Rhetorical Analysis of an Article on COVID-19 Parenting
Many articles can be found on various sources nowadays, and each of them has its purpose. However, all pieces of writing are intended to provide readers with some information. If an article writer wants to do successful work, they have to follow particular rules and consider writing specificities associated with the audience. A significant element of article writing is rhetoric, which involves the article’s purpose, intended audience, context, and other aspects. The amount of attention that an article can get and its efficiency often depends on the rhetorical situation. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a rhetorical analysis of specific writing by Allison Benedikt published on Slate. The article is about the effects of the COVID pandemic on parenting and the parenting challenges caused by COVID-related circumstances, especially wearing masks. The author has done excellent work from the rhetorical viewpoint because each corresponding element is adequately addressed in the article.
First, it is essential to discuss the article’s purpose to analyze whether the author succeeds to fulfill it or not. The author discusses the challenges that she is confronting as a parent during the COVID pandemic (Benedikt). Mainly, Benedikt addresses the problem of whether her 12-year-old son and his friends should wear masks when they spend time together. The issue is sharpened because some children are vaccinated, and some are not, which is critical for many parents whose children want to spend time with their unvaccinated friends. The author wants to share the problem with her audience and make her readers think about it thoroughly. That way, everyone can decide whether they must limit their children’s communication with unvaccinated friends. The article’s purpose is successfully achieved as the author makes a clear statement of the problem, reveals her position, and provides a thorough description of the situation.
Next, the rhetorical analysis of an article should consider the intended audience to see what type of audience the author tries to reach and whether that is successful. The author wants to reach people who have a child (or children) as the article directly aims to discuss parenting issues (Benedikt). An attempt to reach the targeted audience can also be traced in the article category (family) and the word “parenting” in the article’s title. The article starts with a short story about the author’s son, which is an excellent method to draw the audience’s attention (Benedikt). On the whole, the text of the article refers to children and parenting many times, meaning that the author has done everything in her power to reach the intended audience.
The final element of the rhetorical analysis is the article’s context. In this case, the context is the COVID pandemic, which has been an issue of a heated debate for the last two years. In her article, Benedikt addresses the pandemic directly since the problem she describes is its consequence. Thus, since the COVID pandemic is one of the most popular topics nowadays, the context of the article is interesting for potential readers.
Overall, the rhetorical analysis has shown that the article’s author has done exceptional work as no rhetorical mistakes have been spotted. The purpose of the article is successfully achieved, the techniques used to reach the intended audience are efficient, and the context of the article addresses an actual and widespread issue of the current time. In other words, the article is written appropriately and has no issues from the rhetorical viewpoint.
Work Cited
Benedikt, Allison. My COVID Parenting Has Reached Peak Inconsistency. Slate, 2021.