McKinney 1

Lailaa McKinney

Dr. Erin Deitel-McLaughlin

First Year Composition

22 February 2011

Immigration Persuasion

Illegal immigration is one of the most continuous and controversial topics in the United

States today. There have been recent conflicts about immigration ranging from state legislation

to the rallies and protests for the DREAM Act, a campaign to update the statuses of

undocumented students. Seeing as our country is a melting pot of numerous nations, many

conflicts arise, making this a very sore subject. Two articles, of which you will read about, have

very different views and various ways to get those perspectives shared by others. Because

immigration is a very sensitive topic, and almost every person in America has a opinion on the

subject, most articles written about immigration tend to focus on the pathos of the reader. The

many sides, opinion, and claims about immigration are generally orchestrated to appeal to the

emotions of the intended audience.

In Sirota’s The Immigration Con Artist he uses a very good sense of logos and pathos to

thwart the issue of immigration into an article about the lack of trust of the government and other

influential people such as lawyers and big business owners. The ethos of this article is not in the

author himself, but the words that he says. By listing very specific examples and people, Sirota

puts forth the appearance that he is and educated and very well researched individual. He states

the word and opinions of people that are well-known in society that are seen as people of
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upstanding positions and that makes the article seem to have an upstanding character. He claims

that the government uses immigration as an excuse to not discuss other important issues having

to do with the economy.

The logos of the article, is parallel to the ethos. The words that are written and the way

that they are written provide the ultimate tone and feel of the article.

The pathos in this article is intended to make the audience riled up and direct that anger

more toward the government and the supposed conspiracy. The tone of the article represents an

angry front towards anyone who is reading. “ … the dishonest argument over illegal immigration

trying to divert our ire away form the corporate profiteers, outsourcers, wage cutters, and

foreclosers that buy influence-and protection- in Washington.” (Sirota) The article is more

towards a conspiracy, and used a sense of False Choice fallacies to get the reader to agree with

the opinion presented. The ethos, or character that the author projects in this article is to

represent the educated American, and dedicated taxpayer. This perspective creates a sense of

patriotism in the reader in order to gain that bond and get the point across. Though the article

clearly states its opposition, it also demands that the readers take a stance on the subject of

government politics and leaders. This leads the readers to believe that there is a direct correlation

to immigration and other legislative issues.

In Domenik’s Con: Illegal Immigration claims in his article that though our country

thrives on these low paying jobs that “other Americans won’t do”, granting citizenship to

immigrants will send the wrong message to others and say that it’s perfectly acceptable to come

into this country and use “our” money to get things such as medical care and schooling.

The ethos of this article He uses mainly a sense of pathos to make a rise of the patriotism
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of Americans. He uses more of a rally type of emotion to gain support from the audience.

The articles take different stances on illegal immigration in the United States, but they

both use similar rhetoric to make their points. As seen in both articles, pathos is a very important

tool of rhetoric that is used when speaking on an issue that affects many people. The audiences

of the articles, when reading are intended to feel empathetic to the author, in order for the author

to have a sense of success. The authors intended to persuade the reader that their point of view is

the only or best point of view. Ethos is a very passionate tool which is used to its best ability in

both articles.