REHUGO 1

Shelly Kaur

Mr. Soeth

English 3 AP

January 26, 2011

REHUGO Analysis-Reading: Essay

A. "In Search of the Good Family" by Jane Howard

B. Argument

In the essay, Jane Howard argues that everyone needs a family. The family does not have to be through blood line, it can be friends or any other outside contacts. It is part of human nature to have someone by our side. We need to have groups around us whether they are our blood-related family or people that we tend to consider as our family.

C. Evidence

Howard uses ethos for evidence in presenting the argument that everyone needs someone by their side as family. In the passage, the author mentions Susanne Langer (page 287), Michael Novak (page 287), and novelist Richard P. Brickner (page 288). Bringing up these experts in the essay, Howard establishes credibility. When a quote from someone like a novelist is incorporated, it increases the chances of readers to trust the writer and be persuaded for the argument.

Another evidence that the author uses to support the argument is pathos. This type of evidence is used to appeal to the reader's emotions. In paragraph two, it states that "we must try to transform our friends into our relatives." This statement shows us that when our blood-related family is not with us, we need to find friends that can be considered as our family. This is an emotional appeal because when there is no family on our side, we feel lonely. In order to get rid of the loneliness, we try to bring new people in our life and start to accept them as our family.

D. Rhetorical Strategies

The rhetorical strategy used in the essay was repetition. This can be seen in paragraph four when the author repeats "we must." This repetition effects the tone of the essay. By having "we must" repeated in that paragraph, it changes the tone to being more direct and demanding. It is a call to an action in which it is stating that we must get to know more people around us. The repetition also makes a certain point more clear by mentioning it over and over again. It forces the reader to think more about it than otherwise.

Another rhetorical strategy used by Howard is definition. In the beginning of the essay in paragraph three, the author mentions the different types of friends we come across in life. Specifically, she talks about "ascribed friends." These friends are given a definition in the passage as "those we happen to go to school with, work with, or live near." Further on, she states that these friends are those that we tend to forget "unless by some chance they and we have become friends of the heart." This paragraph gives a definition of the type of friendship there exists. The effect of this rhetorical strategy is to clarify to the reader what the writer is exactly talking about. The definition classifies the type of friends there are that we encounter in life.

E. Citation

Shea, Renee Hausmann., Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin. Aufses. "More Working Parents Play "Beat the Clock"" The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing and Rhetoric. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.