Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth; all worlds and fictional fantasies created by one guy, Shakespeare. Michael Mack wrote an intriguing persuasive literary piece titled “Why Read Shakespeare?” Where the title explains it all. Directed towards freshman in college, Mack produced an effective argument that persuades normal people to read Shakespeare and along the way tells us why we should through his use of rhetorical devices and appeal to audience. The first device that Mack uses to advance his argument is his use of rhetorical devices. The most prominent device used is rhetorical questions, “I don’t get it; is it really worth the effort?” (Lines 7 and 8) Here, the author used a more “elementary” tactic to
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Appealing to this age group can be tricky, but Mack does it stupendously. However, to strengthen his argument, Mack could have used more pathos and less factuality. Although he appealed to his targeted audience nicely, he has to remember that he is dealing with a group of kids fresh out of highschool and he needs to maintain their interest. Simply having an attention grabbing hook won’t keep their attention for long. “This phenomenon of people having difficulty understanding Shakespeare is hardly new. It predates by centuries our truncated attention spans and our preference for the fast cuts of modern video.” (lines 30-33) Instead of using cold-hard facts to try and persuade his readers, he could have linked it to a personal experience or used more pathos. If he had used more pathos he could have better connected to the reader in a better, less formatted way and actually got them to take his advice to heart. “But if you stick with him, you can expect a breakthrough, and the excitement and satisfaction of being able to say ‘I get it.’ ” (lines 22-24) Mack needs to suggest a different reward for this age group, because kids nowadays expect something in return that has a greater value than just the simplicity of being able to
Appealing to this age group can be tricky, but Mack does it stupendously. However, to strengthen his argument, Mack could have used more pathos and less factuality. Although he appealed to his targeted audience nicely, he has to remember that he is dealing with a group of kids fresh out of highschool and he needs to maintain their interest. Simply having an attention grabbing hook won’t keep their attention for long. “This phenomenon of people having difficulty understanding Shakespeare is hardly new. It predates by centuries our truncated attention spans and our preference for the fast cuts of modern video.” (lines 30-33) Instead of using cold-hard facts to try and persuade his readers, he could have linked it to a personal experience or used more pathos. If he had used more pathos he could have better connected to the reader in a better, less formatted way and actually got them to take his advice to heart. “But if you stick with him, you can expect a breakthrough, and the excitement and satisfaction of being able to say ‘I get it.’ ” (lines 22-24) Mack needs to suggest a different reward for this age group, because kids nowadays expect something in return that has a greater value than just the simplicity of being able to