getting rid of guns

The orator's goal in public speaking is to inspire the audience to believe and consider the message presented. This method of communication provided by spoken or written words consists of three components: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos entails developing a credible personal identity that can compel the viewer to listen to him or her. Pathos, the second component, involves an emotional appeal to the viewer. Third, a logo is the use of logic to cater to an audience. Molly Ivins's convincing speech "Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns" employs ethos, pathos, and logos to convince the crowd that guns should be banned. Ivins uses ethos to create a believable character to her audience by declaring that she is a “civil libertarian” meaning that she is a strong believer of free will (Muller and Harvey, paragraph 2). She asserts that she is a supporter of the Second Amendment of the constitution that guarantees freedom of having firearms as long as they are in the right hands and regulated. This way she appeals to the audience to believe in her character as a responsible person and proponent of free will among the people. Through showing that she supports the free will of the people, she convinces her audience to believe in her personality.

To persuade people, Ivins uses pathos to influence the audience make a judgment that is based on her standpoint. For instance, she uses rhetoric to question the logic of guns regulations as a way of showing the audience that it is not possible to regulate guns once they get into the hands of people. “… that “gun doesn’t kill people”…Did the gun kill someone?” (Muller and Harvey, paragraph 8). Using these examples, the speaker tries to emotionally convince the audience that it is not possible to regulate guns or people’s actions when they have guns.

Ivins says “in truth, there is no rational argument for guns in this society. This is no longer a frontier nation in which people hunt their own food. It is crowded...letting people have access to guns is a continuing disaster” (Muller and Harvey, paragraph 9). This logical reasoning is meant to appeal to the audience that there is no need for guns. Furthermore, guns only contribute to the killing of people. The overwhelmingly crowded urban cities make it even difficult to ensure gun controls measures are implemented effectively. The comparison between guns and automobile is another logical impression used by the speaker to appeal to the audience. Conflicts end up in deaths simply because of easy access to guns which if were absent things would be different because people will have a chance to think twice before taking the lives of others.

The choice of language also plays an essential role in persuading the listeners. The speaker needs to choose the right diction depending on the targeted group. Ivins uses a positive language to appeal to the audience. She notes “a well-regulated militia” sure implies both long training and long discipline.” This positively tells the audience that it is not possible to train everyone and instill the necessary discipline before licensing people to have firearms. The author also uses simple and direct language as a way of appealing to a large audience.

Conclusively, for a persuasive speech to leave an impact on the target audience, the speaker should be able to appeal to it through the use of emotions and logic. However, a talker must have the credibility that will make the audience listen to him or her. This is reflected in the case of Ivins who uses ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively persuade the audience into believing that guns are not supposed to be in the hands of the public.

Work Cited

Muller, Gilbert and Harvey, Wiener.The Short Prose Reader.10th Edition.McGraw-Hill. 2003.