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Rhetorical Analysis Of Warren J. Blumenfeld's 'English Only'

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The article “English Only” Laws divide and Demean by Warren J. Blumenfeld states the author’s view against enacting a law making English the official language of the federal government. Mr. Blumenfeld’s premise in "English Only" is that the law is unnecessary and divisive in the United States. He is seeking a call to action in his home state of Iowa against the “English-only” law because he believes that it will negatively impact the beliefs that our nation is founded upon, rather than celebrate and promote our uniqueness as a nation of people from different cultures seeking the freedom to be individuals. He is an opponent of this law since he believes it has the potential to create prejudice and discrimination toward our citizens because they speak a different language. From the …show more content…
This is not effective because he’s clearly not developing the other side’s argument. He only briefly mentions those in favor of the law and never develops the other side. He doesn’t effectively use ethos because he’s not being respectful of alternative points of view, and therefore does not appear to be thoughtful or fair. Blumenthal relies on his generous ability to use ethos-based impact to the reader since he relies heavily throughout the article on his prior experiences with “ English Only.” He brings his home state of Iowa into the mix a lot in the article, he states at the end of one of his paragraphs when he is stating that 27 states have succeeded in passing the English only law and saying “including my home state of Iowa.” In addition, Blumenfeld uses more examples of why this law is against the values of what America stands for. He is able to support this claim that "English Only" laws are anti-American by arguing that they are against the "ideals of freedom, justice, equality, and human dignity that are in our Declaration of

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