Barbara Ehrenreich The Roots Of War Rhetorical Analysis

Barbara Ehrenreich, an essayist and investigative journalist, wrote “The Roots of War” in hopes of showing the act of war as a kind of living parasite on human societies. Through several modes of development and logical and emotional appeals, Ehrenreich states her main claim while forming an effective and persuasive essay by using credible resources to support her claims. Ehrenreich’s logical reasoning is based on war throughout recorded history. She states that one can “find a predilection for warfare among hunter-gatherers, hunting and farming peoples, industrial and even post industrial societies, democracies, and dictatorships.” This appeal to logic forms the assertion that war does not plague a single type or feature of society nor does it discriminate against certain peoples. When offering stats in support of her argument about the cost of war in the current time, Ehrenreich is viewed as knowledgeable and informed in her argument. By presenting a strong, clear claim and providing evidential support, Ehrenreich’s main claim appears more convincing to her audience.
By using a word like “epidemicity,” Ehrenreich portrays war as a virus which plays off the imagination and fears of her audience. In paragraph 5, Ehrenreich describes the relation between war and disease through the cause and effect mode which creates a “real” circumstance to arouse frightened emotions in her readers. Ehrenreich uses figurative language for her predation metaphor in paragraph 8 when she compares the relationship between humans and war to that of a beast and its