Centers for Disease Control Rhetorical Analysis

Brittany Schroeder

ENG105

11/25/17

Professor Palenque

Primary focus of the CDC’s website

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a government organization. It is known as the CDC and was created by the government to help spread awareness of health concerns amongst Americans. The website contains a great deal of informational signs and symptoms to treatment and prevention. The purpose to the CDC website is to provide information to individuals who are looking for reliable information. Unfortunately, in the past, most information was spread through word of mouth and the information was often changed around. For an example, many people often state that Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is caused by watching too much television or sugar, when there is no evidence to back that claim according to the CDC website (2017). The CDC website uses all sorts of rhetorical tools to help inform people with correct information. The webpage contains logical facts known as logos, it connects to emotions known as pathos, and gives creditably and creates trust known as ethos.

The CDC webpage contains many logos throughout the page and to help benefit individuals looking to obtain basic information on ADHD. It talks about the types of ADHD, the signs and symptoms, the diagnosis process, and the treatment processes. The CDC did not list the types of medications used on the webpage, but it did state to use behavior methods first for younger children prior to the usage of medication (2017). The CDC is trying to inform people of both behavior treatment methods the medication methods. According to the article written in The University Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update in 2016, medication treatment is often used more than psychological services which include behavior therapy. Only about 50 percent received psychological services, where about 75 percent used medication (CDC urges behavior therapy first for children ages 2-5 with ADHD, 2016). The purpose is to inform people that there more methods than just medications. With multiple facts, comes emotions that can connect at any level of information.

The connections that are being made throughout the webpage connect on many different emotions and levels of emotions. Some small children may feel the urge to talk at school, but then get into trouble for too much talking. That small child’s emotions are then affected by the punishment of talking resulting in possible outbursts. A teacher may not notice the talking too much as a sign for ADHD, which could affect the child’s needs and treatment plan. According to an article written by Alison Knopf, parents should take behavior therapy course because it will help the parents with different strategies. These strategies will help improve positive behavior, and improve communication with the child (2016). These skills can then be taught to others to help influence an effective treatment plan. Since ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, emotions are often affected by the behaviors the child makes. This makes behavior treatments a huge emotional factor in ADHD because the child must learn how to cope with emotions. Not only does the webpage connect the writing to emotions and facts, but it is also creditable information.

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