Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Women Entrepreneurs 2.0

Why does this writing work? That's an interesting question, isnt it?

Fritz Laurvig. "When strategy is not important". 11-3-08 via Flickr. CC A-NC ND 2.0.

Credibility and Character

• Julie definitely employs a personal story in her text, which allows us to start empathizing
• Personal stories are also very effective in getting peoples' attention
• Her word choice is also interesting because she uses positive words throughout the text
• "strong", "aware", "creativity", "guidance": words like this get us in a good mood
• There is also some brief information about Julie's expertise because she is an engineer
• These strategies show us that Julie is a credible source for advice on this subject
• They make the entire text more readable and relatable, which makes more of an impact
• There are no obvious biases or presumptions (besides equality) that would affect credibility

Emotion

• Her personal story is also emotionally compelling, and that is how it inspires empathy
• The repetition of key words is also crucial because we start thinking positively
• "don't be afraid to be bold and confident in your abilities, and let womanly intuition and passion guide you"
• This quote definitely appeals to peoples' emotions and gets them in a positive attitude about it
• Her level of formality is low, which is more emotionally open than very formal texts
• These create an emotional response that moves us to make changes
• I think that it achieves the desired result and we're compelled to make things change
• These emotional appeals are effective because people will make change when they're emotionally invested
• If anything, the emotions will help make her logic more believable

Logic

• "a rising tide lifts all boats"
• ^That's the first quote that demonstrates Julie's logic. She argues that good ideas are good for the group regardless of who they come from, which is a big argument for equality.
• This quote doesn't fall into any of the bullet points but it does employ some good logic
• Her own story can also be considered a case study, but there is no direct quote for that
• Julie's article appeals more to emotion than to logic, but it does so to prove equality is logical