REHUGO Analysis - Government

Emilia Perez

Mr. Soeth

English 3 AP

February 16, 2011

REHUGO Analysis – Current Event

A. “The Joys of Being a Single Parent” by Clark A. Thomas and “Single Parent Households - How Does it Affect the Children?” by Kristin Ketteringham

B. Articles cited below

C. Thomas claims that being a single parent brings parent and child closer together and strengthens the relationship. Ketteringham, however, states that having only one parent negatively affects the child and leads to a higher chance of a life of crime.

D. Evidence:

a. Thomas talks about his own experience as a single parent therefore establishing ethos and how he believes the hard times only make him and his child closer together. He mostly uses pathos, saying that single parents should enjoy every moment they can with their children and asking the readers if they are satisfied with the relationship they have with their own children.

b. Ketteringham, on the other hand, uses a largely logos approach and uses statistics to prove her point. She states “children from a single-parent household account for 72% of teenage murderers, 60% percent of people who commit rape crimes and are eleven times more likely to exhibit violent behavior.” She also establishes ethos when she suggest organizations, like Parents Without Partners and Solo Parenting Alliance, meant to help single parents.

E. Rhetorical Strategies:

a. In the article, Thomas does not use a lot of rhetorical strategy however he does use a little bit of process analysis to explain how the first step to having a strong parent/child relationship is the child accepting “the way things are”, whether it be because of divorce or unexpected death. He also uses juxtaposition to show the two exaggerated ways a parent/child relationship can be: “smooth as butter” or “rocky as the rocks in your backyard”.

b. Ketteringham uses exemplification to prove her statement that, in the US, single parent households are associated with criminal activity with her previously stated statistics. She also uses classification and division to organize her article into sections like General Effects of the Single-Parent Household, Single-Mother Households, and Advice for Parents and Children of Single-Parent Households.

F. Being a single parent is a very difficult task. It’s very hard to juggle work and kids without help and is not something that everyone can do. While sometimes being a single parent can lead to having a closer relationship with children, it more often than not leads to some kind of neglect, mostly from having to support a household by oneself. Some people can handle the pressure of being two parents in one but it takes a lot of hard work and help from friends and family.

Citation:

Thomas, Clark. “The Joys of Being a Single Parent” associatedcontent.com. 2/16/11. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/217282/the_joy_of_being_a_single_parent.html?cat=25

Ketteringham, Kristen. “Single Parent Households - How Does it Affect the Children?” associatedcontent.com. 2/16/11. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/297615/single_parent_households_how_does_it_pg4.html?cat=25