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Ellie Lowe

Jones

English 103.13

February 25, 2010

An organization called the “Environmental Working Group” has made an

effort to raise awareness of the harsh effects humans are creating that damage the

environment and ways we can improve our way of living. More research is being

dedicated to issues such as, replacing foods littered with toxins with natural or

organic foods. People are recently turning to informational sites to learn the truth

about the environment and ways they can improve their lives by simple changes

they can make.

This website includes several articles and reasons why they believe what

they do. The text is highly persuasive and provides the reader with resources to

show the harms of topics like toxins and pesticides, and lack of government

enforcement. The text is promoting health by taking a second look at the way we

grow foods and how we consume them. The website includes several authors from

which all have credentials in environment issues. The writers of each piece of

information vary. There is a wide audience for this group and attracts people of all

ages and backgrounds. The movement of environmental health and natural foods is

fairly recent in the last decade and attracts to a more liberal audience. But I think

the recent awareness to the issue has caused a larger audience to pay attention.

When people don’t know the truth about the food they are consuming or the

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harmful effects to the environment, they listen to the changes they can make to

improve their health. The content is easy to navigate and understandable, which

makes it accessible to many people.

Logos is used effectively in this organization by providing a large amount of

information, as well as other resources the audience can refer to. The text is easy to

follow and supported by articles and evidence the staff has conducted.

Health/toxins, farming, natural resources, energy choices, chemical index, health

tips, and a media center are all starting points on the site to refer the reader to more

information in each topic. Ethos is used well in the website’s information library.

The non-profitable organization was founded in 1993 for the soul purpose to raise

awareness to the public about what they can do personally for their health, and

what they can do for the Earth. There is a section with the entire authors and their

information provides the degrees they have and where from. I trust this source

because they are positively persuading people to make their lives better and to “say

no” to the way foods are made today. Pathos is the largest force the site relies on.

When people want to know the truth and need access to information that will

provide it. Websites, such as this one, attract people by using startling facts and

evidence to grab the attention of readers and to persuade them to make a change.

“What the chemical industry doesn’t want you to know”, and “Study: chemicals,

pollutants found in newborns”, are headlines that draw attention to readers in order

to receive a reaction.

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This website can mostly relate to a social context. Websites like the

“Environmental Working Group” create a social group of supporters for

environmental issues. Whether the result is a government protest or someone

changing their everyday habits, this issue is a social movement for change in several

areas.

There are links to several different environmental issues related to your

health. A multimodal image that was most persuasive to me was about the radiation

of cell phones. The image showed cell phones from the most radiation to the least. I

think this image can relate to everyone because today most everyone had a cell

phone. The image forces the audience to think twice about which cellular device

they purchase or continue to use.

Word Count: 633

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Works Cited

“The power of information”.www.ewg.org. Environmental Work Group, Web. 25

February 2010.