In his article “Cars and Their Enemies” author James Q Wilson tackles the fact that the world is increasingly becoming more dependent on cars. In this article, he discusses how many people are opposed to cars and think the solution should be to try and eliminate individual automobile transportation altogether. He argues instead that automobile makers should work on lower emissions. This is because he believes that everyone having cars has led to the development of suburbs and more comfortable family living. The purpose of this article was to convince people to understand that completely eliminating personal cars would be difficult since cars are so commonly used, and that there were better ways to deal with the problem. The author’s tone is critical, as he is critical of the other argument. Multiple rhetorical devices are used, including allusion. The author uses an allusion when described Jane Holt Kay’s book in order to set up the other argument that car use should be reduced. Another rhetorical device he clearly uses is logos. The author uses logos like numerical data about how the use of cars is growing, the amount of emissions produced, etc. This use of logos not only backs up his argument, but also creates ethos, showing that this isn’t all based on opinion.
I enjoyed this article for the most part. This is another article I could really easily relate to my APES class, since we have talked about renewable and nonrenewable resources. Right now, we are talking about how greenhouse gases from cars are contributing to global climate change and global warming. This definitely helps me understand and agree with the authors point. It was also easy to agree with the authors point using what I’ve learned about in APHG, how the explosion of cars has led to more suburban development and nicer lifestyles in the suburbs. The only problem I had with this article was that the author included way too many details. It was almost as if he was repeating himself, so I got pretty off focused during a lot of it.
I enjoyed this article for the most part. This is another article I could really easily relate to my APES class, since we have talked about renewable and nonrenewable resources. Right now, we are talking about how greenhouse gases from cars are contributing to global climate change and global warming. This definitely helps me understand and agree with the authors point. It was also easy to agree with the authors point using what I’ve learned about in APHG, how the explosion of cars has led to more suburban development and nicer lifestyles in the suburbs. The only problem I had with this article was that the author included way too many details. It was almost as if he was repeating himself, so I got pretty off focused during a lot of it.