Rhetorical Analysis

Driving to the Funeral by Anna Quindlen
“It’s become a sad rite of passage in many American communities, the services held for teenagers killed in auto accidents before they’ve even scored a tassel to hang from the rearview mirror”. Anna Quindlen wrote the article ,”Driving to the Funeral” in June 11, 2007 issue of news week to make parents think twice before allowing their 16 year-old drive a car. Anna discusses issue on how too often teens are killed in car accidents and why something should be done about it. With the use of ethos, pathos, and logos, Anna illustrates that teens are too young to take on the responsibility of driving and that the solution to our problem is simple: change the legal driving age to 18.

Throughout the article, Quindlen uses ethos to make parents question their decision to allow their 16 year-old to drive. She even asks off the bat,” If someone told you there was one behavior most likely to lead to premature death of your kid?” Any parent that values morals who is asked a question like that obviously say yes, but Quindlen asks that for another reason; she’s making them question whether or not they are doing the right thing. To reinforce the same idea she says that “Any reasonable person would respond that a 13 year old is too young to drive. But statistics suggest that’s true of a 16 year-old as well”. Obviously no parent in their right mind would give their 13 year-old the keys to the cars because it not only puts the child at risk, but other people as well. Her effective use of ethos within the article helps her gain favor among readers regarding her wishes to change the legal driving age.