The Rhetorical Analysis Of Two Texts Essay

, Research Paper

Sitting with her child in front of the television, Maomi Wolfs is astonished to see the content of her three-and-a-half year olds favorite cartoon. If you pay attention to the dialogue, the images of the value-laden messages, you ll get a queasy, dawning sense that your kids have entered into a cartoon moral warp, where everything that s cool and inviting to children is being given and genuinely perverse underlay. (42) In her article, The New Kiddie Porn , she describes cartoon shows that appear on the popular T.V. channel Cartoon Network and isolates the ideas of sexual suggestiveness in them. In an article by Dale Kunkel and Kristie M. Cope, the issue of sexual content in television is also addressed but in the form of research instead of personal experience. In their article, Sexual Messages on Television: Comparing Findings From Three Studies , the authors discuss three different studies on television programs and how much sexual content is found. This article is clearly an academic study due to the way that it is presented to the reader. Sexual suggestiveness, activities and behavior are analyzed by the way they appear in the media. In both of these articles, although structured in different ways, we see the effects of media, specifically sexual content, on people. In Wolfs article, the main focus is on children, whereas in Kunkel and Copes article, the focus is on adolescents.

The authors uses of ethos are formed in different ways, but still give the reader a feeling of confidence in the writer. In her article, Wolfs describes her experience with cartoons. She says, When I was growing up, the worst villains were Natasha and Boris, in Rocky and Bullwinkle; domestic strife was Wilma Flintstone in a huff if Fred forgot their anniversary-and all was forgiven with a kiss by the time the credits rolled around. (42) She gives the reader some information about what time period she grew up in. She also tells of her children and her experiences as a mother. She uses personal experience to develop her ethos. She says, It s the first choice [cartoons] whenever I need a quick pass of child-free time to make a phone call. (42). Her target audience, which is working parents with young children, is greatly affected because they can relate to putting their kids in front of the T.V. so that they can have child-free time . A strong reason that working parents are her target audience is because of the magazine that this article appears in. GEORGE, founded by JFK JR, is a political magazine which working people would read.

Wolfs shows that she has done her own research as well. She gives quotes from David Weiss, from the publication department of the Cartoon Network series Cow and

Chicken. This shows that she has examined the cartoons carefully and has interviewed important people to the cartoon so that she can get her opinions confirmed. She also refers to a website (www.lionlamb.com) which has involved the government in this issue as well. The fact that she includes the website, assures the reader that she is stating a valid fact and allows the reader to check her sources. Showing that she has done her own research helps her convince her target audience of her credibility.

In their article, Kunkel and Cope do not directly give information about their background, but by the research that is shown, the reader develops a sense of confidence in the writers of this article because the facts that are presented seem very accurate. Graphs and charts are included and the article s structure explains the experiments and their results in great detail. The writers show their experience and dedication to this topic to develop their ethos. Their target audiences vary. The article is for parents but also for learned scholars who are interested in the factual evidence that they have found. They give accurate examples of real television shows such as Seinfeld and Almost Perfect. Also many statistics are given to prove that they have looked into this topic in great detail. Two Americans under the ages of 20 become infected with HIV every hour (Office of National AIDS Policy, 1996) In the face of these sobering statistics, it is important to consider the extent to which media portrayal engage in or over look concerns such as these, which are very serious issues in the lives of young people today. (360) In both of these articles, the authors uses of ethos are formed in different ways, but still give the reader a feeling of confidence in the writer.

In both of the articles, the ideas of logos and pathos are also used. In Wolfs article, the predominant idea is pathos whereas in Kunkel and Copes article, the main idea is logos. Each article is trying to prove the authors point, but one with many statistics and the other uses more personal experiences.

Wolf s use of pathos is very dominant in her article. She is relating to her target audience and trying to build their anger at what is shown in cartoons today. When describing the cartoon, I.M Weasel, she describes a baboon as having an exaggerated red distended rear (2). This line is an example of her use of diction as the main strategy of her article that builds emotion in the readers. She goes on to describe parents and the view that cartoon shows had of parents when she was younger and the views of them now. She writes, To add to all this inappropriate sexuality and eroticized violence aimed