A Rhetorical Analysis Of Hamblin Essay

Walking into a bookstore in 2015, one would notice the extensive amount of books promoting the answer to finding happiness. How would one maximize their happiness? A better job, more money? It is quoted time and time again that money cannot buy happiness, but according to The Atlantic writer James Hamblin, how money is spent can influence the amount of happiness one experiences. Possessing and utilizing a scholarly tone and multiple rhetorical devices in his article, Hamblin provides an excellent explanation about the effects on happiness when buying an experience versus buying a tangible object. Starting off his essay, we see that Hamblin takes advantage of the rhetorical devices ethos and logos to provide support for his article. In his first paragraph, he provides insight into the workings of the average human mind, which can be categorized under the use of logos. Among several facts, he states that forty-seven percent of the time the average mind is wandering (Hamblin, 2014). Next, implementing the use of ethos, he expands on the words and findings of several professionals, including psychologists and psychology …show more content…
The majority of the paper is written in third person point-of-view, yet there are several instances where he decides to address the reader directly. For example, Hamblin relays to the reader psychology professor Thomas Gilovich’s conclusion that experiences tend to bring about more happiness in people because they are less likely to compare their experiences to others. Then, Hamblin goes on to pose the question, “Would you rather have two weeks of vacation when your peers only get one? Or four weeks when your peers get eight?” (Hamblin, 2014, para. 6). It is not often that a writer will address their readers directly, yet when Hamblin does, it highlights and proves Gilovich’s point when it leads the reader to assess themselves and what they would