Rhetorical Analysis Of Diet Pills By Robyn Melamed

Diet pills have become a very popular supplement to assist people in weight loss. However, diet pills raise many concerns: are they safe, do they really work, and are the results permanent? In “Health Controversy Surrounds Diet Pills,” Robyn Melamed effectively employs logos through factual information, establishes ethos by citing trustworthy sources, and initiates pathos by relaying touching stories to inform Americans about the risks and benefits of taking diet pills. The author shows the readers both sides of the controversy surrounding diet pills by alerting the readers to a tragic story and by sharing a very successful weight loss story. She also uses reputable sources such as the FDA, Cantox Health Universities, and University Health services to emphasize the effects of ephedrine. Lastly, Melamed provides the readers with facts and statistical information to gain the reader’s trust.
The first thing the readers will notice about the article is that author illustrates beliefs and general knowledge about diet pills to build logos for her argument. Melamed employs logical appeals to expose the fallacy about natural herbs to prove the negative side of diet pills. She states in her article that when consumers think of herbs, they automatically assume that
Robyn Melamed successfully presents her perspective by discussing both sides of the diet-pill controversy through the use of logos, ethos and pathos. It is apparent that logos is used as a tool to exemplify the general knowledge about diet pills to the reader. The author also depends on many trustworthy sources from well-known scientific organizations through the technique of ethos. Lastly, pathos is used to convey emotions to the readers with touching stories. Melamed effectively uses all three devices together throughout the article, which will make an ultimate impact on the readers when thinking about using diet