Rhetorical Analysis: Born To Be Good

Born To Be Good is a non-fiction novel by Dacher Keltner. Keltner is a psychology professor and a director of a science center that studies emotions. He has dedicated his time and research to the study of positive emotions thus, giving him the credibility and authority to write this book. Throughout the entire novel he uses accurate representations of rhetorical devices to make the argument seem more plausible to his audience. The novel gives an in-depth analysis about emotions and their origins. Chapter six focuses specifically on the concept of smiling and its importance in human interaction. Keltner incorporates ethos in this chapter by justifying his claims and supporting them with other professional’s work in order to prove that smiling is one of the most powerful forms of communication. Keltner claims that smiles and laughter are evolutionary traits and that each has a different purpose. He said, “The smile emerged to facilitate cooperative and affiliative proximity. The laugh emerged to promote play and levity” (103). He supports this claim by using the evidence and research of Signe Preuschoft, a primatologist who studied primates closely. Preuschoft examined primates looking for similarities within their facial expressions when they express positive emotion to those of humans. Keltner incorporates this research to justify where smiles and laughter originate from. His use of ethos was accurately used here, because he is backing up his claims; which give his points about smiles and laughter’s origins more jurisdiction. This helps the reader realize how smiles are such an important part of communication by knowing where they come from. Next, Keltner discusses the orbicularis oculi, which is referred to as the happiness muscle and it is the powerhouse that allows a person to express happiness and smile. According to Keltner we are better able to classify smiles according to the movements of this muscle. He mentions Ekman’s idea of different types of smiles to support this claim, “Ekman called smiles that involve the activation of the zygomatic major muscle and the orbicularis oculi the Duchenne or D smile...Smiles that do not involve the activity of the the happiness muscle, orbicularis oculi, are sensibly known as Non Duchenne or non-D smiles”(105). The classification of these two types of smiles that Keltner provides is supported by Ekman. D-smiles tend to express enjoyment, happiness, and are often known as what Keltner refers to as “social chocolate.” While, Non-D smiles do not use the muscle and are believed to hide negative emotional states. Ekman’s work enable Keltner to prove there are contrasting smiles. In addition to his previous point, Keltner also talks about how some smiles do not all come directly from expressing emotions of happiness. …show more content…
He references sociologist Arlie Hochschild, who believes that there is a certain smile that is associated with many service-related jobs, for instance, those of restaurants or stores. This service smile portrays a welcoming effect and entices a customer to come in and buy a product. Even though, a worker using this smile may or may not necessarily be feeling that specific emotion inside, they are solely presenting it to benefit the business. The service-related smile is a relevant example of a Non-D smile. Thus, the work of Hochschild helps Keltner prove that some smiles are not a direct result of happiness or an individual’s internal emotion. Another point Keltner discusses in this chapter is about how smiling affects