"Doping" or "juicing" with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) has been a hot button issue in the world of sports for over a decade, and has been shoved back into the spotlight again with the recent unwinding of the Lance Armstrong controversy along with the guy who claimed he personally injected PEDs into big-time baseball players such as Alex Rodriguez.
April Ashby, a Marquette Law student, writes about her firm disapproval of steroids in sports. In one of her initial paragraphs, she states how her stance on doping is one of the reasons she went into law at Marquette in the first place (Ashby's blog). By doing this, she makes an immediate connection, and appeal to her own credibility on the issue. Ashby goes on to use strong and emotion-invoking vocabulary and facts, such as scary health issues related to steroid use, to further inspire and persuade her audience to take her side (although, incidentally also the popular side) on the issue.
Assistant Sports Editor, Hayden Goethe, wrote a blog regarding PED use and the implications it has on baseball players' careers in the MLB (Goethe's blog). He doesn't utilize the appeal to pathos as Ashby did, but he carries with him an implied appeal to ethos, in that he is a sports editor. He strictly states facts followed by his analysis. Personally, I find articles strictly appealing to logos, with some inherent ethos appeal there too, the most persuading. I feel I can trust a writer more if they're not trying to manipulate me with my emotions, but both writers gave persuading cases for what they were trying to each get across despite convincing the audience through different methods.
This is a great analysis of the blog posts. However, I'm curious - what kind of facts does Goethe incorporate? Statistics, statements from authorities, etc.
ReplyDeleteperformance enhancement drugs obviously didn't start surface now. if the dangers were that deteriorating, which i think it is, but it's not enough to stop athletes from using them. Everything just depends on your own personal conviction, whether to use it or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that articles that use logos are the most persuading, especially with a topic such as steroids. Any passionate person can try to persuade you through pathos, but logos and ethos give you both credibility and reliability.
ReplyDeleteThe analysis that you did of these two blogs is very strong. I agree with you in the fact that the use of logos is more persuasive, because it allows you to create your own opinion.
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