Riley Abson

WP2
Writing 2
11/8/15
Rhetoric in the Sociological Community
The science of sociology encompasses every aspect of our lives. Sociology dictates how
we move and function in the world. It defines how people interact with each other and within
society. In order for sociologists to effectively communicate their findings with their audiences,
they have to effectively make use of rhetorical devices. Within the study of racism in sociology,
these devices are used extensively to provide reasoning for the argument of the researcher in a
touchy subject area. This is evident in Victor Rios book, Punished and Jim Leitzels research
paper, Race and Policing, as well as the lectures given by Rios and Ross in the Intro to
Sociology class. The syllabus for Intro to Sociology and the homepage for the sociology
department also use specific language and rhetoric, but in a different way than the academically
published texts do.
Rios and Leitzel both use rhetoric consciously in their writing in order to effectively
reach the reader. Since both texts are written in regard to the same issue, each text can make use
of rhetoric in a similar way, appealing to the same aspects of the readers mind. These texts also
each discuss the topic of racism, one which requires much appeal towards the emotional, logical,
and ethical parts of the persons mind. Because of this, each text uses the rhetorical devices in a
similar way that makes them easily comparable.
Rios appeals to the ethos rhetorical device in Punished. He uses examples of young
people being treated unfairly, such as a boy named Tyrell who believed that the teacher was not

the only person who saw him as a threat, because of his height, when he was younger. (Rios)
Tyrell, who was only in the sixth grade, was constantly picked on due to his height by people in
positions of authority, such as teachers or police officers. The way that Rios writes this young
boys story makes the reader feel pity for him, as 11 or 12 year old boy should never be preyed
upon for something that is entirely out of his control. The use of rhetoric to appeal to the
emotions ingrained in the story and the message into the readers mind.
Similarly, Race and Policing appeals to the readers emotional side. Leitzel quotes the
ACLU in stating that today, blacks constitute 13 percent of the countrys drug users; 37 percent
of those arrested on drug charges; 55 percent of those convicted; and 74 percent of all drug
offenders sentenced to prison. (Leitzel) This quote is used by Leitzel to provoke emotions
within the reader. The reader who reads that quote is forced into feeling sympathy for the
inequality faced by this group. This is an example of Leitzel using context in his paper to appeal
to the emotions in an effective manner, in a like manner to Rios use of rhetoric.
Each of the authors appeals to the emotions in these examples. This does not exclude the
quotes from appealing to the logical or ethical rhetorical devices. Each of these quotes can
actually be used for all three devices. As Rios discusses the story of Tyrell, the reader may think
in their mind that there is not logical way for anybody to single out a sixth grader due to his
height, even though it happens anyways. In this sense, the story of Tyrell appeals to the logos
rhetorical device. The quote from Leitzels paper also appeals to ethos, as the disparity in the
crime rates in the US versus the amount of black people imprisoned clearly displays that
something is not right with the ethics of the judicial system and that something needs to be
changed, as it is not morally right to send black people to prison at such a high rate.

There are a number of other instances in the book Punished where Victor Rios appeals to
the emotional, ethical and logical aspects of the readers mind. Another example is when Rios
asked young boys of color where they first encountered the police. Many responded with in or
near school. (Rios) Again, this passage appeals to the pathos and logos rhetorical devices, but
strongly resonates with ethos, as most readers can see that any young schoolboy should not be
having encounters with the police in school, regardless of the situation.
This ties in to the lecture given by guest speaker Richard Ross in my sociology class.
Richard Ross is a professor of photography at UCSB who also travels across the country
documenting and photographing the juvenile justice system and how it treats children unfairly.
This project is called Juvenile In Justice Youth in schools, specifically low income schools or
youth of color, have very unfair expectations placed upon them that can easily create a selffulfilling prophecy in their lives. Ross gave his lecture to a class of over 400 people, and the
entire audience was enthralled by it. Ross pandered to each rhetorical device, giving statistics of
how much of the Philadelphia youth correctional facilities were filled by certain areas, how
women are unfairly treated in correctional facilities, and how certain cells in these facilities are
comparable to the cells at Guantanamo Bay. He gave the presentation in a way that made the
students aware of the problems faced by youth in the prison system in a way that appealed to
their emotions, logic, and ethics. He was so effective in doing this that he convinced dozens of
people to like his Facebook page, inquire about becoming a research assistant, or working to
teach children in the Santa Barbara area how to read. The Richard Ross lecture is a very good
example of how someone can appeal to the rhetorical devices in order to more effectively convey
a point.

