• Engelsk
  • Uddannelse: STX
  • Karakter: 10 tal
  • Ord: 1064

Indledning
Addiction is a common issue many people battle every day. Not only is it an issue that leads to financial problems and obvious health-related problems, but it is also a common cause of death.

Beth Macy’s article “‘I Am Going to Die if I Keep Living the Way I Am.’ She Was Right” from 2017 tells the story of the young opioid addict Tess Henry and furthermore discusses the increasing opioid epidemic in America.

The writer of the article Beth Macy makes it obvious that she knew Tess and her mother personally already at the beginning of the text by writing: For more than two years, I had followed Patricia Mehrmann and her daughter, Tess Henry, as they endured Tess's struggle to get off and stay off, heroin (page 1, line 4-5).

Also, by writing Tess’s struggle the reader can establish that the article is portraying not only an important national issue, but also that the topic of the article is personal to Beth Macy.

Optimer dit sprog - Læs vores guide og scor topkarakter

Uddrag
Throughout the text, Macy makes use of all the modes of persuasion. The use of pathos in the article makes the reader see Macy as someone who cares for other people in general.

Macy mentions Tess’ personal life including her mother Patricia and Tess’s son whom she lost custody over some time before her death.

Macy writes: Last fall, Tess wasn’t ready, yet, to stop using. She told her mother and me repeatedly not to worry.

She wanted desperately to get better for the sake of her young son, whom she hadn’t seen in months but loved more than anything (page 3, line 77-79), and even though Macy starts off by pointing out that Tess wasn't, in fact, planning on stopping her drug use yet, the reader still sympathizes with her after the writer mentions motherhood and love, topics often used to easily gain compassion.

Not only does the use of pathos create a feeling of pity it also creates feelings of anger in some way. Especially when Macy writes about Tess’ last words before her unjustified murder (page 3, lines 93-94).

Lastly, the mode of persuasion ethos comes to show with Macy presenting information on the topic, for example, the detailed description of Tess’ life and furthermore the knowledge on the health care system and certain medical terms.