Autobiographical Political Argument Analysis

Life experiences are a very good way to present an argument especially political arguments. It gives the speaker more credibility, appeals to the emotions of the audience, and makes his/her argument more logical. Using a life experience as evidence in a political argument is known as an “autobiographical political argument.” Doron Taussig analyzes the use of this type of argument in a series of blogs entitled We are the 99 percent and We are the 53 percent. From his readings it would seem that autobiographical political arguments are very effective in a social/political context. These blogs are not the only piece of evidence that shows this however. Based on the readings of Virginia Woolf, Vaclav Havel, and Frederick Douglass I think that …show more content…
Pathos is the appeal to the emotions of the audience. Appealing to pathos makes autobiographical political arguments effective in a political/social context because it allows the speaker to use his/her experiences as an emotional kick for the audience. The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is a perfect display of this mainly because it deals with a time in history that raises many emotions. For example, at one point Douglass describes his aunt being brutally beaten in which he was a witness to. He described it by stating how “he commenced to lay on heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood came dripping to the floor” (Douglass). This shows pathos being used effectively because Douglass is describing a brutal event which could bring a wide variety of emotions to the audience. Another example of pathos being used effectively is in the dialogue between Vanek and Stanek in Vaclav Havel’s Protest. While they are discussing their political differences, Stanek has a moment of outburst in which he states “It’s disgusting, Ferdinand, disgusting! The nation is governed by scum! And the people? Can this really be the nation which not very long ago behaved so magnificently? All the horrible cringing, bowing and scraping? The selfishness, corruption and fear wherever you turn! What have they made of us, old pal?” (Havel). Stanek 's mix of foul language and frustration shows …show more content…
Logos is the appeal to the logic of an argument. For one to appeal to logos he/she would have to provide a sufficient amount of evidence that is backed up by a lot of logic that can easily persuade the audience. This can become really effective when applying it to a political/social context because the speaker can essentially use his/her own personal experience as the evidence to prove the logic of their argument. For example, one major theme of Frederick Douglass 's Narrative is religion and how it has been used to justify the brutality of slavery. If one were to argue against this claim Douglass would be able to counter it by using his own personal experience as logical evidence to prove this claim to be true. One of Douglass’s masters named Thomas Auld ends up joining a church group and then uses the religion to justify his cruelty. Douglass described witnessing this man’s cruelty under the name of religion by stating that “I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip and in justification of the bloody deed he would quote this passage of scripture- he that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Douglass). This shows how Douglass used his personal experience to describe a horrific event which would provide a lot of logic to an argument about the