Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Why We Keep Playing The Lottery'

The Rhetorical Analysis of – Why We Keep Playing the Lottery

Consciously and constructively sensitizing the public of the need to understand the game of playing the lottery, Adam Piore, a freelance journalist with main focus on international business and travel, wrote an article titled “Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”. He wrote to make his audience understand the tricks in playing the lottery, and also to understand that the American Government extorts money from the poor community through the sale of lottery tickets. While analyzing the impact of playing the lottery on the American population, the author uses inoffensive word choices to explain the fundamental facts of playing the lottery. His main argument is that people are tricked into playing the lottery by good marketing schemes, positive re-enforcement, and by substituting logic with fantasy. He effectively convinces his audience of his argument through the use of statistics, references
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He begins his article by talking about the small chance people have in winning the lottery. Most of the article describes Piore’s interactions with Hargrove, the Lottery legend. He explains that Hargrove “built the state lotteries in Georgia and Florida from scratch” (Piore 700). He also talks about the legend’s expertise in the business of lottery and her “intuitive understanding of what drives her customers to play the game” (Piore 700). The author’s interaction with Hargrove gave him more insight and understanding of the tricks and logical manipulation of human brain in believing what is not factual. This gives him a first-hand information and understanding of why the lottery is so popular and attractive. He draws an inference that lottery “is a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale. And nobody knows how to sell hope and dreams better than Rebecca Paul Hargrove” (Piore