What I found interesting about how Rifkin’s argument led the readers into believing that his conclusions is the best one. Rifkin uses his introduction to make you curious about what the article is about, and he doesn’t state his main claim till the last few paragraphs of his piece. I understand that his claim is a very strong and controversial one so I understand why he chooses to do it this way. I enjoyed how it felt like he isn’t telling you how to feel about the situation before giving you the facts. Rifkin does the complete opposite, he gives you all the incorrect thoughts about animals not being like humans and provides you with facts that prove that animals are more like humans than you think.

 

A main claim that Rifkin uses is that animals are self-aware. The author uses two examples to show that animals have individuality, one of the examples was that this orangutan from the Atlanta Zoo using a mirror to adjust his sunglasses. Another main claim is animals have  conceptual abilities. His evidence was a study done by Oxford University, and an example of the use of an abstract thought. The example Rifkin uses is a gorilla found in Northern California that has learned “1,000 signs and understand several thousand words,(paragraph 8)” this shows animals can think complexly, learn, and memorize.

 

The types of evidence Rifkin uses are examples, expert research results, and expert quotes. When the author is convincing the readers that animals can mourn, Rifkin uses an example of elephants mourning over their loss of their kin. He says that, “Elephants will often stand next to their dead kin for days, occasionally touching their bodies with their trunks.(paragraph 11)”  He has many expert research results including Oxford University, Purdue University, and Gettysburg College. Rifkin also uses an expert quote to start the audience thinking about how we think about how we justify the treatment of the animals.

 

Rifkin uses rebuttals and exemplification to persuade his audience. He starts the majority of his major claims with a false thought about animals and then showed the audience that that notion was wrong with his evidence. One example of this is when Rifkin argues about animals having their own identity. He starts the paragraph by saying most scientists think that animals aren’t self-aware. Then goes on to state two examples to persuade his readers with facts and logos.

 

Parry’s main argument in “The Art of Branding a Condition” is that healthcare marketers market medical conditions to make the treatment more profitable. What I find that is useful about the text is that I am now able to recognize when they are trying to persuade me into buying their product. A thing that I find is interesting is learning about the markets for treatments that were once not very profitable, but have now became so big that there are many brands, like mouthwash and heartburn.

 

Parry suggests that healthcare marketers use scare tactics to make people want to buy their product. They make the problem sound more dangerous and in more urgent need of a solution than there really needs to be. Listerine persuaded customers by using a more serious sounding condition to create more sales and in the following four years they saw a major increase. I haven’t recognized any similar methods of persuasion used.