On Corporal Punishment From Moab Is My Washpot Summary

In Stephen Fry’s address, “On Corporal Punishment from Moab Is My Washpot,” he explains to the audience his opinion on Corporal punishment for the future generations. His purpose for writing this article addressing such forms of punishment is to persuade the parents or children facing harm that while corporal punishment is wrong, it is not the worst thing that can happen to a young person. Fry explains that other children bully and leaving lasting scars on each other by bullying than any punishment from the parents or teachers of a child. This is why the audience he is attempting to speak to is children and parents facing these situation in today’s society. Because it is so different now, Fry is explaining his view of hopefully persuade others to

By stating that people are unaware, he is automatically appealing to all the mother’s in the audience because he is stating that they may not know their own children. This automatically strikes unpleasing emotions and draws the reader in on an emotional level to find out more on this one broad statement. Fry appeals to the reader’s emotions by making a broad statement against most people’s knowledge of child abuse.
• “Let’s try--and God knows it’s hard--to be logical about this. If we object to corporal punishment, and I assume we do, on what grounds is this objection based? On the grounds that it is wrong to cause a child pain?
Here, Fry outright appeals to logos by stating for the reader to use their logic. This causes the reader to go in reading the next sentences focusing on the logistical information presented. The analytical sense that the reader takes on is proof that the author is outwardly attempting to appeal to logos. By stating rhetorical questions, Fry is attempting to sir the reader’s logistical reasoning when it comes to corporal punishment and long term abuse brought upon children in other ways.