Men Are From Vengeance

For my rhetorical analysis essay I chose William Saletan's article "Men Are From Vengeance". In the following article Saletan argues that men are less empathetic than women when it comes to the act of punishing the innocent and guilty. Saletan forms his position through the use of several literary devices such as; contrast, statistics and studies, and a underlying appeal to ethics.

The most prevalent device found throughout his writing is the use of studies, polls, and surveys to prove his argument through factual information. For example, one study provided in this article involved actors playing a game where some were playing fairly others playing fairly. At the end of the study both the actors playing fairly and unfairly were administered electric shocks. Both women and men showed "empathy-related activation in pain-related brain areas". However when the same shocks were applied to those who played unfairly, men showed and increase in activity in "reward-related" areas of the brain. Studies such as these are very effective in solidifying his position that men are less forgiving than men when it comes to punishment.

Although it is not as easy to see contrast works together with his use of examples to further develop his argument. In the following, "...the reason that registered the biggest gender gap by far was that 'was that some innocent people being put to death.' Thirty five percent of the men picked that reason; only twenty one percent of women did", the author contrast how different men's thinking can be versus women's.

Lastly and perhaps the most hidden device used is his appeal to ethics. This is not directly stated it implied through the questions asked throughout several polls. Several of the issues discussed in these polls relate directly to the war in middle east and torturing suspected terrorist. Indirectly the author is asking his audience whether these ideals are moral.

This article both informs it's readers about the thinking of men and allows to re-think there previous beliefs on societies empathy toward others.