have enough spare time to pore over the raw data themselves. Even if they did have time, the average parent of children might not have the scientific knowledge necessary to turn the raw data into meaningful information, therefore, parents are more likely to trust Kevin Drum’s conclusions. Drum appeals to his audience how credible he is by arguing using ethos, but does he use ethos appeal effectively on parents?
Although his sources seem to be good, the way he portrays the information is convoluted through his language. The author mentions scientific jargon again and again such as “Pb(CH?CH?)?” and “5 ?g/dL” (Drum 18, 34). Since people like parents are not seasoned chemists, they probably think these unfamiliar words and symbols are worthy of credibility and thus believe what he has to say. If Drum were to aim this information at scientists or college students, it most likely does not work as well because they already are very familiar with the meaning of the word or have time to research about it later to learn the meaning.
He consistently…
Authors use ethos in order to show their audience that their point of view is worthy of taking a look at and to earn credibility. Before starting to write, writers should know which particular audience they want to inform, so they can use proper words to use for their audience and effectively persuade them. In Kevin Drum’s article, he uses a lot of ethos appeal as well. He refers to a lot of famous people or publications as argument to show his audience why they should believe him. In doing so, it is easier for the audience to believe in his…
