Op-Ed Reflection

At first, I was expecting the Op-Ed to be another one of those "write a long essay about some controversial issue that you don't care too much, and that will surely make you struggle coming up with more than a single page of material on" papers. At first, that is what I was preparing myself to do. Then my outlook on this paper changed when I looked at other people's Op-Eds, and I realized it was really supposed to be on something I have a strong opinion on. I realized this paper didn't have to be a fight with someone, didn't have to be a black-and-white argument, didn't even have to be an argument at all. I was merely supposed to bring to light an issue I've noticed and persuade people to change their outlook concerning said issue.

I feel like in my paper, I appealed a lot to Pathos: I used quotes, analogies, emotion, daily observations, and real-life situations. Along with that, I appealed to Ethos and tried to make myself both credible and connectable to my audience. I revealed to them that I am a female college student of BYU, and I confessed some of my faults to them in the effort that they would feel like they could relate to me in some way. Concerning Logos, I didn't really use statistics or anything factual like that; however, I do think my argument made a lot of sense, and I was told that it was a very new and fresh way to approach this issue.

What didn't work? Well I hope it all works, but maybe I was a little weak in my Logos. For someone intellectually and factually driven, this paper probably wouldn't appeal to them a whole lot; I guess that wasn't really my target audience though. Also, even though this is an Op-Ed, I think maybe I was a little too opinionated in my argument, and also maybe a bit too selective about my audience. I was clearly addressing a religious community when really this topic can be applicable to most everyone.