Fear the SUV

With billions of people in America coming of driving age today, the prominent question in a majority of minds is “What kind of car do I want?” “According to GM, 90% of teens interviewed in 1999 said they preferred SUVs to any other class of vehicles” (Bradsher 542). “Teens and people in their early 20’s may love SUVs, but should they be driving them?” (545). Keith Bradsher’s article “Gimme an SUV—ASAP…” effectively convinces his audience that teenagers driving SUVs proves to be dangerous by using respectable expert’s opinions, expressive stories, and appropriate studies and statistics.

Through Keith Bradsher’s article, he successfully establishes credibility by using reliable sources and famed individuals. “On Jan. 2, 2002, U.S. President Bill Clinton’s dog, Buddy, ran into the street in Chappaqua, N.Y., while chasing a contractor’s truck and was struck and killed by a high school student driving an SUV” (Bradsher 542). By giving this personal experience of President Clinton, the audience tends to be further interested and persuaded rather than reading an experience from someone random. Most, if not all, Americans are familiar with President Clinton, therefore making Bradsher’s argument stronger by giving a personal example of a credible source. Ed Molchany; Ford brand manager for Explorers, and Drew Cook; Ford marketing manger for Sport Trac and Ranger small pickups are mentioned in the article and also prove to exhibit credible sources when talking about SUV’s. The author includes a “press release warning parents against allowing young drivers behind the wheel of SUVs” issued by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that states “Don’t let your teen drive an unstable vehicle. Sport-utility vehicles, especially the smaller...

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...pathos, and logos. The appeal of ethos helps the author establish credibility, referencing significant individuals and concentrating on their opinions. By arousing the audience’s various emotions, Bradsher relates to the audience and establishes pathos. The fluent use of logic that the author incorporates helps institute the reality of the situation. Each rhetorical appeal proves to be an important ingredient in Keith Bradsher’s article by strengthening, in different ways, his argument that teenagers driving SUVs does not display a positive outcome.

Works Cited

Bradsher, Keith. "Gimme an SUV-ASAP: Teenagers Are the Next Big Market for

Sport-Utility Vehicles-and the Consequences Could Be Deadly." 2002. Page 540 Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. By John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Blinn College Edition ed. New York: Longman, 2007. Print.