Rhetorical Analysis
Texting and driving is one of the most debated topics in society. Whether it affects all people or whether or not you’re just good at multi tasking. Yet, all people would come to the agreement that it is one the most dangerous activities to participate in and ends millions of lives yearly. "Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks” published in New York Times by Matt Richtel and "LOL? Texting While Driving Is No Laughing Matter: Proposing a Coordinated Response to Curb this Dangerous Activity" by Alexis M. Farris are two articles that present variations of ethos, pathos, and logos and make identical arguments claiming that texting and driving is not only dangerous but is shaping the way Americans live. Both articles illustrate several accounts on the dangers of texting and driving and how the activity could potentially be stopped proving both articles to be well accounted for. While Matt Richtel and Alexis. M. Farris both reach the conclusion that texting while driving has a negative impact on people, Farris' article is far deeper and less biased then Richtel's who relies more on personal inference rather than factual evidence. Matt Richtel begins his article “Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone risks” with a personal account of a young man getting his first car and within the first couple of months of driving ending another’s life because of texting and driving. Richtel, conveys the dangers of texting and driving through interviews with teenagers and adults. Richtel’s use of this technique in writing makes his article personal and rather informal and directed to a more general public audience by interviewing people who are guilty of texting and driving making the situation more relatable. People such as Tad Jones who is the floor leader in the Oklahoma house who stated “I’m on the phone from when I leave the Capitol to when I get home, and that’s a two hour drive, a lot of people who travel are used to using the phone” (Richtel, 2). Ricthel’s main
Cited: Farris, Alexis M.1. "LOL? Texting While Driving Is No Laughing Matter: Proposing A Coordinated Response To Curb This Dangerous Activity." Washington University Journal Of Law & Policy 36.(2011): 233-259. Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Nov. 2013. Richtel, Matt. "Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks." Www.nytimes.com. New York Times, 19 June 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.