Response to Rifkin's "A Change of Heart About Animals"

Ally Ferrell

Werry Section 27

August 29, 2014

Rifkin’s “A Change of Heart about Animals”

Rifkin’s main claim in his article is that animals are much more like humans than most people realize. Some of his supporting claims include animals have feelings, some arevery intellectual, and that they are self aware. 

One of the types of evidence that Rifkin uses to support his claims is facts and statistics. He shows research done by universities that show that animals have feelings, are self aware. etc. This also plays into his use of ethos, or authoritative quotes. He quotes very reliable sources on their opinions and research in order to show that his facts can be trusted by the readers instead of them thinking that he’s making it all up. The third type of evidence he uses is examples. Rifkin uses examples of different animals doing things that are convincing that they are much like us.

The strategy that Rifkin uses is pathos, in order to connect to the emotions of the readers. He really personifies the animals and gives examples that are easy to connect to in order to help prove his point that animals are like humans and have similar experiences.