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Danielle Page

Professor Stalbird

ENG 1101

12 October 2018

The Obscure Epidemic

In a survey conducted in 2014, over twenty million Americans over the age of twelve

faced substance abuse, and only 10.9% of those who needed it actually received treatment.

Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, goes

into detail about the fatal effects of alcohol addiction and why we need to acknowledge this

epidemic in his TED Talk, “Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one.” Botticelli does

an efficient job of motivating the audience to take action through his use of powerful diction,

personal accounts, and rhetorical strategies.

Many talented speakers choose to use words with connotations that draw out certain

emotions in order to achieve a certain message. Botticelli employed this technique many times

throughout his speech. One example of this is when he was discussing the AIDS epidemic, and

how it caused Americans to “stand up, to speak up, and to act out” (6). He used the word

“galvanized,” which has the same denotation as words such as “excited” or “motivated” but is

different than these examples because it provokes a more energized response in the minds of the

audience (6). Another example of this is when Botticelli is talking about the stigma surrounding

addiction in America. He claims that addiction is not viewed with empathy and concern, but

instead “derision and scorn” (11). These words have very negative emotions attached to their

connotations. Instead of simply saying that Americans do not care much about the issue,

Botticelli chose these words to highlight the dismissive and critical viewpoint Americans feel
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toward it. Another example of powerful diction in Botticelli’s speech was when he was

explaining how the AIDS epidemic kick-started the movement for equality in the LGBT

community and that as an effect, “we have the potential to see the end of HIV/AIDS in our

lifetime” (6). Botticelli uses the phrase “battle for our lives” to encompass the urgency that

people of the LGBT community displayed when they knew that the lives of others were at stake.

Botticelli’s purpose of including this connection was to give a scenario to the audience of the

attitude that is necessary if addiction should ever be conquered.

Botticelli did not hold the audience’s attention with his vocabulary alone. By telling

personal accounts of experiences he has had with addiction and struggling to make a change in

his life. To give the audience some background on how addiction has affected him, Botticelli

admits that he consumed alcohol to take away the “isolation and insecurities” he felt about his

sexuality when he was underage (1). Botticelli lets the audience into a very personal part of his

life so they can feel more connected to him and to the issue he is discussing. Another instance

when Botticelli uses personal experiences to enhance his persuasion is when he shares that “a

congressional staffer said that there was no way that [he] was going to be confirmed by the

United States Senate because of [his] past,” referring to his addiction (9). After the audience has

learned about how successful and insightful Botticelli is, hearing that someone spoke down to

him in a hateful manner will draw resentment from them and cause them to see judgment in a

negative light. This, in turn, will motivate them to take action.

The strongest factor contributing to the excellence of Botticelli’s speech was his

utilization of the three rhetorical appeals. He exhibited ethos, or credibility, because he mentions

to the audience that he “was a volunteer for the Names Project,” whose purpose was to share the

stories of people who died of AIDS, with the goal of increasing the concern that Americans had
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for the condition (7). This appeals to ethos because it shows that he has experience in the field of

sharing information in an impactful manner. He also appeals to ethos by mentioning that he “was

nominated by President Obama to be his Director of Drug Policy,” which obviously is a very

honorable quality (9).

Another rhetorical strategy is the appeal to logos, or logic. Botticelli introduces various

facts and statistics throughout his speech so that the audience will have an understanding of the

content he discusses in a numerical or logical way. One instance of this is when Botticelli states

that “over 28,000 people died of drug overdoses associated with prescription drugs and heroin”

(5). This type of rhetoric gives the audience a visual of the magnitude of the topic. Another time

Botticelli appealed to logos is when he makes the general statement that “people with other

diseases get care and treatment. If you have cancer, you get treatment, if you have diabetes, you

get treatment. If you have a heart attack, you get emergency services, and you get referred to

care” (12). This means that logically, people who need help receive it, except in the case of

addiction. Botticelli points this out to encourage the audience to change their attitudes and adjust

their actions.

The rhetorical strategy Botticelli appealed to the most in his speech was pathos, or

emotion. One example of this is when Botticelli talks about the countless people who have died

from issues related to addiction and the “many heartbreaking stories of people who’ve lost loved

ones to addiction” (4). The appeal to pathos is the easiest of the rhetorical strategies with this

issue because it is one that deals with sensitive topics such as death and loss. Because Botticelli

was able to hit all three, his speech was full of enticing statements.

Addiction is a widespread issue that needs to be addressed. Through powerful diction,

personal stories, and the implementation of the classic rhetorical strategies, the TED Talk
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“Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one” by Michael Botticelli inspires the audience

to become educated on the issue and to speak up and act upon their findings. Botticelli’s use of

pathos most strongly persuades the audience because people can emotionally relate to the loss of

loved ones and friends. This speech “galvanizes” the audience by emphasizing that as long as

Americans dismiss and dehumanize the issue, there will be no progress.

Works Cited

Botticelli, Michael. “Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one.” TED: Ideas worth
spreading, TEDxMidatlantic, October 2016