Gaiman's Argument

The question, “Is our future dependent on reading?” is what Neil Gaiman addressed in his persuasive piece that was published on the newspaper website The Guardian. Because of the fact that it is a persuasive article, Gaiman was very adamant in his position on the issue. He claimed that the best method for a successful and literate future is to read to children when they are young so they can form good habits at a young age. In order to most effectively get his message across, Gaiman demonstrated the use of ethos, pathos, logos, as well as forming his arguments with the use of six plus one traits. There are many ways to get your message across to readers and one way that writers do this is in the way that they present their arguments. One …show more content…
As stated earlier ethos is using arguments to boost the credibility of the writer to the reader. The way this is accomplished is to boost reputation authority, or even trying to find similarities with the reader. Gaiman was also able to use ethos arguments in his argument very frequently. For example Neil Gaiman states things like, “For thirty years I have been earning my living through my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down.” This quote from his article boosts his reputation right in the beginning of the writing. He tries to prove himself as a worthy writer by giving a little background of his experience in the field of writing and reading. Another form of ethos used was his stories that he told. His credibility immediately rose with each personal experience he gave because it was easier to believe him due to his credentials. Another reason he was easy to believe was his use of ethos through similarity. Gaiman was able to connect with the reader with quotes like, “I think we have responsibilities to the future.” He was able to put himself on the same level as the reader which is tough to do because he just boosted his credentials to sound more credible. It is a very tough balance to maintain between intelligent and snobby. People listen to the intelligent not the snobby. Neil Gaiman was able to make intelligent ethos arguments while also being on the same level as the