The Many Things that are Wrong with A&E’s “Beyond Scared Straight” Program
In her article The Many Things that are Wrong with A&E’s “Beyond Scared Straight” Program, Irene Sullivan, a retired judge from Florida and writer for The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, emphasizes the failures of the Scared Straight program with quotations from juvenile delinquency expert James D. Finckenauer, of Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice. Sullivan’s use of pathos, and logos in the form of evidence and quotations, along with her use of ethos in stating her personal experience as a connection to her audience, attempts to persuade the audience to reject both the program and the television show.
Irene Sullivan uses ethos by providing an initial personal experience with her previous opinion of the Scared Straight program, “I confess, I was one of the judges who accepted the evidence that “scared straight,” programs didn’t work, but I couldn’t figure out why.” Her choice of the word “confess”, along with her admitted lack of knowledge about why she had formed her opinion, creates a feeling of humility to which the reader can relate. By sharing her personal experience, Sullivan establishes a bond between her and the reader. Since the reader can likely relate to Sullivan’s feelings about the effectiveness of the program in the beginning…show more content… Her frequent use of quotations both validate her argument and elicit an emotional response from her audience in order to effectively convince them of both the ineffectiveness of the Scared Straight program and the negative effects of the Disney Company on the issue. Her rhetorical strategies shape her argument into a seemingly valid, convincing argument against Scared Straight
