argues that because of commercialized businesses and overall consumerism, the American people, in fact, fail to understand what is behind their “All-American” meals. However, the fast food chain has fueled American culture,society,and a chunk of the economy. Schlosser dates back to the 20th century where he can confirm that no matter the circumstance and status of the general public, everyone enjoys fast service. Likewise, it was inevitable for the fast food chains to be on top in a “short” amount of time.
In the text, the author uses rhetorical techniques to prove his vision such as imagery,pathos,and logos. All throughout the book, Schlosser succeeds in using logos. He does this by mentioning the statistics on topics such as income from opening corporations, work conditions, and even about the employees point of view in the fast food industry. Schlosser opens up the reader’s perspective by stating facts like, “ A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home.” The author then grabs the audience’s attention by stating that half of that money is now spent towards restaurants-- fast food restaurants.
The technique logos can also be seen in chapter 9 “What’s in the meat?” where he presents stats on slaughterhouse employees or why the meat in hamburgers make you fall ill. Schlosser certainly validated his argument by the usage of pathos. This type of rhetorical strategy can be seen even in the first few pages of the book. Appealing to one's emotions is far more powerful than statistics, because stats can be looked at as just numbers. An example being when the author mentioned the horrific production that goes into making the meat we see at our local Mcdonald’s. Bold statements like, “You’d be better off eating a carrot stick that fell in your toilet than one that fell in your sink” are used to elevate the reader’s mindset.
Lastly, Schlosser makes sure to paint an image in his audience’s mind by providing loads of imagery. He even starts off the book by describing a discrete government-like location that still has time to place an order for Domino’s pizza. Schlosser also emphasizes the fact that--again--the work conditions and overall shape of the slaughterhouses are not a place you’d want to even glance through imagery. He includes the emotions of the workers by reading their demeanor. The author had gone as far as describing the smell in the air just to let the reader really engage in the argument he was portraying. By using various strategies throughout the book, Eric Schlosser is able to validate his argument. As a matter of fact, it was almost as if the techniques were either in one sentence or the next. The usage of imagery,pathos,and logos--as well as many other techniques--gave light to the production and overall the behind the scenes factors in fast food restaurants.
