Hall Page 1 Patricia Hall Mrs.

Harris Ramsby English 1010 14th October 2013 Rhetorical Summary for Choosing Death by Nicholas D Kristof In the opinion article Choosing Death published on the New York Times website, Nicholas D. Kristof makes the argument that physician assisted suicide is working in Oregon and that it should remain legal. Indeed, he says ''when people who are very strong lose their powers and abilities that make them who they are, they don't want to live like that. Why torture them?'' Given Mr. Kristofs argument this paper will detail more specifically why he believes the Death with Dignity laws work in Oregon, how this article appeals to the people of Oregon, the context from which the text responds to, and the credibility of the article. This article comes from the New York Times website. The New York Times is a very well-known and reputable newspaper that has been in circulation for more than 160 year. The New York Times has won many Pulitzer Prizes and is one of the largest newspapers in the United States. The New York Times is well known for having informative opinion pieces, which lead me to the reason Mr. Kristof wrote this article. Nicholas Kristof created this text in hopes to change the mind of those who are opposed to physician assisted suicide. He wrote this when the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court for a new hearing to get rid of the Death with Dignity law. The opiion piece was his way of pointing out how well the law was working for Oregon. You can tell this is the writers purpose

Hall Page 2 because he literally states it in the article by saying the Oregon law deserves to be upheld. It forces us to examine the question of what is special about human life. While the main purpose of the article was advocate for the upholding of the Death with Dignity law it was also a part of a larger conversion. The larger conversation that this article speaks to is the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. It can tell this is the larger conversation by the way he references not only the laws in Oregon but the act of assisted suicide as a whole. In the article he states that the Oregon law has provided the world with a model for how to offer dying people a real choice about how they should bid farewell to the world. By stating this it leads me to believe he is not just talking about Oregon but the whole country. In finding what the larger issue Mr. Kristof is referring to it also helps us see who he is trying to target with this piece. The primary audience Mr. Kristof is trying to target are the people of Oregon and those who oppose assisted suicide. You can tell he hints that it is geared to the people of Oregon when he states that I'm an Oregonian myself. When he says thing like this it leads me to believe he is trying to seem as one of the group. He is also appealing to the country as a whole when he talks about how Oregon can be a model for the rest of the country. This leads me to Mr. Kristof credibility. Mr. Kristof shows he is a credible judge of the subject by stating he himself is from Oregon and by being a well-known editorial writer. By stating he is from Oregon it makes it seem as though he knows the people and understands what they are going through. People also fell Mr. Kristof is a credible source because his is a world renowned editorial writer who is well known for his emphasis on human rights and social injustices. He has received many awards for

Hall Page 3 his journalism including two Pulitzer Prizes. The ethical assumption this piece rests on is the argument that physician assisted suicide is a good thing. In conclusion I find this piece was effective in explaining that Death with Dignity law is a good law that has helped many people. He presented useful data that explained only a small fraction of terminally ill patients seek information about assisted suicide, even fewer go on to obtain the prescription and then only a tiny amount actually take the medicine. He used credible sources and seemed very knowledgeable about the subject.

Hall Page 4 Works Cited Kristof, Nicholas D. Opinion Choosing Death New York Times. New York Times Web 14 July 2004.