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Argument Analysis: The Case Torture

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The readers can tell that in the book The Case Torture the author is for one side of the story and the arguments he makes through the whole story makes the readers think about the side that he chose. Just like in the first paragraph when the author said “suppose a terrorist has hidden an atomic bomb on Manhattan island which will detonate at noon on July 4 unless… (Here follow the usual demands for money and release of his friends from jail). Suppose, further, that he is caught at 10 A.M. of the fateful day, but- preferring death to failure- won’t disclose where the bomb is.”(Lavin 605) The author give an example of when he feels like it would be right to use torture as a of getting the truth out, and in this example he is trying to persuade …show more content…

The readers can see that the author is using pathos to appeal to the reader’s emotion by telling the reader that it is probably their fault that those millions of people died because of them, and if they would have just used the electrodes this wouldn’t have happened. After that the author goes on and tries to appeal to the mothers by saying, “Suppose a terrorist group kidnapped a newborn baby from a hospital. I asked four mothers if they would approve of torturing kidnappers if that were necessary to get their own newborns back. All said yes, the most “liberal” adding that she would administer it herself” (Lavin 606). The reader can tell that the author was trying to appeal to the mother; the author added a situation where someone kidnapped their new born and asked them what they would do as the readers know that the mothers other would go to any extent to make sure that their child is fine and safe. After that, then the author goes on by saying “I am not advocating torture as punishment” (Lavin 606). In a way, the author is advocating torture as a punishment, but then the author doesn’t want readers to think that they in favor of torture for punishment in some

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