The subject matter of A Universal Declaration on Animal Sentience: No Pretending is itself loaded with pathos, and Dr. Bekoff builds a lot of ethos for himself while he appeals to what he assumes is a common sentiment between himself and his audience. He expresses a frustration with the opposing side in his first paragraph to show his audience that this matter is important to him and many others. By showing his personal investment in his topic, he is pleading with his audience to relate and feel the same urgent need for action. He also makes a bold rhetorical move in calling out his audience for a dishonest ignorance: he claims that the audience already knows and believes that animals are sentient, but is only pretending to not be sure. In the process of calling out his audience, he provides the solution of doing what is right and acknowledging what is right and true—an argument dependent on a sympathetic audience.
Do you think that the tone of this piece, and that claim that the audience is willfully ignoring the truth about animal sentience might also have lost Bekoff some readers?
ReplyDeleteAlso--can you guys please put your texts in the sidebar? It would really help the reader to be able to access the texts with ease. If you need help with this, please ask tomorrow!
I feel like he may have lost some of his audience because he assumes a lot about the average person. Some people may not feel the way he is implying
ReplyDeleteI think he does a good job at creating the pathos pathway because he did appeal to people by pleading with them, however, I agree with Karima when she says that it could lose some of it's value because of how much he did assume about the average person.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting that in addition to expressing his frustration, he even goes to place that frustration on the audience and blaming them for their ignorance
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