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Crystal Chavez

Professor Granillo

English 101

18 September 2018

Understanding Robert Leonard’s Rural America

Authors use rhetoric in their writing and it is a form of technique that the author uses to

communicate with the goal of persuasion. Rhetoric was founded by an ancient Greek philosopher

who goes by the name of Aristotle. It provides an understanding and developing argument,

answering how and why to some message behind, which in the case Aristotle creates the

audience appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos refers to logic and reasoning, and it means to

persuade by the use of reasoning. There comes pathos, which refers to emotional, means to

persuade by appealing to the reader’s feelings. The final piece is ethos, refers credibility or ethic

appeal, it means to convince the character of the author. All of this, rhetoric, is being used today

in America to analyze messages within all forms being shown to people. Robert Leonard, the

author of “Why Rural America Voted for Trump?”, balances the use of rhetorical devices, logos,

pathos, and ethos, to write his motivation of Trump getting elected and a sense in mourning drift

amongst America, and he effectively succeeds to show what led the rural Americans to vote for

Trump with the use of rhetoric.

Robert wanted to know why the people in rural America voted for Trump after he won

the election; he uses logos showing the rural American’s values to demonstrate their decision. He

uses good appeals to logos with citing persuading facts and progressing values. Robert points out

the facts of the rural America and their value for America. In the article, “Why Rural Americans

Voted for Trump” Robert states, “They are part of a growing movement in rural America that
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immerses many young people in culture-not just conservative news outlets but also home and

church environments-that emphasizes contemporary conservative values” (280). It introduces

and maintains the idea that they hold a conservative value for America. Robert continues on with

more of their values, “believe people are fundamentally bad” (280). This quote demonstrates to

support what they logically value in America and that is all about conservative values that should

be held in America. Robert has been able to know more about the American values the rural

people and proceeds to know about the political values.

Robert Leonard continues to use logos with the same methods of citing facts and values

to explain the rural American’s decision. Robert shows the view of politics, republican’s view

that the rural hold aside from their American value. Robert states, “It views liberals as

loathsome, misinformed and weak, even dangerous” (281). It demonstrates to claim what the

rural Americans value in politics and that they don’t like liberals or democrats. In addition to that

he also claims, “They also think the liberal worldview creates unnecessary rules and regulations

that cripple the economy and take away good jobs that may belong to them or their neighbor”

(Leonard 283). It evokes to the mind of being a republican rural American of what they view and

what they go through from the democrats. The details and reasoning build logos and informs the

reader the factors of rural Americans voting for Trump, he continues to do so with pathos.

After the 2016 election of Trump’s win, Robert seek to know why the rural Americans

voted for Trump and uses pathos to capture the fear built upon the rural Americans. He uses a

good appeal to pathos with triumphantly engaging the emotional claim. In the article “Why Rural

Americans Voted for Trump” Robert writes, “Rural conservatives feel that their world is under

siege, and that Democrats are an enemy to be feared and loathed” (284). It evokes an image of

the feeling the rural Americans face when they are up against the Democrats. The wording in it
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evokes negative emotion and demonstrates fear that they are displaying for the readers that the

Democrats are attacking those in the rural. Robert has been able to portray the fear expressed on

the rural Americans that took occurrence before and during the elections, and proceeds to

express their hope.

Robert Leonard still uses pathos along with the same method of triumphantly engaging

the emotional claim. He reinforces with his word choice to show the concept of hope. In addition

to that he demonstrates an example, “Many moderate rural Republicans became supporters of

Mr. Trump when he released his list of potential Supreme Court nominees who would allow the

possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade” (283). It demonstrates a concept of hope for how they

are willing to go to him based on an action that reflects upon their belief. His wordings establish

the hope the rural Americans have on Trump to help them have their time to be shown, an appeal

to pathos and moves on to ethos.

With Trump winning the election from the majority of the rural American’s voice to be

heard Robert wanted to gather information for the reason for this and uses ethos with creating

credibility well-respected sources. Robert was able to gain an understanding of his question

which is learned from the credential of a fellow rural American. He adds, “J. C. Watts, a Baptist

minister raised in the small town of Eufaula, Oklahoma, who was a Republican congressman

from 1995 to 2003” (Leonard 280). Citing this source helps raise Leonard’s credibility that he

has done part into finding support for his claim. Being able to find sources proves his credibility

to believe that he is presenting a reliable article on why the rural Americans voted for Trump

from a rural American themselves, he goes on to prove more of his credibility by using his

personal testimony.
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The author, Robert Leonard still uses ethos with creating credibility from his personal

testimony. In the article, he describes his setting in the beginning of a specific time in a coffee

shop in Knoxville, Iowa, and describes an example of the daily rural American. In the article,

“Why Rural America Voted for Trump?”, he writes, “I’m a native Iowan and reporter in rural

Marion County, Iowa…My family has mostly voted Democratic since long before I was born…

I have struggled to understand how these conservative friends and” (Leonard 280). He uses his

personal example from his understanding of the problem he is asking for, which shows what he

has experienced. Robert was able to prove his credibility from his personal statement and is not

some false author, which he is appealing to ethos and is the last piece to balance out the claim on

his article.

In the article, “Why Rural America Voted for Trump?”, the author Robert Leonard

effectively balances the use of rhetoric, logos, pathos, and ethos in his writing, which was taken

place after Trump won the election and what made the rural Americans vote for him. He starts

his essay by informing his readers persuading facts of rural Americans voting for Trump based

on their American and political values, this uses the form of logos. Proceeds on catching the

reader’s attention by engaging them with emotion into the claim of the feelings found within the

rural Americans, this uses the form of pathos. To that end Robert creates credibility from

personal testimony of his and of another well-respected source to show support of the claim, this

uses the form of ethos. Overall, he has been able to effectively succeed in his argument with the

use of rhetoric from his motivation. Robert has shown the point that the rural American’s voted

for Trump because they wanted change in America that can benefit them better than it was

before, instead of the hands of another democrat.

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Works Cited

Leonard, Robert. “Why Rural America Voted for Trump”. They Say, I Say, Gerald Graff, Cathy

Birkenstein Russel Durst, 4, page. 279-284, W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.