Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in "Why Doctors are Sick of Their Profession"

In this post I will analyze rhetorical strategies used in "Why Doctors Are Sick of Their Profession".

Branson, Bill. "Doctor Consults with Patient". November 1990. Public Domain.

Appeals to Credibility or Character

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility and Character (Ethos)" on page 182 can you recognize in your text?

The author uses tone and word choice in the article.

How and why would the author(s) use these strategies?

The author would use this to make the reader feel a certain way and possibly make them agree with him.

How do these strategies affect the audience’s perception of the author's/authors' credibility and character?

The tone and the authors word choice would only help the authors credibility because it makes their opinion seem stronger.

How does the use of these strategies impact the effectiveness of the text’s overall message?

The tone and word choice of this article definitely impacts the overall message of the text. The word choice helps mend the article in a certain way so that it manipulates the reader into agreeing with him because his argument is so strong.

Does/do the author(s) seem to have any biases or assumptions that might impact their credibility?

The author is a practicing physician so he is speaking from personal experience. However their could be bias associated with his own experience in the field that could effect his credibility. 

Appeals to Emotion 

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on pages 182-3 can you recognize in your text?

The author uses repetition of key words and statistics to appeal to the readers emotions.

What emotional responses is the author attempting to create?
What is the actual result?

The author is trying to create a negative emotion in his readers. A lot of people see being a doctor as one of the best jobs but the author uses statistics showing that doctors are not happy doing their jobs. I know that when I read this article I felt bummed out because I realized that maybe becoming involved in the medical world isn't right for me.

Are these emotions effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

I think that they are pretty effective. They were effective on me and I consider myself part of the intended audience.

How do these emotional appeals affect the credibility of the author(s) or the logic of the text?

I think that the statistics that the author used only help his credibility. There is nothing more concrete than providing cold hard facts. He is basically presenting his ideas and backing it up with logic, that can be hard to disagree with.

Appeals to Logic

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 can you recognize in your text?

The use of statistics and expert opinions are used in this text to appeal to logic.

What response is the author attempting to create by employing these strategies?
What is the actual result?

The author is trying to create a sense of reality in his writing. If you told someone that being a doctor sucks, they probably wouldn't believe you. What the author of this article does is make a claim and then make that claim a reality by proving it with supporting statistics. He also brings in a separate opinion from another doctor who doesn't enjoy his occupation. The author gets results from this approach because it is hard to reason with logic and expert opinions.

Are these strategies effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

These strategies are very effective because they present logic and like I said earlier it can be hard to argue against logic. After I read this article it did have an impact on me especially when he showed just how many doctors had low moral. 

Reflection:
Morgan's article had to do a lot with statistics as well as mine. I found that statistics appealed to both logic and emotions. The facts were very logical and are often the most shocking part. Isabel and I differed because my article used statistics to appeal to the emotions where as hers did not.