The Source of Veganism
Finding a solution to sustain our environment has long been debated. In the essay “Go Vegan or Go Home!”, college student Sarah Breslaw, asserts veganism as the answer to curbing environmental concerns. Breslaw makes a clear argument in her thesis of how veganism is beneficial and explains both negative and positive aspects of veganism. Moreover, her thesis statement “becoming vegan is the responsible choice,” explicitly outlines the purpose of the essay which provides basis of why she believes the liable decision to combat negative environmental effects is to become vegan (Breslaw 104). Nevertheless, Breslaw ultimately succumbs to faulty sourcing, logical fallacies including —argumentum ad verecundiam, or appeal to authority…show more content… She appeals to authority by citing specific sources of mixed expertise after making particular claims which often use strategic percentages that may be deceiving. For example, Breslaw appeals to numbers when she cites a study where a group of patients on a vegan diet “[experience] a 91% drop in angina attacks… and an average [weight loss] of 24 pounds” in comparison to another group that followed diet guidelines from the American Heart Association (Breslaw 105). The essay fails to mention the comparison group and that only 28 people were in the patient study, resulting in an unrepresentative sample in order to prove a…show more content… This same logic can be used to explain why some people fail to become vegetarians. In this example, Breslaw uses her own personal experience to back up her claim, which is also known as the writing strategy martyria. She also states, however, that “one cannot let selfish human tendencies override the wellbeing of countless others…” later in her dispute (Breslaw 106). Her concluding statement contradicts her own personal experience and uses martyria in an ineffective manner. It instead appears hypocritical and questions the author’s own
