Blog Post 30: Analysis of Public Argument

               In her letter to Governor Brewer, Kassandra Diaz uses a professional and respectful tone. One of her first phrases, "in the hopes of discussing", conveys a respectful tone. Kassandra isn't demanding anything. She is just putting the idea out there and showing her desire to talk. Other places that show her professional tone are around the transitions. One example is "another area of concern". Kassandra isn't just saying there is a problem. By saying area of concern it makes it so it is something that can be discussed. This tone is very fitting considering she is writing a formal letter. A formal letter is supposed to be very professional. It is often written about serious topics and must therefore be taken very seriously. By using a professional and respectful tone Kassandra can make her formal letter more successful.
                Kassandra never really establishes her ethos. She says she is a freshman at the University of Arizona which gives her some credibility since she is a student pursuing higher education. However at the end she states that she is in Biology Department in the College of Science. This doesn't get her any credibility because biology isn't related to healthcare funding. Biology is related to healthcare but not the funding. This isn't effective because there is no proof that she knows what she is talking about. She could have done outside research to form her points but no one knows the sources or how she got the ideas. Studying biology doesn't give her the credibility needed.
                The main claim of Kassandra's letter is that the governor should reconsider the budget cuts. To support her argument Kassandra focuses on the negative consequences of the budget cuts. One of her points is that the cuts will have the strongest negative effects on the elderly, disabled, and impoverished. For her evidence she uses a few statistics but mostly explains the effects that the cut would cause. However it is not clear what Kassandra wants from this letter. Does she just care about the well being of all of the people it would effect, does she have familial connections, or does it have another meaning for her.
                 My recommendation for how to make this letter stronger is to include some statistics about who depends on medicaid programs and also statistics about medical costs with and without medicaid assistance. This would more effectively explain the negative effects that the budget cut would have on the people who are dependent on medicaid. These statistics would give Kassandra solid evidence that the budget cut will have negative effects on these people.