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  • Essay / The United States should not have open borders - 692

    Star Parker's essay, "Se Habla Entitlement" was published in 2006 on the website WorldNetDaily.com. In this essay, Parker attempts to convince the reader that the United States should not have an open border policy. She uses the techniques of Ethos, Pathos and logos to present a compelling argument to the reader, which ultimately falls a bit short. Parker begins the essay with the Ethos technique giving the reader her political point of view, when she states, "...I consider myself a libertarian" in the first paragraph. She also presents herself as directly involved by stating, "Anyone who lives in Southern California, like me..." in paragraph 14. By giving the reader her political perspective and placing herself as a first-hand witness, Parker imposes herself as authoritative. on the theme of illegal immigration. Parker attempts to convince the reader by pointing out the flaws of immigration supporters and their protests. In paragraph 3, she states: "There is something unconvincing about illegal immigrants demonstrating that they have an inalienable right to come here, to be here, to work here, to become citizens here – and to make all these demands in Spanish.” She adds in paragraph 7: “The civil rights movement was about enforcing the law, not breaking it. The amendments made to the Constitution during the Civil War failed to accomplish the work that has been a long struggle in this country to treat black people as human beings. If Americans kidnapped Mexicans and sold them into slavery here, I could see the equivalence. But these are free people, who chose to come here and do it illegally.” With these statements, Parker attempts to appeal to the reader's sensibilities to persuade him to follow his path... middle of paper... straight. This is an effective conclusion that supports his thesis. The structure of the essay is well written, concise and precise. Parker creates a compelling argument and supports his opinions with statistical evidence. However, the statistics are very one-sided. The opposing argument isn't really considered, so Parker's argument is very biased. Parker also doesn't offer a solution to the problem, stating only that she thinks illegal immigration is wrong. This ultimately creates a one-sided argument that, while compelling, does little to fully bring the reader to its point of view. If Parker had presented the other side of the argument and offered a possible solution, the overall effect would have been much greater. Works Cited Parker, Star. “Droit Se Habla.” The Longman Reader for English 101. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 566-568.