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Yvette Chavez

Professor Beadle

English 115

21 September 2019

Rhetorical Strategies and Their Effectiveness

Happiness is much more than a feeling. It is an experience. How exactly does one

achieve happiness? Many people believe there is a certain way or lifestyle they must follow to

achieve genuine enjoyment, so they often seek advice from others. There are thousands of books

about happiness and how one can achieve the feeling. David Brooks, Graham Hill, and Sonja

Lyubomirsky have given their input on happiness and how you can reach this feeling of

satisfaction. In “What Suffering Does”, written by David Brooks, the author discusses how

happiness can be achieved through suffering, and if one suffers, they can do great things with

their pain. Brooks discusses that if someone goes through hardships, it can put them on the path

to happiness. In “Living with Less. A Lot Less.”, written by Graham Hill, he discusses his

personal experiences about being unhappy even though he is a very wealthy and successful

businessman, suggesting that living with less material has improved his life. This has made him

much happier. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of “How Happy Are You and Why?”, explains the

science behind our happiness and discusses how it is broken up. While all three authors make

great and effective arguments using multiple rhetorical strategies, Lyubomirsky’s argument was

the strongest because she more thoroughly uses ethos, pathos, and logos throughout her article.

Because Lyubomirsky does this, the audience is able to understand their own happiness and how

they can take actions to achieve satisfaction.

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Authors establish their credibility, ethos, in order to have their audience trust what they

are saying, and to show that they are a reliable source. While all three of the authors establish

their validity throughout their articles, Sonja Lyubomirsky establishes her legitimacy throughout

her article, and she does so in an effective manner. Lyubomirsky’s ethos is established in the

small introduction at the top of the page. It states that Lyubomirsky is a psychology professor,

and that she has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford. This information tells the audience

that Lyubomirsky is a very reliable source, and she is very well informed and educated in her

field. Because Lyubomirsky’s credibility is established, this allows for the audience to

acknowledge that she is an expert in what she is discussing. Along with this information,

Lyubomirsky establishes her credibility by strongly supporting her argument with relevant

evidence and using formal word choice. Lyubomirsky says, “In much of my research with

human participants, I have used a popular simple four-item measure of overall happiness that I

developed and call the Subjective Happiness scale” (184). This evidence shows that she conducts

her own studies about happiness and uses her results to assist her in writing this article and

supporting her argument. This shows the audience that she is an expert in happiness and what

makes one happy. Lyubomirsky also introduces multiple professionals which shows that she uses

reliable sources to enhance her argument. She says, “Like the behavior geneticists, [Richard]

Davidson argues that each of us has a natural set point, which he defines as a baseline of…the

brain” (193). This demonstrates how referencing other professionals can help support her

argument on happiness and how it works with our genetics. While this evidence helps

Lyubomirsky establish her credibility, it also helps strengthen her argument because of her use of

logos, which is logical reasoning.

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Another way the authors support their argument is by using logical reasoning and facts,

also known as the rhetorical strategy, logos Using facts or evidence from significant and relevant

studies, can show the audience how knowledgeable Lyubomirsky is, and how she did her

research about happiness before writing her article. The use of facts and statistics helps

Lyubomirsky’s argument that happiness is made up of 3 factors. She includes multiple pieces of

evidence, and includes research that she, and other professionals have conducted. She mentions,

“…the research also shows us that yes, while 50 percent of the differences among our happiness

levels is determined by set points (and 10 percent… by circumstances), fully 40 percent is still

available to us to mold” (189). This evidence informs the audience on how their happiness

works, and what the emotion relies on. This information can help the audience understand their

happiness and it can help them take actions to achieve the happiness they strive for. Graham Hill

incorporates logos in his article as well. He discusses how home are becoming much bigger and

people have much more space than they used to. Hill states, “The average American home in

1950 was 983 square feet; by 2011, the average new home was 2,480 square feet” (310). This

statistic shows the audience about how much space the average home has. Hill argues in his

article that less is more, so by having much less in life, you can achieve happiness and

satisfaction. While Hill also used a fair amount of logos in his article, Lyubomirsky’s use

strengthened her argument greatly because it brought up facts and statistics from professionals

who have studied the science behind happiness. The use of facts and statistics helped strengthen

the argument because it provided truth and evidence to the article. While Hill does this, his use

of logos was not as strong as Lyubomirsky’s because he did not include many statistics to back

up his argument. Ethos and logos are good rhetorical strategies, to make her argument effective,

Lyubomirsky also used pathos to convey her point of view.

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A final way one can persuade their audience is by appealing to the audience’s emotions,

also known as pathos. Using pathos can support an argument because it can evoke an emotion,

thus causing someone to do something, or believe your argument. It is important to use pathos,

but in order to make an effective argument, it should not be relied on. All three authors use

pathos throughout their articles, some more than others. For example, David Brooks’ article uses

more pathos throughout. Brooks’ approach on happiness using pathos was done in order to

appeal to audience because they might be able to relate. Brooks claims, “It means seeing life as a

moral drama, placing the hard experiences in a moral context and trying to redeem something

bad by turning it into something sacred” (286). This line helps the audience sympathize with

those who suffer, and that if one suffers, they can achieve the feeling of happiness and

satisfaction by using their pain and turning it into something much better. This evidence also

appeals to the audience’s emotions, thus helping them understanding how to find happiness.

While Lyubomirsky’s article consists of more ethos and logos, she implements a convenient

proper amount of pathos. Lyubomirsky uses pathos to appeal to her audience, who may be

looking to find happiness through her advice and information. When Lyubomirsky also

introduces three people: Angela, Randy, and Shannon, into her article. She discusses the rough

background Angela and Randy have, but regardless of this hard and traumatic past, they manage

to find happiness. Lyubomirsky explains Angela’s story, “When Angela was growing up in

Southern California, her mother was emotionally and physically abusive to her, and her father

did nothing to intervene” (180). The author’s reason for inputting Angela’s story, along with the

other two people, was to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Doing so shows the readers, that

despite going through difficult times, you can still be happy. This is more effective than Brooks’
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use of pathos because Lyubomirsky’s stories allows for the audience to sympathize and put

themselves in the shoes of Angela, Randy, and Shannon.

Throughout her article, Lyubomirsky makes an exceedingly effective argument using the

rhetorical arguments ethos, pathos, and logos. Because her assertion is very strong, the audience

can understand Lyubomirsky’s information. The effectiveness of her argument helps those who

want to achieve happiness but are not sure of how to do so. Many people can benefit from this

article because it helps you understand your happiness and how it is broken down into three

categories. Happiness is a feeling many seek, but often fail to find. How will you find your own

happiness?
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Works Cited

Brooks, David. “What Suffering Does.” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Matthew Parfit and

Dawn

Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s 2016, pp. 284-287

Hill, Graham. “Living with Less, A Lot Less.” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Mathew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s 2016, pp. 308-313

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “How Happy Are You and Why?” Pursuing Happiness, edited by Mathew

Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martin’s 2016, pp. 179-197