Amtrak Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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“Priceless family moments are now more affordable” reads an online Amtrak advertisement. A family of three sits happily aboard a train car, the parents smiling at one another, their son playing his handheld Nintendo. “Kids age 2-15 ride for half off” the advertisement goes on to say, followed by a website where viewers can find more information about the sale. When the advertisement was published in July 2012 to Amtrak email subscribers, countless amounts of people took to social media to express their dissatisfaction toward Amtrak for publishing such an advertisement. What makes it so controversial? The parents happen to both be male; the child on his Nintendo has gay fathers. Aside from that, the advertisement is shockingly humdrum. However, …show more content…

The use of pathos can be defined as the use of emotional appeal – it allows the viewers to make a personal connection to the piece. Aside from the two men that are obviously a couple, the mundane vibe in the picture might be one of the first things a viewer notices about the advertisement; the not-so-“normal” family is depicted in a very “normal” way (“normal” referring to a family with heterosexual parents, which is also known as heteronormativity). A simple button-down shirt can be seen on all members of the depicted family, with one father wearing a pull-over sweater. The roomette they seem to be in has large windows, through which a city can be seen passing as the train moves. No stereotypical rainbow colored flags or shocking half-nude male dancers can be seen in this ad. In other words, the purpose of pathos in this instance is to get viewers to think ‘Hey! Those guys are just like me, so why should I treat them in a way that I wouldn’t want to be …show more content…

If a person were to read the comment threads on news articles regarding the Amtrak Ride with Pride advertisement, they would run across many unhappy commenters claiming the advertisement to be an abomination of traditional American principles or a threat to the sanctity of marriage. However, they would also run across many more commenters exclaiming their pride and gratification toward the government-subsidized company for launching the ad campaign and expanding the definition of a “normal” family. Regarding this idea, author Jess C. Scott says in her book New Order, “What good are social norms, really? I think all they do is project a limited and harmful image of people. They impede a broader social acceptance of what someone, or a group of people, might actually be like” (Scott 61). Families come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with variations in race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The sooner society stops associating certain groups of people with certain stereotypes, the sooner an advertisement with two fathers will be less

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