Nafisi in Lunsford

When I read this article, I was blown away. She has gone through political and social upheaval that I, as an American girl in this day and age, have never had to experience. I read her words and am overpowered by her message; of all things humans must do, empathizing with one and other is most important. Who could argue the opposite side of this argument without seeming heartless and cold? Nafisi, using her past experiences and strong opinions to establish her credibility, sweeps her readers through an emotional argument that could persuade even the most stubborn of readers.

Who is this Nafisi and why should we trust her opinion on the subject of empathy? She begins building our trust in by stating she is a teacher. Teachers are figures of authority that we all trust. They are the ones that nurture our minds and push us to become better people. Granted there are teachers we've hated, thought were idiots or pushed us too hard. But as a whole, teachers are people we know were hired to do the jobs they do. This being said, we believe that they are people we should implicitly trust. In stating she is a teacher and a writer, most likely half the audience is already ready to eat up and believe every word she says.

To further persuade her audience, Nafisi uses the tale of Huckleberry Finn to emotionally connect with them. Almost every person in America has had to read that classic novel for school. Whether we liked it or not, we had to evaluate and make connections with Huckleberry Finn. Using the story in Nafisi's writing pulls at some emotion inside every reader. She, like the rest of us, has understood or empathized with the hard decision Huck had to make regarding Jim , the slave. Now Nafisi has our attention.

Now that she has our attention, Nafisi takes her argument home by pulling on our heartstrings. By recalling a time in her life when politics was making her life incredibly difficult, she makes us feel bad for her. Most of our lives weren't as difficult as hers. None of us were expelled based purely on race or whether we are female or male. She, on the other hand, has had to deal with just that. Telling us her experiences pushes us to believe that, yes, she is right in thinking empathy is one of the most important things a person must have. Yet, as hard as her life was, she thrusts at us images from even tougher life experiences such as a woman being shot in a football stadium for being "improperly dressed". No one knows the terror that woman must have felt but we can try to empathize with the situation she was in. Nafisi's powerful images cause us, the audience, to feel strongly for the people who had to go through such terrible experiences. Her entire article is an argument of pathos, which I believe is the strongest forms of argument being a person ruled by her emotions.