A Florida Thing Under Rhetorical Analysis

Argument:

What are the consequences of lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18?

Claim: Lowering the drinking age will help young people in the long run.

Reason: Lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 will allow young people to learn from their mistakes earlier when they will have less of an impact on their future.

Audience:

Parents living in Florida who drink, but don't want their kids to drink until the age of 21.

Goal:

To persuade these semi-conservative parents to vote for a lower drinking age.

How:

Logos is evident in the paper, even if it is not always directly supporting our reason. The logical argument was made that if people over the age of 18 are legally considered adults, can serve in the military, and start a family, then they should be allowed the right to drink alcohol. Facts were also given regarding the percentage of Americans who drink alcohol, proving that it is part of our culture and thus acceptable in a sense. It is justified by the majority.

Effective:

I found this essay to be ineffective as the enthymeme was unclear. Each paragraph presented a different argument and there was little to no connection. The evidence was lacking regarding our initial reason. The best parts of the paper were that the tone was conversational and by the end of the paper the voice was more unified, but this did not make up for the lack of clarity in pupose.