In Which Essay Is Pathos Used More Effectively?

Question: In which essay is pathos used more effectively?

        Readers of any kind of literature may have the experience of being left in tears, filled with joy, or full of anger after reading. What is it that makes those pieces so emotionally powerful? It is the use of pathos, which can help authors convey a sense of feeling through just words. In the essays A New Perspective and Four Generations, both Janice E. Fein and Joyce Maynard honour mother's love by writing with series of pathos. While both stories are touching, Janice E. Fein's use of pathos in A New Perspective is more significant and effective.

        Fein first introduces her story by recalling a childhood memory. The memory of her mother walking her to kindergarten is supposedly a sweet memory; however, she laments that she only remembers her mother walking one time in her life. The contrast stresses how much she has missed out from her mother. In the paragraphs that follow, she further explains why she felt cheated in life. She was never able to have her mother go volunteer at school, never had "steaming mug of hot cocoa" waiting for her, nor the "marvelous sounds and smells" coming from her home kitchen. These recollections make her childhood pitiful. They make the readers want to sympathize her because she lacked the same kind of love other children receive from their mothers. Instead of causing the readers to question her dissatisfaction, she provides the reason behind her jealousy towards her friends and her resentment towards her mother's inability to take care of her. But she then ended her story with a twist. Her sudden change of perspective helps the readers to realize that her mother has missed out more than her. As a parent, her mother was not able to participate in her childhood. By saying that she was not the only one cheated in life, she makes the readers reconsider their views, almost causing a sense of guilt.

        The different structures of the essays also affect the effectiveness in the application of pathos. Unlike Maynard in Four Generations, Fein focuses mainly on her own perspective throughout the essay; therefore it is easier for the readers to connect to her. A New perspective is more appealing and relatable since it is mostly narrated through a child's point of view, because while not everybody has been a parent, everybody must has been a child. The feeling evoked by a child's narration can be shared by the majority. In addition, Fein tells her story in a chronological order instead of in fragments, the emotions brought up in her essay are smoothly transitioned.