Rhetorical Analysis of Text

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Shannon Steffen
Berrett
English 1010
October 1, 2014
Sadistic Cruelty to Animals Should be Punished
By Temple Grandin
I felt that the author fully used the rhetorical triangle in this text. There were
plenty of examples of ethos that gave the paper and author credibility. I felt that
there was plenty of logic used throughout. This text was also dripping in pathos,
as Im sure you can guess by looking at the title. Grandin makes you feel for the
animals and helps you become more aware of how real of a problem animal
abuse is. I really enjoyed this descriptive and educating piece.
I think that the first example of logos was the main title of the text. Sadistic
Cruelty to Animals Should be Punished. It says it all right there! I dont know of a
single person who would disagree with that statement. Throughout the paper it
states instances of animals being mistreated, and Grandin simply states that its
not right and that there should be consequences for people who do those kinds
of things. I also feel like the reference to Andre Robinson is good logos. Robinson was charged for animal abuse after he posted a video of himself kicking a
stray cat into the air.
There is great ethos in this article. The fact that it is published with the New
York Times means that its credible! Right below the article title where it says info

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about the author, it says that Temple Grandin is a professor of animal science at
Colorado State University. He also wrote Animals Make Us Human: Creating the
Best Life for Animals. In the middle of the text, Grandin also refers back to when
he was working with various meat plants to help them find humane ways to kill
the animals. I think it goes to show that the author obviously has the credibility to
be writing this paper. He has years of experience in this field.
There author used very descriptive words in this text to really speak to the
readers. I feel like Grandin was very articulate when it came to using pathos. He
wanted to make the readers understand the depth of the problem of animal
abuse without overwhelming them. He used words like sadistic, cruel, evil, and
revolting. I feel like he really sent the message, you really feel sad for the animals
and I personally felt a little angry. It was over all a great use of words to spark
emotions and to really tell a story.
This article, written by Temple Grandin, had all three sides to the rhetorical
triangle. He used pathos by being descriptive so that his readers would feel emotions while reading. There was logos right from the get go and throughout the
text. There was also a great deal of ethos, Grandin has plenty of credibility from
working with meat plants to being a professor at Colorado State University. It was
a well executed article.

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Grandin, Temple. "Sadistic Cruelty to Animals Should Be Punished." The New

York Times. The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.