In his article, Plight of Jailed Mom, Dan Haley, a columnist from the Denver Post, has only one page to convince his audience that parents should be allowed to choose what school their child attends. With only one page, Haley uses many strategies, making every word count, to create a convincing argument to those who disagree, a reassuring article to those who agree, and raise awareness to those who do not know of the issue. For those unaware, a woman was jailed for falsifying records and deceiving public school administrators so her child could attend a better school than the one in district in which they lived. Haley explains that while the nation is thinking about education reform, something to think about is allowing parents to have the choice of which school their children receive an education. In order to present a worthwhile argument, Dan Haley first establishes personal credibility, and then provides the reader with logical and pathetic proof within his article The Plight of Jailed Mom to reach out to America for education reform.
A writer’s first job must be to establish ethos. After all, why should any reader listen to just some random person, respect the argument and give validation to the opinion? Once a writer has established credibility and a good reputation, an audience immediately and inherently respects the article itself. To establish an invented ethos, rhetors must create a persona within their writings. While contemporary rhetors are not as blatant about ethos as ancient writers, there are still clues within the pieces, which lend themselves to establishing credibility. Dan Haley, a columnist, beside the fact that he has been writing for the Denver Post, a well-known and credible paper for a while, his articles are well written and sound intelligent. It is obvious that Haley does his homework and pays attention to details in a ways that shows the reader he knows what he is talking about. In his article The Plight of Jailed Mom, Haley shows his academic credibility by speaking intelligently and correctly about the President Obama’s stance on wanting to focus policy on education in the State of the Union Address. Haley also explains current policies in the state of Colorado regarding education. Currently, Colorado houses an open-enrollment law, which allows parents to pick the school their child attends, no matter what district, as long as there are openings. With this, Haley informs readers of the current state laws, as well as establishing credibility and trust with his readers.
Another way Haley establishes his ethos is by securing the goodwill of his audience. In this article, Haley does a few strategic and subtle things to connect with his readers further. Haley creates in intimate distance between himself and the reader to establish a closer identification and to add to the possibility of persuasion. He does this in a few ways. The first is with the use of first and second person. In this article, Haley writes, “This should have been the moment we demanded dramatic change”. By using “we”, Haley makes a connection with the audience and creates an identity of being a part of the public in which writes to. Attitude and personality in this article, as well as small conversational words and qualifiers, helps to close the gap of formality, allowing for a connection with the reader. After explaining the situation where a mother was put in jail for trying to get her kids into a better school, Haley writes, “Yeah, go ahead and read that again”. This not only gives emphasis on the fact that a mother was jailed for trying to better her kids education, but it also shows Haley’s personality. Another, subtle yet affective way this article makes a further connection with the reader is with the use of qualifiers. When Haley writes, “Jailed Mom’s darkest day, I’m guessing, came earlier this month…” the article becomes more conversational, bridging a gap between a college lecture piece and a coffee shop exchange with a friend. By establishing a connection with the audience, the rhetor can be trusted by the public.
However, a rhetor’s ethos is just one piece of the puzzle. While a rhetor must establish ethos, a good reputation goes nowhere with an audience without a solid, logical piece to accompany the ethos. While Haley’s argument is important, the Presidential State of the Union Address gave his argument more context. While education reform in America has been an ongoing concern, Haley used kairos as a way to enhance the urgency of his argument. As the president reintroduced this issue into the minds of America, Haley attached to this to further challenge the American public on education while it was fresh on their minds. With the nation talking about education reform again, it gives people a reason to care about what Haley has to say in this article.
As the basis of his argument, Haley builds off of the foundation that this nation believes that all children deserve a quality education. From this commonplace, Haley can start with his readers all on the same page, in which he can launch his argument. From this commonplace, Haley uses inductive reasoning to carry his readers through his logic. Starting with the specific example of the “jailed mom” having to take drastic measures to ensure her child has a quality education, then extending it to the nation’s educational problems as a whole and what should be done about them. Starting with the major premise that everyone deserves a quality education, Haley then begins to string together a few minor premises that parents feel responsible for the education of their children, and not all students are receiving a good education. This all leads to his conclusion that parents should have the choice of which school their child attends, not being confined by district borders. Worried that the reader may focus on the wrong thing, Haley even pulls the reader away from a the thought that the mother did commit the crime of deceiving public officials, so that he could combat any flaw with his own premise and argument. Haley says, “You can question whether she deserved a felony conviction or not, but to me the bottom line is you shouldn’t have to break the law to get your kid into a better school”. With this, Haley insures that readers do not get stuck on a flaw with the Haley’s reasoning by acknowledging and drawing attention away from a debatable issue and focusing his readers on the problems with education.
This article however, would not be complete without the use of pathos. With such a hot topic issue regarding the children of this nation, Haley tries to pull on the emotions of his readers. Haley reaches parents who all just want the best for their kids. Asking his readers to think about what they would do if their children were in a failing school. While some are concerned about the “tiger mom” who is obsessive about their children earning top marks at school, Haley shows this same desire for her children to succeed as the mom who was jailed. By taking matters into their own hands, should a parent be jailed trying to combat inequality in opportunity? Haley uses this as a way to confront his readers to think about this subject as the nation moves forward with education reform.
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