Spare the Rod, Spoil the Parenting by Leonard Pitts Essay

Spargon the Rod, Spoil the Parenting by Leonard Pitts - Essay ExampleThis research will begin with the biography of Leonard Pitts Jr. He was born in the unite States and is a famous commentator, journalist, and an author. Leonard Pitts in his popular op-ed essay spare the rod, spoil the parenting makes use of a range of rhetorical or persuasive strategies to strengthen and realise his opinions on the use of physical punishment to discipline children. The title of the story seems to be inspired from He that spareth is a rod, hateth his son which is a biblical truism. The proverb clearly portrays the importance of punishment. Leonard Pitt strives to persuade and educate parents regarding the importance that physical punishment has in the mental and intellectual development of children. Pitt tries to persuade his audiences to accept the fact that spiffy and other forms of corporal punishments are necessary for forcing children to maintain discipline. Throughout the open format of th e essay, Leonard Pitt uses a sarcastic and blunt approach to not only pioneer commentators interest but also to persuade them to accept his views. Therefore, the author tackles a sensitive topic in a casual heretofore authoritative manner which keeps his audiences intrigued till the very last line. The authors strategy to use blunt diction and vocabulary to attract readers sympathy works phenomenally. In addition, Leonard Pitt argues and clearly points out the differences between corporal punishment ways and physical abuse, this argument forms the center of foci in his essay.... Pitt attempts to seek readers sympathy and understanding by stating that like most kids, his children are spoiled brats as well. Leonard makes use of his personal experience to convey to the readers that he is a parent who is capable of recognizing his childrens faults. In addition this strategy prevents the reader from thinking that the author is being judgmental towards others. The essay has an open fo rmat which makes the reader feel as if they are having a conversation with their best friend. Perhaps this is one of the most powerful rhetorical strategies used by the author end-to-end the essay. This allows the reader to take in and accept the information being conveyed by the author, without being intimated. Leonard maintains the strategy of having a conversation with his reader by asking questions such as who is teaching whom? and who is the in charge here?This strategy not only ensures readers interest but also makes the reader realise that the author is not targeting a particular group of parents but in fact he is targeting the faults of all parents including him. He portrays the negative attributes of children by pointing out that they are overindulged spoiled and materialistic brats. Furthermore, the author blames his children to be bad and spoiled. This strategy forces the readers to sympathize with the author and realize that children need to be rewarded with a spank e very m they misbehave. However, the author would never have been able to persuade the parents about the importance of corporal punishment if he had portrayed children as being good. Therefore, the author quotes the screech five year old and misbehaving backside to reinforce his point that parents