During the other lecture that I observed for my classroom observation, the teacher
discussed the recent attack on a student in a South Carolina school. In this video, a white police
officer manhandles a much smaller black girl for the sole reason that she is not getting out of her
seat despite being asked to by the police officer. The officer then throws the girl to the ground,
despite the fact that she was completely peaceful for the entirety of the time leading up to this
event, while the rest of the class and even the teacher just watches the officer throw the girl
around. Similarly to the Richard Ross lecture, this appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos
rhetorical devices. Rios did so in a way that caused the students to really pay attention to the
problem at hand, which was in this case, the systematic racism in place that caused the officer to
be so unnecessarily violent towards the girl in the video. Rios demonstrates that is easy to appeal
to the pathos, ethos, and logos devices in this situation, as well as many others in the sociological
community.
Each of the lecturers appealed to the logical, emotional, and ethical aspects of the
listeners mind in order to instill a lesson into the readers mind in a more efficient way. Ross
appealed to all three rhetorical devices, although more so to pathos and ethos than logos. Rios
similarly provoked the ethical and emotional aspects, but appealed to logos more effectively than
Ross did. Rios lecture was based more on the facts of the event and presenting evidence, while
Ross discussed his lecture in a more personal setting. These anecdotes tend to appeal to the ethos
and pathos devices instead of the logical device.
Within the discourse community of sociology and research within the discipline, the three
rhetorical devices are often used in order to help the author relay the results of the study in a way
that will affect the reader most efficiently. While studying racism in this community, however,
these devices need to be employed to a more comprehensive extent in order to provide almost

irrefutable proof that there is a problem to someone who may be stubborn towards the subject.
For example, Leitzel states in his article that Police profiles of drug couriers or other classes of
criminals should not include race. (Leitzel) Although this seems like a logical thing to do within
the context of logos, in the surrounding text Leitzel appeals to the emotional and ethical aspects
of doing this, as it could create biases against certain minorities. This appeals to the ethos device,
as there is no ethical reason to create a bias towards certain people. Within the study of
sociology, and specifically while studying racism, the rhetorical devices are used in order to
effectively relay the results of the study.
In contrast, the syllabus and the sociology department homepage almost exclusively
reference the logical rhetorical aspect. The syllabus panders to this aspect of the readers mind,
stating that you [the reader] will leave the course with basic tools that will guide you in
understanding the complexities of society, social behavior, and social problems. Because the
reason the reader takes the course and is reading the syllabus is in order to gain an introduction
into sociological theory and practice, it makes the most sense for the writer to appeal to logic. In
contrast, pathos and ethos are not relevant in this quote. This is because there is no conflict for
the reader to resolve in their mind or to sympathize with, as opposed to the cases of Tyrell or the
prison system discussed in Juvenile-in-Justice. Although there is the possibility of creating an
ethical or emotional bond with the reader in the syllabus, which could be done easily by giving
the reader a reason to study sociology based on societal problems, the syllabus does not do this.
Similarly, the course website appeals almost exclusively to the logos device. This website
does play towards the logical aspect of the readers mind, with the quote a sociology major can
serve as preparation for careers in such fields as law, management, urban and environmental
planning, corrections, journalism, education, social work, and other service professions.

(Undergraduate Studies) The website does discuss topics within the sociological field that may
be of interest to the reader, it only does this to pique their interest, and there is no problem
presented by the website which the reader must solve within their mind using the pathos or ethos
rhetorical devices. This text specifically discusses the logical and practical applications of going
to school for a sociology degree for a worried parent or an inquisitive student.
While writing in the sociological discourse community, it is easy for the writer to pander
to each pathos, ethos, and logos, as there are so many different societal problems that are relevant
to each of these three devices. This is evident in the book by Rios, the lectures by Rios and Ross,
and the paper by Leitzel. Although it is easy for a writer in this community to appeal to each of
these three aspects of the readers mind, it is best in some cases not to. This is shown in the
syllabus and the programs homepage. The use of rhetoric in the discourse community of
sociology is used dynamically to effectively convey an argument.

Sources:
Leitzel, Jim. "Race and Policing." Soc Society 38.3 (2001): 38-42. Web.
Rios, Victor M. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. New York: New York
UP, 2011. Print.
"Undergraduate Studies." University of California, Santa Barbara Sociology. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Nov. 2015.