Persuasive Article

http://www.dui.com/dui-library/SimpleBlogCatSearch?category=Victims

I chose to do an article on drunk driving because it is an issue I feel very strongly and personal about.

The article "Grassroots activist turns personal tragedy in National Movement," By Rosanne Skirble in 2006 is a great example of a persuasive article. The article is filled with a number of examples of ethos, logos, and pathos. Like Martin Luther King's article we discussed in class, this article uses a personal story and event to appeal to the reader and get a serious point across to the audience.
Martin Luther King uses a number of personal examples and facts to get his point across. He does a great job captivating the reader and drawing them into the article so they can understand what he and others like him are going through. The article I chose on the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD, does the same thing. The article starts off by introducing the reader to Ms. Candace Lightner and her grief and personal tragedy. The article immediately draws the reader into the article much like Martin Luther King does in his article. Both articles allow the reader to feel the same pain and grief that the writer is going through and draws many of the same emotions (anger, dissapointment, outrage, sadness etc. ).
In the MADD article the writers use of logos, ethos, and pathos allows for the reader to not only better understand the article, but feel a personal connection to the article and Ms. Lightner's plight.
A good example of pathos from the article is in the first paragraph. "My daughter Carrie was 13 and she was killed by a multiple repeat offender, (a) hit and run drunk driver. And that started the whole movement. I was so angry." This line definitely appeals to the audience's emotion. Almost everyone has experienced some kind of loss in their life, whether it was a friend, family member, or beloved pet.
The writer also uses a number of examples of logos in the article to appeal to the audience's logic. "In 1980, the year Carrie was killed by a drunk driver, 27,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes. " This statement alone is enough logic for the audience to understand the drastic effect drinking and driving has on people.
"Our strategy basically was to deal with the issue on the local, state and national level," she says. "On the local level we would ask city councils to implement task forces in order to deal with the problem on the local level. At the state level we would look at legislation and we would look at state-governor-appointed task forces to deal with it at the state level. And at the national level, of course, we looked at it in terms of the Presidential task force." This excerpt from the article is another example of logos, but I also believe it is an example of ethos as well. The statement definitely appeals to the logic of the reader, but also shows the appeal of Ms. Lightner and what she would like to see happen in the future regarding drunk driving in our country.
I feel that this article is a great example of persuasive writing and in many ways, is very similar to Martin Luther King's letter.