In Sarah Bishop’s argumentative essay, “Mandating the HPV Vaccine,” sheoffers the newest of debates in the long-standing discussion of teens and sex—the HPV vaccine. She chooses to approach her audience with a direct argument:“The HPV vaccine should be mandated [for] young teens everywhere.”Her use of ethos, pathos, and logos illustrates and develops her claims aboutthe vaccine. Bishop draws support for her argument from current journalarticles and web sites, and then furthers an appeal to ethos by identifyingherself as a candidate for the vaccine. Describing the virus as “unknowinglycommon ” among men and women, she also incites pathos in her reader:“[C]hildren have the right to be protected.” Appealing via logos, she constructsa path of evidence built on facts and testimony.To set up and then support a good argument a writer should also accountfor opposition. Bishop identifies her opposition as “conservative families” whomight be opposed to mandating the HPV Vaccine. How does she acknowledgetheir voices? Does she represent them fairly? Did she include all opposingvoices on the issue?
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