Analyzing Rhetoric

Read this passage:

This argument appeals to the wheelchair ethos of the

wealthy, upper-middle-class American slob. If Rainbow

Bridge is worth seeing at all, then by God it should be

easily, readily, immediately available to everybody with

the money to buy a big powerboat.

--Edward Abbey, "The Damnation of a Canyon"

What type of logical fallacy does this passage from "The Damation of a Canyon" contain?

• A. Ad hominem

• B. Slippery slope

• C. Bandwagon

• D. Circular

What is the tone of "The Damnation of a Canyon"?

• A. Sad and hopeful

• B. Funny and hostile

• C. Guilty and remoresful

• D. Happy and questioning

3a. Which statement is an example of the author's use of logos in "The Damnation of a Canyon"?

• A. The author uses a sarcastic tone to make other arguments sound reasonable.

• B. The author explains that he has firsthand experience and is considered an expert.

• C. The author offers definitions of words in order to clarify the terms for the reader.

• D. The author creates a beautiful picture of the area before the dam was built.

Which excerpt is an example of pathos from "The Damnation of a Canyon"?

• A. Many of the side canyons above the fluctuating waterline are now rendered more difficult, not easier, to get into. This is because the debris brought down into them by desert storms, no longer carried away by the river, must unavoidably build up...

• B. I have had the unique opportunity to observe firsthand some of the differences between the environment of a free river and a power-plant reservoir.

• C.One should admit at the outset to a certain bias. Indeed I am a "butterfly chaser, gooly eyed bleeding heart and wild conservative."

• D. Anyone who has tried to pilot a motorboat through a raft of half-sunken logs and bloated dead cows will have his own thoughts on the accessibility of these water.

5a. Which excerpt is an example of the author's use of ethos in "The Damnation of a Canyon"?

• A. If Rainbow Bridge is worth seeing at all, then by God it should be easily, readily, immediately available to everybody with the money to buy a big powerboat.

• B. I have had the unique opportunity to observe first hand some of the differences between the differences between the environment of a free river and a power-plant reservoir.

• C. The utter barreness of the reservoir shoreline recalls by contrast the aspect of things before the dam, when Glen Canyon formed the course of the untamed Colorado.

• D. It is often stated that the dam and its reservoir have opened up to the many what was formally restricted to the few, implying in this case that what was once expensive has now been made cheap.

6a. What is the author's main argument in "The Damnation of a Canyon"?

• A. Lake Powell has become a premier vacation spot among tourists in California.

• B. Being able to boat down the C