I decided to read this article because, based on the short description of it underneath the link, it seemed to be saying that it was very difficult to adopt a child, which surprised me. I thought there was an excess of children who needed adoption out there. I wondered if the legal process was too difficult for some people, which I thought would be very unfortunate, since we should try to get every child into a good home rather than worry about legal details. As it turns out, the article was a narrative by a woman who has been trying to adopt a child. She has already attempted it several times, and in this particular story, she finally meets one of the potential birthmothers. After meeting her, emailing her constantly, texting, and forming a relationship, she discovers that the woman was never pregnant at all. It was a scam, oddly enough. I was very surprised that anyone would pretend to be pregnant in order to meet with potential adoptive parents. I can't imagine what her motives were.
Although it was an interesting, well-written story, I was left slightly uncertain of what the author was trying to say. I think her point was how difficult it is to find a child to adopt. She could definitely have emphasized the point much more. She basically tells the story and that is the entire article. There isn't really any explanation of what she learned, or why it is relevant or anything like that. She did not any general statements to suggest that this is an actual issue rather than a weird one-time thing. If adoption is this hard for everyone, I think that is an important thing that ought to change. However, maybe this woman is unlucky. Or maybe it's easy to adopt from orphanages, while adopting from actual birth mothers is more difficult. The article included very little logos. Since it was a personal narrative, the appeal to ethos was strong. It would be very silly to question whether she has her facts straight. The appeal to pathos was also strong, as she described her longing for a child and her inability to become pregnant or adopt. However, I don't know if I would call her argument "persuasive" since I really can't say one way or another whether there was an argument. If she was simply telling a story, she told it well. If she had a greater purpose, however, she might have stated it more explicitly.
Article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/my-bridge-to-nowhere/
that seems more like a journal entry than an article but it definitely seems that the author expressed her concerns about the adoption process as it is very complicated. Good job analyzing!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know about the adoption process, it is kind of overwhelming and time consuming. But when you think about it, it is a complete change in your life and the life of the child, so in a way it should be. That's a really weird situation she got herself in, I wonder what that woman was trying to do exactly?
ReplyDeleteUGGGG, kelly this is making me want to cry! It brought me back to this summer when I went to a few mexican orphanages and helped out. The bonds you can form with these children are unreal! I wanted to take them all home, but I knew I couldn't. I left in sobs. The life of an orphan can be so heart breaking, that's why I feel adoption is so important, whether it's adopting them from birth or adopting them from orphanages, I feel we all should have a want to give a child a better life.
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