Rhetorical Analysis Of Starbucks: More Than Just Coffee

The author of Starbucks: More Than Just Coffee, Amanda Roadarmel, used many examples of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout her article. She used ethos to portray credibility and to obtain the trust of the audience. She shows her credibility through her knowledge on Starbucks. Pathos was used to connect with the audience through emotion and experience in order to get the audience to feel more passionately about the subject. The author connected with the audience through her descriptions on Starbucks stores and many relatable instances about the University of Delaware. Logos was used to show the audience that there was evidence to back up her stance, and also to appeal to reason. Through her use of credible sources, such as The New York …show more content…
I believed that her pathos was the strongest, then ethos, and then logos. The use of pathos worked really well in the article. She had many examples that almost anyone could relate to. Her description of a Starbucks store and Starbucks cup sizes creates a strong connection to the essay since these are unique experiences. This was the strongest out of the three devices because it had the most effect on the reader. The author’s use of ethos was good, but not as strong as pathos. She had a couple of credible sources that established her credibility. The author had some facts in the essay, but I believe it would have been more effective if there were some more facts. Part of ethos is using a neutral tone, and I do not think that the author had a neutral one. It was very clear to see her viewpoint on the issue, but at some points in the essay, her word choice was very strong. Roadarmel used phrases such as “I refuse to conform to the lifestyle Starbucks advocates” and “college students being utilized as pawns in Starbucks’s renowned success.” These phrases are not neutral at all and could put off some of her readers. I thought that the author’s use of logos was the weakest. She did not have much evidence to back up her stance. Most of the examples for logos in the essay showed the author’s view, but there was not much evidence to back this up. Also, there were a couple of underlying assumptions in the article. One is when she assumes that her audience are students at the University of Delaware. Another assumption is how the author assumes that her audience agrees with her on the issue. Her word choice and tone suggests that she believes that we agree with her, and this could be off putting to some readers. Overall, I feel like the author was very persuasive with her use of pathos. I was able to see her viewpoint, but by the end of the article, I was not persuaded to agree