Write Rhetorical Essay

Sample Outline- “We Must Take Better Care of the Environment”

EN 121

I. Introduction

· Thesis: In this opinion article, staff columnist Lexi Hooten uses the rhetorical devices logos, comparison, and ethos to convince students at the University of Alabama that they should make more of an effort to help clean up the environment.

II. Body Paragraph One: Logos

· Topic Sentence: The first rhetorical device that Lexi Hooten uses is logos, which she employs to reveal to the reader just how much of a negative impact the careless habits of humans have on the environment.

· Claim: Hooten uses statistics to prove that humans have careless habits when it comes to the amount of plastic waste that they produce.

· Evidence: “According to Nicholas Mallos, director of the Ocean Conservancy Trash Free Seas Program, every year 8 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans.”

· Explanation: Hooten uses this statistic to show that the issue of plastic waste is a serious one that is not to be taken lightly. This quote shows that humans use so much plastic that they don’t even have a way of disposing of it properly; consequently, a lot of it ends up getting dumped into the ocean. Thus, by providing her reader with this upsetting statistic, Hooten uses logos to show her audience that they need to change their habits to be more environmentally friendly so that they can reduce the amount of plastic that is carelessly thrown into the ocean each year.

III. Body Paragraph Two: Comparison

· Topic Sentence: After using logos to convince her reader that there is a serious environmental crisis that needs to be addressed, Hooten then uses another rhetorical device, which is comparison, to persuade her audience that they should adopt more environmentally friendly practices.

· Claim: Lexi Hooten compares the environment to personal living spaces to help the audience realize how important taking care of the environment is.

· Evidence: Hooten says we usually keep our living spaces clean by doing things like vacuuming and taking out the trash.

“Our living space is the entire world, which needs to be kept clean as would our homes”

· Explanation: By comparing the environment to our own personal living spaces, Lexi Hooten brings the issue to a more personal level, which helps the reader to better understand the problem. It also helps motivate the reader to want to take action because they can relate to not wanting to live in a home that is filthy and disgusting. Hooten says that if you would not want to live in a home that is messy and filled with trash, then you should not want to live in an environment that is messy and littered with garbage. Thus, by using comparison, Hooten helps her readers to better empathize with her environmental issue. As a result, these readers are then more likely to become environmentally friendly individuals.

· However, this comparison might not be as effective if the reader does not care about keeping a clean living space.

IV. Body Paragraph Three: Ethos

· Topic Sentence: Similar to how Hooten uses logos and comparison to show the reader that taking care of the environment is a serious issue that humans should attend to, Hooten uses a third rhetorical device, ethos, to give her audience advice and motivation for making these environmentally friendly changes.

· Claim: Hooten talks about big companies that have taken steps to become more environmentally friendly to convince her audience that making these changes are something they should easily be able to do.

· Evidence: Starbucks has banned plastic straws and Smoothie King banned Styrofoam cups. Hawaii has outlawed the use of plastic bags and only allows shoppers to use reusable or paper bags.

· Explanation: Hooten discusses restaurant chains such as Starbucks and Smoothie King because they are large companies that produce a lot of waste and therefore have a large impact on the environment, so if they recognize that there is a serious environmental crisis that needs to be addressed, then individual people should also recognize this issue and attempt to take steps to fix it. Furthermore, it’s usually difficult for big companies like these to make and enforce these types of environmentally friendly changes, so if they are putting in this much effort, then we should all be able to put in some effort to become more environmentally friendly. Similarly, Hooten brings up Hawaii outlawing plastic bags for the same reason. She’s saying that if an entire state like Hawaii can take these steps to help the environment, then it should be very easy for individuals to do the same.