Introduction
Rhetoric, the art of effectively persuading or impressing the audience using different techniques, is an ancient art of discourse. Depending on the target audience, different speakers or writers use different techniques to achieve this objective, even when the topic is common, similar, or related (Ponton 46). In the essay “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that young consumers are not at fault for eating fast foods causing obesity and related diseases. The author describes the easiness of accessing fast foods and the difficulties of eating healthily for many children (Zinczenko A19). He argues that fast food companies mislead because they do not provide nutrition information to consumers, thus sympathizing with the affected youths. In the second article, Christine Porter analyzes how food choices by adults contribute to childhood obesity.
Porter uses a research approach with 105 respondents about the causes and solutions to childhood obesity (Porter 124). She finds that many adults make wrong choices because dietary information is wrong or lacking. While Zinczenko and Porter made similar arguments, the style in which each author presented the argument was entirely different. Readers must pay attention to Zinczenko’s simplified first-person narrative and sympathetic language against Porter’s expert and academic language in developing their arguments to understand how each text’s rhetorical situation dictated each rhetorical decision.
Comparative Analysis of Rhetoric
Subject and Exigence
Zinczenko and Porter develop arguments about childhood obesity, a major healthcare issue affecting millions of children across the US. The authors examine the causes and effects of childhood obesity, particularly the role that poor diet plays in the rising prevalence of the condition. While they blame fast food and poor dietary behaviors as the cause of the problem, Zinczenko directly accuses fast food companies of failing to provide dietary information on the foods and drinks they offer (Zinczenko A19). On the contrary, Porter’s research examines the role that adults play in contributing to their children’s poor diet.
Zinczenko supports his argument using statistics from credible sources such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to describe the prevalence of the problem and its financial impacts. Moreover, Zinczenko uses data from websites by certain fast food companies to draw support for his argument about the limited dietary information made public. It is also worth noting that some of his data have unspecified sources, such as the “more than 13,000” MacDonald’s restaurants (Zinczenko A19). In contrast, Porter uses a scientific research approach.
The purpose of her research is to map how adults in the country value choice in the context of policies on obesity and to discuss the implications of childhood obesity prevention. Porter uses semi-structured interviews with 105 adult respondents in the study she conducted between 2006 and 2009. Data were collected during community meetings on childhood obesity prevention programs. Therefore, her article takes the format of a scientific article, unlike Zinczenko’s text, which is a media or magazine article.
Based on the subject, arguments, evidence, structure, and data, it is evident that Zinczenko’s target audience is the general public, while Porter targets students, professionals, and experts in public health, research institutions, and academia. Both authors want to convince and influence their target audiences to understand the problem better and take certain actions. For Zinczenko, the idea is to convince consumers of fast foods to be careful with the type of foods they take and feed their children. He wants the public to understand the problem better and stop blaming or laughing at the group of children filing a court case against fast food chains for destroying their health. Instead, Zinczenko wants the public to understand that fast food companies are to blame because they provide bad diets to people knowingly.
Porter wants to influence experts, researchers, and public policymakers to take actions that will help reduce the prevalence of the disease. Precisely, Porter wants policymakers to consider working with community-based programs to educate adults about the choices of foods that contribute to childhood obesity and how they can use dietary measures to control the disease (Porter 128). Moreover, she wants experts and researchers to expand the study and learn more about the role of parental choice of foods and how it contributes to the problem.
Audience/Decoders
It is possible to identify the intended audience for each author, judging by the language and style in the text. Zinczenko uses a first-person approach, including his experiences as an adolescent in the 1980s when he was overweight owing to excessive consumption of fast foods (Zinczenko A19). He uses the words “we,” indicating that everyone is part of the problem and all adults should take action against the consumption of junk foods by children. Zinczenko uses a sympathetic approach when he says he feels for the children’s plaintiffs in the case against fast food companies and the fate of America’s younger generation. These clues prove that Zinczenko targets the general public, particularly parents, to take action against childhood obesity. His language and style are simple to ensure that everyone understands the message from a layman’s point of view.
Porter uses a different approach in that she uses the second-person approach, does not mention names of individuals or institutions, and uses scientific methods with data and analysis techniques. In addition, Porter uses technical terms, names, and phrases in the article such as ‘sample,’ ‘mean,’ ‘discourse,’ ‘variables,’ ‘participants,’ and others (Porter 125). Unless a person has some background in research, health, academia, public policy, and other related professions, it is hard to understand and comprehend Porter’s content and arguments.
Author/Encoder and Ethos
Both texts provide information about the author’s background and credibility, which can help one determine their authorities, attitudes, biases, and goals when developing their arguments. Zinczenko is the CEO of a global health and wellness media company and an author, publisher, and businessman (Zinczenko A19). As a chief executive of a media company whose interest is in public health and wellness, it is expected that he would most likely side with those affected by the behaviors of fast-food companies. At the same time, he is in the media and would like to have a large audience as much as possible.
Therefore, he is entitled to use sympathetic language that appeals to the emotions of the majority, especially those affected by the healthcare problem. Zinczenko has positive attitudes towards the people affected by childhood obesity and some bias against fast food chains. One notes that he openly and directly blames the companies, yet parents should also be part of the problem because they allow their children to take junk foods rather than prepare healthy foods. Zinczenko does not want to blame parents because they are his main audience, and his company works with this specific group of people.
Porter’s ethos and background are relatively different because she has no vested interest in demonizing or appraising any of the groups involved. Her work is purely research-based, and the idea is to generate additional knowledge about the subject and how childhood obesity can be solved. The article shows that Porter is a college tutor and researcher affiliated with the Division of Kinesiology and Health, University of Wyoming (Porter 123).
She has avoided blaming anyone, and instead, she examines whether a lack of proper understanding of diet contributes to poor food choices and, thus, the increase in childhood obesity rates. Unlike Zinczenko, porter does not show sympathy to any group, which helps to avoid bias in the article and the research in general. She wants to compel her audience, especially experts and policymakers in the healthcare sector, to ensure that they fully understand how community-based programs can help parents improve their knowledge about food choices and thus reduce childhood obesity.
Conclusion
From this analysis, one understands that different authors can write or speak about the same topic with the same aims and objectives but in different ways to target different audiences. The main difference is the rhetoric, given that each author aims to influence the specific target group somehow. Since the target groups have different levels of understanding and diverse opinions, needs, and expectations on a subject, the author frames an argument that appeals to them (Ponton 49). Consequently, from a personal perspective, it is expected that knowledge of the audience will help write influential texts, whether in research or for other purposes.
It is important to consider rhetorical situations and exigence because the aim is to persuade or influence the target audience. While working on the assignment, some elements of rhetorical situations, such as exigence, encoders, and decoders, stood out because they greatly determine the context, structure, and format of the text. Both Zinczenko and Porter made good decisions regarding rhetoric, given that each had a different situation and target audience. Zinczenko is justified in using emotional appeals with biases because he appeals to the public via media. Equally, Porter is justified because she is a researcher whose work must be as free of bias as possible.
Works Cited
Ponton, Mark Douglas. Understanding political persuasion: Linguistic and rhetorical analysis. Vernon Press, 2022. Print.
Porter, Christine M. “’Choice’: What We Mean by it, and What that Means for Preventing Childhood Obesity.” Public Health Nutrition, vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, pp. 123-129.
Zinczenko, David. Don’t Blame the Eater. The New York Times, 2002. Web.