Analysis of a Sample Public Argument

https://pixabay.com/en/envelope-mail-open-envelop-mailing-34531/

Tone
The tone of this letter was persuasive and formal. Since the student is writing to the Governor, it is fairly important to understand that the Governor is in a position of authority. Due to this, the letter had to be written in a way that carries a professional tone, hence the formality. The student does this by conveying her arguments respectively. Furthermore, the tone was made persuasive by the student's use of facts and ideas; she wants the Governor to take her ideas into consideration, so she lays out facts and information to showcase the different options available to save the state money.  Thus, in order to get her point across to the Governor, she used a persuasive and formal tone.


Conventions of a Formal Letter
The conventions of a formal letter that were used in this example include a greeting, multiple body paragraphs, and a signature. These conventions are appropriate for her genre because she needs to introduce herself and explain her multiple viewpoints/ideas in the letter, while also closing her argument and providing her contact information. The greeting allows the student to specifically address her audience, while the body paragraphs explain her purpose and her proposals that she thinks the Governor should consider for Budget cuts/changes. The closing allows her to thank the Governor for taking the time to read her letter, and it also allows her to provide her contact information in case the Governor wants to discuss any part of her letter with her, as she would be more than happy to do so.

Ethos
The student showcases her ethos when she introduces herself as a college student and when she signs the letter saying she is from the Department of Biology at the University of Arizona's College of Science. This shows the Governor that she not only cares about the issue, but that she familiar with the idea of Medicine and healthcare since Biology is a huge part of study in the field of Medicine. It encourages the Governor to truly listen to what the student has to say, since she is familiar with the topic she is writing about.

Over-all Claim
The over-all claim that the student is trying to make is that there are alternatives to the proposed Medicaid budget cut. The student shares that while she understands the Governor has a need to save the state money and do her job, taking insurance away from the people that need it most will lead to greater problems in the state. Thus, she proposes alternative options that would allow the Medicaid coverages to not be cut, and still save the state money.

Call-to-Action
The student's call-to-action for the Governor is to reconsider the budget cuts by considering the student's proposed solutions such as increasing oversight on high medical costs, healthcare taxes, and more.

Suggestions
I think that the letter was pretty well done; however, a few changes could still be made. She could work on some of her transitions because in some cases she cuts off her ideas quickly, and she could also work on establishing her status as a student in the College of Science in her introductory statement. (I.e. a little more work on establishing credibility). While politicians may be thrilled that college students are interested in the issues in America, the Governor may not be convinced that making budget cuts based off of what a Freshman in college says is a good idea. It would help to know that the student is familiar with medical field and industry and the issues surrounding it earlier on in the letter. Lastly, I think she could probably separate her paragraphs on taxes and safety nets so that she could elaborate a little more on each idea, because as I said earlier, she sometimes cuts off her ideas early.