Rifkin Mini Essay

Rifkin Mini Essay

  • Submitted By: elenabond
  • Date Submitted: 11/24/2011 2:42 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 539
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 1

Rifkin Mini Essay
In his article, “A Change of Heart About Animals,” Jeremy Rifkin states facts that the difference between animals and humans is less than we think. Rifkin’s purpose is to inform people that animals are similar to us and they should be treated the way we would want to be treated. Throughout the article Rifkin uses examples that compare animals to people. He attempts to persuade the audience by creating emotion through pathos rhetorical technique. However, article contain many rhetorical techniques include pathos and logos. If he can convince the audience of the similarities between animals and humans, then the inhumane treatment of animals would seem more horrific.
Rifkin likely knows that his reader came to this article with assuming that difference exsist between humans and animals. Through the article he changing readers perspective on animal rigths. He doesn’t tell us his own opinion, but gives a reader possibility to deside his own judgments based on the article. Which is very important rhetorical technique.
In his paragraphs he gives different examples for each animal. Rifkin, after describing one animal, describes another one, relating them all to the man issue. He describes many situations where animals display human-like behaviours which indicate intelligence and emotions. For example, in the first part of the text he explains that “elephants…stand next to their dead kin for days” and that a gorilla can speak sign language and that the orangutan has a similar self-awareness. As a human he also gives many examples of emotions and abilities that animals have been 
known to express that should convince us to see them as more than just 
animals. In each example, the reader can see how much there is in common between humans and animals.
Rifkin provides examples of unlikely advocates of animal rights such as McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC. More likely many readers are surprised to see fast food restaurants name in the article. Rifkin...

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