Bryan Walsh wrote the article entitled "The Plight of the Honeybee", which was published in the year 2013. In this article, the author informs that audience that rate at which honeybees are dying is alarming. Through the article, the author tries to convince the audience that honeybees play a great part in the agricultural systems. As such, their deaths may negatively affect agriculture since bees pollinate many plants. He argues that the use of pesticides in agricultural farms is responsible for the deaths of many bees. In his article, Walsh has successfully transformed text that may seem complex into an interesting and convincing topic by using rhetorical strategies of logos, pathos, and ethos.
In this article, the author argues that pesticides are causing the disappearance of honey bees. The author has presented a conversation he had with a beekeeper Jim Doan. According to the beekeeper, neonicotinoid pesticides are among the reasons for the deaths of the honeybee. He claims that the pesticides affect more than 140 types of crops both in large farms and home gardens (Walsh 1). According to the author, honeybees add the value of about 15 billion dollars in the Agricultural system of the US (Walsh 1). In order to prove the importance of the honey bees, the author cited an incidence in Rhode Island where Whole Food Stores removed foods that depend on pollinators from the stores in order to highlight the significance of honeybees in Agriculture. Among the 453 types of foods in the store, about 237 foods were eliminated (Walsh 1). With the study results, the author quoted Hannah Nordhaus who argued that honeybees are like the glue that holds the agricultural system together. According to the author, this glue is falling especially after commercial beekeepers started noticing the reduced population of the honeybees.
The author has effectively presented his argument with the use of logos or logical reason in order to convince his readers. This is expected in this kind of article where the author tries to explain the scientific phenomenon to the readers. The phenomenon explained using logos in the article is the mass death of honeybees. The used of logos is evident where the author has presented factual figures when quoting a study that was conducted in the past by experts in the area. This makes the paper to appear complex to some readers, however; it was necessary to make the argument regarding the alarming death rate of the honey bees. For example, in the first paragraph of the article, the author has cited figures such as 237 items that vanished out of 453 items after the elimination of honey bees pollinated products in the system (Walsh 1). This figures played a great part in enhancing the credibility of the argument presented in the article. With this figures, it is more convincing for the author to argue that honey bees are indeed the glue of the agricultural system. The other example of the use of the figure in the article is where that author says that pesticides are used on more than 140 different crops (Walsh 3). These figures help in supporting the author's argument that indeed the honey bees are in endless exposure to chemicals that kill them. The author's explanation of ideas also shows the use of logos in the article. For instance, this seen when the author is trying to explain the impacts of the honeybees deaths. In order to effectively explain the mass death of the honey bees, the author has assigned it a scientific name the Colony-Collapse Disorder (CCD). The author has defined the disorder as the financial implications of the death of honey bees. According to the author, the disappearance of the bees has made commercial beekeepers to lose their business. Moreover, it has caused the shortage of staple foods in the country. Logos is also seen in the objective reporting of information in the article. For instance, the author has objectively reported the cause of mass death based on the findings of the research leaders at the US Department of Agriculture. According to the article, the cause of mass death of the bees include poisoned environment, pesticides, and the Varroa mites.
The use of logos is also seen in the article where the author has used historical facts to support his argument. This is proved in the first paragraph of the article where the author talks about the history of Varroa, the bee-killing pests. According to the article, the pests were introduced in the US in the year 198s (Walsh 1). The use of historical facts makes the argument more credible since it proves to the audience that the author has done enough research and is well conversant with the information he has presented in the article.
The author could have used logos extensively in the article, however; has also effectively incorporated pathos in order to appeal to the emotions of his audience. This also contributed to making his argument to sound more credible. An example of the use of pathos in the article was when the author said that the disappearance of the honey bees would make the planet poorer and hungrier (Walsh 2). With this statement, the author instills fear in the readers. The aim of the author in doing this to make the audience see the urgency of addressing the issues. The author goes ahead to inform the audience in the article that if they fail to address the issue, the world will experience a disaster. With such statement, the author has used the emotions of fear to persuade the audience that the honey bees are the vital part of the system. The other use of emotional appeal is seen in the article where the author says that people are killing a species that they have relied on for many years (Walsh 2). This part of the article triggers the feeling of sympathy. Through the statement, the audience feels guilty as they sympathize with insects that have been helpful to them, and now they are working very hard to destroy them. This shows how humans are becoming ungrateful to a species that has contributed in putting food on their tables. This persuades the audience by making them relate to his argument.
The use of pathos is also evident in the author's use of people's stories or experiences to convince the audience about the importance of honey bees. For example, the author has cited the story of Jim Doan who was able to pay his college fees through beekeeping (Walsh 2). Apart from Jim Don, the author has narrated the experiences of Don's father who also greatly benefited from beekeeping. This part of the article illustrates how honeybees are the vital part of the financial system. It makes the audience to relate to the experiences of other people while effectively convincing them to support the claims of the author.
The use of ethos in the article also helps in making the author's argument more credible. For example, in the article, the author has used credible sources of the experts in the field he has written about. For example, the author has quoted research experts such as Jeff Pettis who claimed that with the high death rate of honey bees, we are very close to the edge (Walsh 1). This use of ethos motivates the audience to trust the information he has presented in the article. Moreover, the use of ethos is seen in the language used by the author. For example, instead of forcing the audience to support his argument, the author has used tentative yet authoritative language. This proved in the article where he reports what experts in the field or people with experience such as Jim Doan suggest or recommend. Instead of telling the audience that the only way is to protect the honeybees, he has expressed in an ethical way through experts such as Jeff Pettis who suggest that saving the honeybees is the best option. Moreover, the author's accurate citation of sources also helps in enhancing the credibility of the information presented. This improves the reputation of the author since it shows how he gives credit where it is due. With improved reputation, the audience can trust his information more.
Conclusively, although the article may appear complex just like any scientific paper, the author has managed to present his argument in a simple and credible way by using rhetorical strategies such as pathos, ethos, and logos. The effective use of logos is seen through the author's presentation of figures and historical facts that prove his expertise in the subject discussed in the article. Moreover, the author has done a good job of supporting his argument by appealing to the emotions of the audience. For instance, he has talked about how bees have been helpful to human beings. Yet humans are destroying them instead of protecting them. This makes humans sympathize with the bees so that they can be motivated to protect them. The use of ethos is also seen through the author's use of credible sources of experts in the field and accurate citation of the sources.