Austin Epple Rhetorical Analysis English 103 Carnes

The Plight of the Irish In the year of 1840, the Irish were face with one of the !ost gri! ile!!as that has e"er face an entire group of people# The pro$le! was si!ply this, stay in Irelan an star"e to eath or !o"e elsewhere an li"e to see another ay# The %reat &a!ine of 1840 a$solutely e"astate the Irish potato crop, which was a staple in the Irish iet# These ill'fate (pa ies) were force to lea"e their ho!elan an !any too* refuge in the +nite ,tates# +nfortunately for the!, the citi-ens of the +nite states in the .i '1/th Century i n0t ta*e *in ly to the a!ount of foreigners that were in"a ing their lan an ta*ing their 1o$s# Ironically enough, historically spea*ing, the A!erican citi-ens in this country ha 1ust in"a e the lan they call ho!e fro! the nati"es of 2orth A!erica# The +nite ,tates hasn0t e"en $een a so"ereign nation for a century an alrea y its inha$itants are "ery $itter to new co!ers# Italians, 3ews, Poles, ,la"s, Irish, it was all the sa!e to A!ericans in this ti!e perio # They were foreigners in the eyes of these people an they threatene the "ery way of life that they ha wor*e so har to achie"e in the Re"olutionary 4ar an in the 4ar of 1815# 4hen the Irish $egan co!ing in ro"es to fin a $etter life, they were !et with great hostility an !alice# .any of the i!!igrants who e!igrate fro! their ho!elan were uns*ille , illiterate, an poor# .any A!erican $usiness owners $ran ishe signs a$o"e their oors an in their win ows of 2I2A, 62o Irish 2ee Apply7# This !oni*er fro! the ti!e perio is "ery si!ilar to the picture I ha"e inserte a$o"e# Rhetorically spea*ing this sign an the !any li*e it were nearly a the $e'all en 'all of

the Anti'Irish .o"e!ent# The sign itself !ay $e plain, $ut to thin* that it oesn0t carry weight woul $e a foolish assu!ption# The wor s of the sign, (8elp 4ante ) in an of the!sel"es are fairly innocent# ,een on nearly e"ery store win ow in e"ery city across the country, howe"er, the fact that the wor s un erneath it segregate Irish!en see!s to $e terri$ly offensi"e# Rhetorically, the sign has the strong ele!ents of pathos an ethos as it pertains to the historical conte9t in which they are put# The segregation against Irish!en in this sign carries the ele!ents of pathos $ecause it appeals to the e!otion of the people who sees the sign# Also, it $ears the e!otion of the pre1u ice $usiness owner who woul rather go ays without hire help than hiring an Irish!en# The Irish were *nown for their har wor* ethic an the hu!ility an gratitu e they ha for the country that allowe the! to ta*e refuge# They were also *nown for ta*ing 1o$s that were otherwise loo*e own upon $y the greater !a1ority of society such as cleaning latrines an ta*ing care of the ru$$ish in the streets# The !essage of the sign is crystal clear an the e!otion $ehin the sign is strong in $oth irections# +nfortunately for the Irish, these signs were "ery pre"alent in the ti!e perio an !any Irish!en in pu$lic office !a e fiery, e!otion fille speeches an !o"e!ents to get the segregation of Irish I!!igrants in the wor* place a$olishe # 8owe"er, !ost of these !o"e!ents pro"e futile in their resol"e until !any years later than the pinnacle of the anti'Irish !o"e!ent# The sign also shows ele!ents of ethos $ecause it own plays the cre i$ility of the Irish as a people, ee!ing the! incapa$le of e"en the !ost !eager of 1o$s# The e!ployers, $y putting up this sign in their oor front, are !a*ing a $ol state!ent of ethos $y essentially telling the populous aroun the! that they woul hire literally anyone, e9cept the Irish# 4hether it $e their political "iews of the Irish, their own personal e9perience with Irish people, or $lin hatre towar s a group of people that were new to the country, the $usiness owners who flew this sign were using ethos in a powerful fashion# They were !a*ing the state!ent to the Irish people as a whole that they were not goo enough to wor* for the! e"en though so!e of the 1o$s that this sign was $ran ishe o"er was the actual act of re!o"ing feces fro! pu$lic washroo!s# This sign use ethos to lower the cre i$ility of the Irish people to that $elow feces itself# It is an

a$solute tra"esty what these people went through in their struggle for a $etter life# The secon i!age you see $elow is fille with a plethora of rhetorical appeals, such as ethos, pathos an logos# The i!age of the Irish!en sitting atop of a $arrel of ru! with a crown that says (!o$) is an e9a!ple of all three of these appeals wrappe into one su$li!inal !essage# The au ience of this i!age woul $e anyone who woul see this political cartoon in a newspaper or 1ournal where it was pu$lishe , $ut in truth, the target for the pu$lisher of this i!age was the Irish!en in pu$lic office, an the Irish!en that !a e up the wor*ing class in the !i le of the 1/th Century# The way the

Irish!en is epicte in the i!age is also a play on stereotypical features that the A!ericans "iewe fro! the Irish people# &or e9a!ple, the pronounce !outh, sun*en in nose, an clannish al!ost $ar$aric e!eanor is an attac* on the Irish people# Also, the fact that the !an is sitting on a $arrel of ru! is a play on the stereotype that all Irish people are run*s# The caption $elow the i!age stating (4ho0s the :oss) is an attac* on a pu$lic official that happens to $e Irish stating that the Irish people are run*en $ar$arians an are thusly incapa$le of running a pu$lic office# The ethos in this picture is the 1a$ at the cre i$ility of the Irish stating that they cannot run a pu$lic office, an they can not $e in lea ership roles $ecause of their ethnicity# The logos of the picture is 1ust all of the i!agery strewn into the Irish!en an the $arrel, e"en the way he is sitting is part of a rhetorical appeal of logos# This i!age also shows the rhetorical appeal of pathos in that there is a lot of e!otion fro! the illustrator an the au ience in which the i!age was esigne # The intensity of the anti'Irish !o"e!ent cause riots in the streets an e"en so!e renega e Irish!en to $urn own the esta$lish!ents to which they were e!ploye or for!erly e!ploye # The pathos in the picture is $y far the secon !ost pro!inent feature of the i!age, the first $eing the ethos# The fact that one i!age can $e so profoun ly as iscre iting as this one was is co!pletely astonishing, $ut ha"ing sai that, the picture also carrie !any e!otions such as anger, hatre , an e"en e!pathy on the $ehalf of the Irish!en# In conclusion, $oth i!ages are a sole!n re!in er of how $lin pre1u ice in the han s of

ignorant people are a "alua$le weapon to *eep people in lower social status than others# They also ser"e as a gri! historical re!in er of how cruel people can $e, especially to people who aren0t as pri"ilege as they are# In short, the conte9t of $oth i!ages resi e in the fact that $oth were use to target the !inority that were the Irish, an also to ri"e fear an anti'Irish hysteria to the growing populous of a young an i!pressiona$le nation#

Citations; ,te"ens, Peter# Hidden History of the Boston Irish. Greensburg: History PR, 2008. Print.