Rhetorical Analysis Of Leonard Pitts Torture Might Work

Controversy is a wide discussion when it come to Liberals and Conservatives. Leonard Pitts is a controversial journalist for the Miami Herald. He is far left on the political spectrum. In “Don’t Lower the Bar on Education Standards,” “Torture Might Work, but That’s Not the Issue,” and “Real Men Keep Their Hands to Themselves,” Pitts shows a distinct writing style. He uses many rhetorical devices in his writings, and he uses many of the same devices in several passages. In “Torture Might Work,” Pitts discusses the immoral actions of torture, and in “Don’t Lower the Bar,” he talks about educational standards in the schooling system. He claims in order to fix the educational system, the standards cannot just be lowered. In “Real Men,” Pitts talks about the recent sexual abuse scandals that have come out, and how men should act with women. He lists some of the men who have been accused.

Pitts places strong ending statements at the end of his editorials to develop his ideas. He expands his idea of fixing education by confronting the issue. “Because ultimately, you do not fix education by lowering the bar. You do it by lifting the kids” (Pitts “Don’t Lower the Bar”). Pitts places this at the end of the article. Doing this, leaves it a mystery as to what his argument is. Another example of this is in “Torture Might Work,” Pitts fortifies that, “Power that is constrained by humanity is not constrained by anything at all” (“Torture Might Work). The audience is left with the last statement to think about and comprehend. In “Real Men,” Pitts goes on to end his article with, “You see, Fox ‘News’ has it exactly wrong. Men are not endangered species. Real men are another matter.” Leonard Pitts ended the article with a powerful statement about men. He leaves the reader hanging, which influences the audience to come to his beliefs using the evidence provided. It impacts their view on the authors