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Rhetorical Analysis Of Mary Ewald's Letter To Iraqi President Saddam Hussein

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Mary Ewald’s letter to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was shortly sent after the worried mother found out her son had been abducted in Kuwait.(Carroll, 177) In this letter Mary Ewald aims to convince the reader, President Hussein, that her family has been unjustly affected by the abduction of her son and pleads, “let my son go” (178). In order to convey this message Ewald sides strongly on her ethos. To prove her credibility her writing style, tone, diction, personal anecdotes and character traits are all implemented together to aid in her argument. Knowing that the president of Iraq would not receive letters from everyone and actually give in, Ewald strategically used her past experiences to get through to him. Through out her essay, phrases …show more content…

By reading the headnotes and letter, it depicts that the family is well educated and have some good financial standing, but this does not interfere in the letter. Ewald purposely avoids using big words because using big words doesn’t always carry the correct meaning, therefore influencing in a negative way. There is research from Princeton University that suggests that using big words doesn’t always make the audience understand the context well and usually message is delivered poorly. In a sense she was trying to avoid using wordiness and complex language. “My family has been a staunch friend to the Arabs”, is a way in which she tries to connect further with the president. Using the word “Staunch” is a substainal indicator that they are loyal to the Arabs and they should not be treated in this manner. Hussein’s ego is fed by her constantly saying, “I am writing to you”, I “appeal to you”, “ I beg you” which makes her seem to know that he has all the power and is the sole person that can help (177-178). She is being deceitful in the way to try and make him feel persuaded to let her son go by using these keys …show more content…

The essay conveys both an objective and subjective tone. In this letter she is passionate about what she is saying by pleading “I beg you, in the name of Allah.” She is desperate at this point and tries to appeal to Hussein religious affiliation. Although having an objective tone means not having passion, she mostly uses the criteria of an objective tone in the extent of informing the president Hussein of the wrong doing that has been brought against herself. The tone also stays within the aspect of seriousness because this of course is not a matter of humor but rather one of urgency. Her tone relies on a personal level with the president because she tries to provide personal anecdotes about her explaining the Muslim culture at an important global meeting and her son going to Arabia to try to help with peace amongst nations. (Carroll, 177) Another aspect that is hit on as the perceived attitude is one of respect by not being rude in the manner of calling names to him, disrespecting his rank or other immature things. From the tone perceived it could be said that a few key character traits shine

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