I never read a core book in high school. Reading has just never been my thing, until I came to college. Since I was paying for my classes, I figured I actually had to start doing the things I am required to do, such as reading. This year, I was introduced to a book called Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. It is about a boy named Enrique whose mother leaves him to find work in America, and he eventually goes on a life-threatening journey to reunite with her. My first thought about this book was that it was just another political scheme that the school was trying to thrust upon me, but I knew I had to read it to do well in the class. Page after page, I fell in love with the intense detail and dramatic events. This book should be added to the list as a common book for freshman because Nazario successfully connects with her readers by appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos. The first and biggest way Nazario connects with her readers is by engaging pathos into the text. Nazario’s use of imagery when describing how the migrants were mutilated and had limbs amputated while riding the train created an overall sense of empathy for the Central Americans. Nazario gruesomely described how one migrant named Carlos tried boarding a train when “The wheels flattened his right foot, then sliced through his left leg above the knee” (90). This vivid description is one of the many ways Nazario pulls in her audience through the use of pathos. In addition, Nazario gets on a personal level with her readers by describing how heartbroken children become when their mothers set off for the United States. Children find comfort through the scents and items their mothers leave behind, clutching onto them in hope that they will once again be reunited. Most of us can somehow relate to a time when our mothers had to leave for work or when we did not want them to leave us on our first day of elementary school, but rarely can we relate to our mothers never coming home to us. Nazario uses pathos in such an effective way that her readers feel sadness and empathy for these children. Using pathos is the main way that Nazario helps her audience connect better with Enrique’s journey. Not only does incorporating pathos in her text help readers connect with the book, but she also provides her readers with statistics and examples, otherwise known as logos.
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Mothers in Central America have been known to leave their children, and venture off to find work in the United States to provide their kids with a better life in their home country. Nazario informs us that “Central American women flocked to places with the greatest demand…where the number of private domestic workers doubled in the 1980s (xiii). Statistics such as this help the readers grasp the idea of how many mothers actually leave their families. Enrique’s mother left him at a very young age which led him to fixate on finding her. In chapter 1, Nazario is informed that 75 percent of children immigrating to America are in search of their mother’s and their love (5). This ongoing cycle of mothers leaving their kids and then the kids going to find their mothers is displayed by Enrique himself. Enrique unintentionally started his own family and left his child to find his mother. Chances are Enrique’s child will grow up longing for its father, thus continuing the cycle. Nazario provides us with factual evidence and specific examples that make it easier for us to get a grip of the journey from Central America to the United States. Lastly, Nazario tries her best to work in the use of ethos. It is hard for Nazario to get the full experience of what Enrique and other children go through. Yes, Nazario rode on top of the trains and did most of the things Enrique did, but she did not go weeks without bathing, days without eating, and no bed to sleep in. I would say that her use of ethos is Nazario’s weakest argumentative appeal, but she still went on the same journey as Enrique. Nazario claims that she, “spent three months…riding the tops of seven freight trains and interviewing people Enrique had encountered, along with dozens of other children and adults
Mothers in Central America have been known to leave their children, and venture off to find work in the United States to provide their kids with a better life in their home country. Nazario informs us that “Central American women flocked to places with the greatest demand…where the number of private domestic workers doubled in the 1980s (xiii). Statistics such as this help the readers grasp the idea of how many mothers actually leave their families. Enrique’s mother left him at a very young age which led him to fixate on finding her. In chapter 1, Nazario is informed that 75 percent of children immigrating to America are in search of their mother’s and their love (5). This ongoing cycle of mothers leaving their kids and then the kids going to find their mothers is displayed by Enrique himself. Enrique unintentionally started his own family and left his child to find his mother. Chances are Enrique’s child will grow up longing for its father, thus continuing the cycle. Nazario provides us with factual evidence and specific examples that make it easier for us to get a grip of the journey from Central America to the United States. Lastly, Nazario tries her best to work in the use of ethos. It is hard for Nazario to get the full experience of what Enrique and other children go through. Yes, Nazario rode on top of the trains and did most of the things Enrique did, but she did not go weeks without bathing, days without eating, and no bed to sleep in. I would say that her use of ethos is Nazario’s weakest argumentative appeal, but she still went on the same journey as Enrique. Nazario claims that she, “spent three months…riding the tops of seven freight trains and interviewing people Enrique had encountered, along with dozens of other children and adults