Kunal Goyal 1

Kunal Goyal
Aleksandra Kasztalska
ENGL 106i
6 May 2014
Rhetorical Analysis Draft 3

Gillian Goodmans article A Girl Who Codes attempts to spread awareness of
importance of Computer Science among girls. The author condemns the lesser involvement
of women in the growing field of Computer Science and advocates that women should also
start coding instead of inclining towards professional streams that do not pay well. In the
beginning of the article, the author introduces Nikita Rau who started XX Hackers, a high
club for girls interested in learning Computer Science. Then, gradually Goodman expresses
her dissatisfaction with the performance of women in Computer Science industry. She
discusses various factors involved in this situation and steps that are being taken to improve
it. The author simply tries to convince that her audience especially young girls to not see
Computer Science as a hard subject and that the field has great opportunities for all of them.
She persuades women to join Computer Science industry because of its immense growth
potential and promotes more initiatives like Girls Who Code throughout the country. The
author successfully convinces the audience regarding her opinion about the involvement of
women in computer science by using ethos and logos very effectively with a conversational
tone.
To begin to analyze the argument discussed, one must first understand the authors
background. This is important in developing ethos, and establishing the authors credibility.
Gillian Goodman is a self-employed writing and editing consultant to various magazines and
journals. Her graduation in Psychology makes her an expert in interviewing people and
getting to know the facts, which also gets reflected in the text. In her article A Girl Who
Codes, she uses ethos very effectively by introducing other credible people as she
interviews in great detail like Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code,(p. 137)
and Saujani is in the middle of an (eventually unsuccessful) campaign for New York's
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high-level public advocate position(p. 137). This information about the authors various
sources helps the reader to trust the statistics given by them and helps the author to support
her argument. Throughout the article, Goodman affectively makes appeals to logos to keep
her readers interested and to support her argument. She uses facts to show the factors
responsible for low interest of girls in Computer Science and to convince girls that CS
industry will prove to become the largest employer in future years. For example, In 36
states, computer science counts only as an elective credit, not a math or a science (p. 160)
and generating more than 2 million views in the 24 hours (p. 160). These facts helps the
author prove her opinion in a big way as she gives her readers a view of the present scenario
of women in computer science industry.
As the main audience of the text is young girls, the author constructs her claims on
simple language with a conversational tone to keep the students interested in the article. But
at the same time, she keeps the language formal to support her argument. For example,
The potential recruit is a beginner, and she seems hesitant(p. 160) and If his cause is so
self-evidently right,(p. 139). Due to Goodmans firm belief that girls should start coding,
she also uses convincing and forceful words like should and can more often. For
example, she writes, anyone can(p. 160), can prove(p. 160), should really(p. 138),
should learn to code(p. 160) and should push(p. 160). There is also a tone of casualness
in the article as the author uses phrases like I shouldnt be afraid(p. 160) and sounded
right to me(p. 160) throughout the article. She uses long and simple sentences because of
the use of lots of connectives like and and then. For example own, then something (p.
139) and but polite and enviably(p. 139) .The author also makes a lot of impact on the
readers, as she is herself involved in the conversation with others and is experiencing the
whole situation. For example, the author says, If his cause is so self-evidently right, I ask
Partovi, what's getting in the way? (p. 139) and I start to mention that I met Rau the day
before(p. 139). Thus, her perspective helps the readers understand the situation and get
convinced about her argument.
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The author uses rhetorical strategies in her article to keep the text interesting like
similes, descriptions and exemplifications. For example, she compares Computer Science to
a combination of sciences and liberal arts subjects as she describes Computer science: "like
a creative mix"(p. 138). With this, she tries to target girls who are creative with interests in
science and persuades them that in Computer Science they can express their creativity in the
form of various computer graphics, games, and social media. The author tries to keep the
reader interested by using descriptions of various situations that she encounters while
interviewing people. For example, the author writes at this moment, drinking applekiwi-
strawberry juice out of a plastic cup. We're in the cafeteria of Bronx High School of
Science (p. 138) and Club-fair day is winding down, and a shy girl approaches the XX
Hackers table. The potential recruit is a beginner, and she seems hesitant(p. 160). The
author also makes use of exemplifications to provide cases for her points in the essay like
opposite of the sort of computer programmer you would imagine: a guy with pasty skin
who hasn't showered in days, sitting (p. 139). This way the author tries to make the
readers visualize the situation, which helps her in building her argument.
Goodmans article reveals her strong perspective that girls are equally competent to
boys and therefore should pursue each and every profession equally especially computer
science. The author organized her points in perfect order to convince the readers about her
opinion and used the language effectively. She uses forceful language and promotes
programs like Girls Who Code to encourage girls to go in the field of computer science
because of its huge growth. In the end, the author with her conversational and simple tone
successfully convinces all her readers about the importance of girls to aim for computer
science professions.
Bibliography
Goodman, G. (2013). A Girl Who Codes. Fast Company magazine, December 2013/January
2014, 132-138, 160.