Have you ever tried to start a garden in your back yard? I have, for my mother’s 50th birthday. I went to the store, bought a whole bunch of pots, soil, flowers, and vegetables. I planted said flowers and vegetables; sprinkled on some miracle grow and gently sprayed some water over head. After much tending to, by the end of the summer all the flowers had perished, and we had two whole tomatoes, one eggplant, and a half squirrel eaten zucchini.
Therefor, I understand Margie Helmholtz’s frustration after spending her time, money, and energy, into creating the perfect garden, and only producing one messily looking cherry tomato. In “Full Summer of Tending Backyard Garden Produces Single Edible Cherry Tomato”, Ms. Helmholtz’s is unable to make a successful garden after investing “more than $280 for soil, fencing, pesticides, and specialty gloves and hand tools, and also devoted scores of hours to the study of home gardening, purchasing two books and visiting nearly a dozen websites on the subject”.
This hoax/humbug’s pathos is relatable to it’s audience because many gardening amateur’s experience similar frustrations in their gardens. The article is satirical and though it is far-fetched it makes sense and people can relate to the irritation experienced by Ms. Helmholtz. Gardening is an action many are familiar with, and can easily comprehend what the article is discussing.
The sources ethos, per say is not entirely credible considering it is a short article published on The Onion, a known fabricated newspaper. This satire appeals to the general public; no high educational background is necessary, and it is made to ease the audience and possibly for a short laugh. This articles strongest rhetorical tool is pathos, as it draws the reader into the story as they empathize with Ms. Helmholtz’s one tiny tomato.
Really nice work incorporating the satirical purpose of the article, Maya. You do an especially nice job with pathos–by setting up your own frustrated experience you do a nice job showing how a reader could relate to this article, which might heighten the joke. (As a side note, I sent this article to a friend of mine the other day, because my “garden” this summer produced exactly *two* cherry tomatoes. Grim.) It’s also a nice fit for the blog format because it’s a bit more informal.
I wonder how playing with some technical elements might draw out your analysis–how could you break this into paragraphs, or transition between ideas? A big challenge for rhetorical analysis is figuring out how the pieces tie together, instead of listing the various elements. I also would have liked to hear about what you see as the role of logos!