Crafting the blade for the bearer

I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we've listened to a speaker who wasn't very highly dispositioned towards our viewpoint and in turn when we heard this, we weren't very keen to listen to his. A vital part of rhetoric is the ability of the speaker or writer to connect well with his audience. They have the job of not alienating us as readers. U.S.A. Today's article on illegal aliens has the difficult task of appealing to a very large audience, many of whom will not be favorably disposed towards this particular argument, but the writer does an excellent job at writing a one-sided argument and not alienating his audience.

He starts by appealing to the educated workers and normal laborers, "Carlos Nieto holds a degree in engineering from a university in Mexico but earns far more here, laying bricks in "McMansions," than he would at home."(par. 1) This citation of an experience allows educated Americans to think about a couple of things. First it allows them to wonder what they would do if they had studied, received a degree, and then found they could make more money doing honest labor in another county. Secondly it appeals to the educated workers because they see that these illegal immigrants are actually honest workers not some scoundrels on the street.

Next he asks the question, "Who will do the hard jobs?"(par. 6) This time he appeals to the audience's sense of comfort. He tries to connect with the educated class again and perhaps the people who wouldn't want to do this kind of hard labor. On the other hand, he doesn't appeal to the working class of America, many of whom believe that they would do those jobs if they had an opportunity.

All in all the author does a good job with his article, but on such an issue it is nigh impossible to completely satisfy the demands of his entire audience.