Unit 3 Persuasive Essay Goals and Choices

English 2010
Elaine Vandenhazel

What, exactly, is the piece trying to accomplish? What work are you doing here? To this
end, you will discuss all of the major goals/purposes you have imagined for this piece.
The purpose of this persuasive essay is to inform the reader of why minor children should
not be able to undergo cross-sex treatments. At such a young age children are not able to
understand the consequences of these treatments as well as the long-term effects. It is also
possible that it is a phase in their life that they will grow out of and eventually regret any
cross-sex treatments that they receive. I have seen this dilemma becoming more and more
common across the world, largely here in the United States. It is unfair to place such a substantial
decision on a child’s shoulders and expect them to know what is best for them, especially when
their brain is underdeveloped. Schools are beginning to play a role in this dilemma as well, some
even going as far as providing cross-sex treatments without parental knowledge or consent. This
is highly unethical and inappropriate. Schools should be about education, politics should only
play an educational role for the students, being weary of influencing them towards the policies of
any political party and allowing them to draw their own conclusions. Parents are responsible for
raising their children, not the schools that the children attend.

The specific rhetorical choices you made in service of your goals. Here, you’ll discuss
strategies, moves, and choices you made to accomplish your work. Strong reflections
will also address how these choices are tied to the audience.

Ethos (credibility and ethics): In my article, I discussed how schools being involved in cross-sex
treatments is unethical and the reasoning behind that. Particularly when I stated, “This new and
increasing issue could cause parents to question the public school system and the policies that
they have put into place as well as teachers that are influencing these decisions. Ultimately
breaking the trust that the parents have in this system and indirectly encouraging them to seek
other resources for their children's education.” In the last sentence of that statement, pathos
comes into play when I mention the breaking of trust. This statement can influence the audience
to empathize with the parents of these children. It also calls them to question the policies of their
local schools and be more active in the things that their children are being subject to.

Logos (logic and reason): I used several different sources for this article, notably the book
Irreversible Damage the author discusses the sudden transgender spike in children across the
United States and the UK. She points out that this is possibly due to the popularity of it and peers
influencing each other. Another thing that I agreed with in her statement was when she said, “If
this sudden spike in transgender identification among adolescent girls is peer cognition, as Dr.
Littman hypothesized, then the girls rushing toward “transition” are not getting the treatment
they most need. Instead of immediately accommodating every adolescent’s demands for
hormones and surgeries, doctors ought to be working to understand what else might be wrong.
At best, doctor’s treatments are ineffective; at worst, doctors are administering needless
hormonal treatments and irreversible surgeries on patients likely to regret them.” (pg. 28). This is
effective in pointing out that other mental health treatment services should be explored before
allowing a child to undergo cross-sex treatments, which is a logical conclusion. This leads the
audience down the logical path rather than the one filled with sole emotion and children desiring
to identify a particular way.

Pathos (emotions and feelings): This rhetorical choice was used the least frequently out of the
three, this is because I find my argument to be more about ethics and logic than emotion. The
section of my article that used the most pathos was when I discussed teenagers on social media
and what it can do to their mental health. “When taking into account that adolescent needs of
validation and recognition, it invites the conclusion that a majority of these teens may not
legitimately feel as if they were born the wrong sex and they are merely doing it to fit in with the
current trend, to be included, or to feel accepted by others. Since much of social media is based
on comparison it is possible that seeing unattainable images could lead to depression, anxiety,
poor self-image, and general low self-esteem.” This statement is a mix of Logos and Pathos as it
is also logical to conclude that teenagers could become depressed and have low self-esteem when
they are unable to attain the body image of those they see on social media. This shows the
audience that the effects of social media are real problems that the common teenagers face and it
is something to be mindful of when/if they have their own children.
An explanation of why you ended up pursuing the plan you described in the first two
prompts as opposed to others you have thought of. Refer here to any/all ideas you came up
in the beginning of the project up to your final editing.
Once I came up with this idea, I knew that I was going to stick with it so I did not
research any other topics. I thought about coming up with a slideshow to convey the same
information but felt as if I would not be able to discuss everything involved in a clear and
concise manner as I can in article format. I also thought about interviewing a few people that I
knew who are closely involved in the issue but decided it was best not to with the chance that it
has of being on social media and them receiving any sort of backlash for it.