Rhetorical Analysis Of Life As We Know It
Life as We Know It Rhetorical Analysis The rhetorical audience in the extract of the article is focused towards those who are activists for people with disabilities because they have the power to be persuaded to strike change. Berube’s emotional excerpt about his son Jaime sends the message of the difficulties it takes to raise a child with down syndrome, yet at the end of the day it is still Jaime and he is still his son. The rhetorical opportunity Berube offers his audience is the idea of treating everyone equally. Regardless of how certain people are, disabled or not, they are their own unique individuals who should be treated as such. The emotional statements that Michael Berube includes in Life as We Know It such as, “Almost as a form of emotional exercise, I have tried, on occasion, to step back and see him as others might see him, as an instance of a category, one item on the long list of human subgroups,” provides the audience with specific ways to sympathize and also persuades the audience to be more open to change. Berube’s story mainly uses emotional means to persuade and convey the message to the reader to change the way people view others and to try to continue changing others to see people as Berube sees others. Berube also compares his two children, Jaime and Nick, and explains first hand how much more difficult it is to take care of Jaime, and how much more time is needed to control Jaime, yet in the end he still views Jaime as Jaime, not as a disabled child. Regardless, just as any parent does, Berube explains how sometimes he and his wife question, “where we’re doing enough for him.” Berube, as the rhetor, uses multiple ways to convey the message to the audience and is able to persuade many people to change their views and current lifestyle. In some eyes, linguistic diversity in the United States is a good thing, but in my opinion an English-only legislation would be most ideal. Not only does it create a national language for America, but it