Rhetorical Analysis
Chris Porter
ENG 105-14
January 29, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis
Spandex is No Good!
In the essay, “What You Eat is Your Business”, Radley Balko writes to tell his audience about how the government is trying to control people’s health and eating habits by restricting food, taxing high calorie food, and considering menu labeling. Balko includes in his essay that government restricting diets and having socialist insurance is not helping the obesity problem, but it is only making it worse because it not allowing people to take their health in to their own hands so they have no drive to lose weight or eat healthy. In his essay, Balko is targeting society, including those who may be obese, he is trying to show them that the laws our government is making is not helping anyone because obese people are not becoming any healthier and taxpayers are still paying for health care for those who do not even care about their own health. He wrote this essay so our society could be informed about really was happening with health care regarding diets, food, and paying for medication for those who are unhealthy. When did the government think it was okay for them to become part of our personal lives? If they were not involved, the problem would resolve itself. In Balko’s essay, he uses the emotional appeal to relate to his audience’s emotions. He uses comments about how we pay taxes that pay for unhealthy people’s insurance and health care, when they do not even care about their own health. An example of how he uses emotional appeal in his essay is “ We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s. Your heart attack drives up the cost of my premiums and office visits. And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” (159). This quote would be considered emotional appeal because he is talking about how our hard earned money is paying for someone’s
ENG 105-14
January 29, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis
Spandex is No Good!
In the essay, “What You Eat is Your Business”, Radley Balko writes to tell his audience about how the government is trying to control people’s health and eating habits by restricting food, taxing high calorie food, and considering menu labeling. Balko includes in his essay that government restricting diets and having socialist insurance is not helping the obesity problem, but it is only making it worse because it not allowing people to take their health in to their own hands so they have no drive to lose weight or eat healthy. In his essay, Balko is targeting society, including those who may be obese, he is trying to show them that the laws our government is making is not helping anyone because obese people are not becoming any healthier and taxpayers are still paying for health care for those who do not even care about their own health. He wrote this essay so our society could be informed about really was happening with health care regarding diets, food, and paying for medication for those who are unhealthy. When did the government think it was okay for them to become part of our personal lives? If they were not involved, the problem would resolve itself. In Balko’s essay, he uses the emotional appeal to relate to his audience’s emotions. He uses comments about how we pay taxes that pay for unhealthy people’s insurance and health care, when they do not even care about their own health. An example of how he uses emotional appeal in his essay is “ We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s. Your heart attack drives up the cost of my premiums and office visits. And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” (159). This quote would be considered emotional appeal because he is talking about how our hard earned money is paying for someone’s