Morgan 1

Madelyn Morgan

Professor Miss

UWRT 1104

February 6, 2017

Rhetorical Analysis

Analyzing ones best work is something that is important to enhance one's

understanding as a writer. After I analyzed my critical thinking paper on a subject that I sided

with, I learned a lot about myself as a writer. Throughout my writing, I am trying to persuade the

audience to get their child vaccinated. However, I did not realize how much my primary

discourse, audience, and my inner self influenced the way I write.

In the beginning, I define the word vaccination to educate the audience. Right

off the bat, I realized how my morals influenced the way I write. In the quote, Children are

ultimately the ones that are affected by their parents decision because they would be the ones

getting sick (Morgan, 1), I use persuasive words to target the audiences emotional perspective;

intending the audience to be a parent. This relates to what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did in his

powerful letter to the clergymen because he focuses on the clergymens emotions by calling out

their Christian faith (Pg.,3). Persuading the clergymen's emotion resembles pathos. I did not

realize I also used concepts like pathos in my writing. This shocked me as a writer to think I used

the concept unconsciously. I believe that the values that my parents set in me influenced how I

went about triggering the parents emotions. I grew up in a good family, with great parental

guidance, where I was disciplined, took to church every Sunday, and loved unconditionally.

Though this guidance, I was taught that it is ultimately the parents fault if their child got sick

because they did not get their child vaccinated. The reason being because my parents required
 Morgan 2

me to get vaccinated. Next, I go on to talk about the positives of vaccinations. To demonstrate

my research, I use multiple credible sources that strengthened my argument. Using credible

sources allowed me to make my paper more powerful.

I continue to use statistics in the third paragraph to look at the negatives to vaccinating

children. I begin the paragraph saying Although there are not nearly as many cons as there are

pros to getting a child vaccinated, some do exist (Morgan. 2). This was not a great transition

sentence because I start off the paragraph in a way that reflects my position. The position I took

was influenced by the morals that I learned though my primary discourse. For example, one of

the negatives to vaccinate a child, is that in religions such as Christian Scientists and Amish,

they believe that since vaccines provide an unnatural way of immunity, it is morally wrong

(Morgan. 2). Since I am a Christian, I do not believe this to be the case. However, if I was part of

the Christian Scientist or Amish faith, I would have approached the entire paper from a different

perspective. My perspective was also influenced by who I am as a person because it affected the

way I looked at the subject. The fact that I am a woman, played a big role in my support of

vaccinations because women are prone to think about the safety of a child. If I was a male, I may

not have made it a big deal to convince someone to get their child vaccinated. Although, this may

not always be the case. I should not have assumed that mothers worried more about their

children, than their fathers. I should have portrayed this differently in my writing by not focusing

on how a mother would feel, because some would say that this could be judgmental. To be an

effective writer, it is important to suspend judgment in the topic you're discussing. Suspending

judgement allows you have more power in your writing because it allows you to look at all

perspectives before making your stance.

 Morgan 3

I continue my next paragraph addressing many conflicts dealing with schools and

vaccinations. Currently, most schools require their students to get vaccinated before they can

enroll in that school (Morgan, 3). This presents a hard decision for the parents that do not

believe children should be vaccinated. In my conclusion, I was very general and feel that I did

not leave the audience wanting to learn more. I had trouble putting things together and wrapping

them up and I feel that I struggle with this a lot throughout my writing but can improve with

practice.

Since academic discourse is one of my secondary discourses, I do not feel that I am as

effective as I am in my primary discourse. In my primary discourse, I am very comfortable in

what I say and do. However, in my academic discourse community I struggle to find confidence

and thus, I mushfake my way through it. Just as I do in all my academic papers. I try to say what

my teachers expect me to say. Ever since I started writing papers, I struggled to do my best

because I always compared myself to others. Through this analysis, I found encouragement

because I realized that I was effective in my purpose and that having my own language is

acceptable. I feel that everyone has the right to their own language, rather than comparing their

language to Standard English. In America, it is portrayed that the more powerful you are, the

more you are grammatically correct. I believe that this is not always the case. I find inspiration

in James Gees article Literacy, Discourse and Linguistics, when he talks about two different

women that respond to the same question differently. He finds that the woman who told an actual

story and not what the interviewer wanted to hear, should have gotten the job (Pg., 6). Through

this, he points out that it is not always about the grammar you use, it is about the context of what

you say and where you say it. The woman that said what the interviewer wanted to hear was
 Morgan 4

mushfaking her way to get the job. I find that as a writer, I do this quite often because I am

constantly trying to impress my audience.

Overall, through my rhetorical analysis, I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I did not

realize how complex writing was nor did I realize all the influences that contribute to who you

are as a writer. These influences can be from the writer's primary discourse, the audience, or the

writer's inner self. Since everyone's influences are different, it makes for a wide spread of unique

languages.
 Morgan 5

Works Cited

Gee, J. P. (1989). "Literacy, discourse, and linguistics: An Introduction." Journal of Education,

17, 5-25.

King, Martin Luther Jr. Letter from Birmingham jail. In Why We Cant Wait, ed. Martin Luther

King, Jr., 77-100, 1963

Morgan, Madelyn Luise. Should Your Child be Vaccinated. Essay. UNC Charlotte, Charlotte.

2016
 Morgan 6

Works Cited

Gee, J. P. (1989). "Literacy, discourse, and linguistics: An Introduction." Journal of Education,

17, 5-25.

King, Martin Luther Jr. Letter from Birmingham jail. In Why We Cant Wait, ed. Martin

Luther King, Jr., 77-100, 1963

Morgan, Madelyn Luise. Should Your Child be Vaccinated .2016. Charlotte, North Carolina