John Q

The scene in which Ms. Payne and Dr. Turner were first telling the Archibalds that their son was very ill was a great example of rhetorical appeals.

First, there is of course pathos because everybody is sympathetic towards a family finding out that their loved one is fatally sick. The acting in this scene by both Denzel Washington and Kimberly Elise was sensational. They captured not only their love and concern for their son, but also a seemingly real love for each other.

Second, there is ethos. Dr. Turner shows his competence as a heart surgeon through his use of medical jargon as if it is common terminology. With this, he also shows a lack of initial compassion towards the Archibalds' predicament because he does not even want to take the time to explain exactly what is going on in their son's body.

Finally, the writers used logos to try to show how conniving Ms. Payne was. She makes the argument that they should let their son die without surgery because the surgery could kill him. In no way does this make sense because if they do nothing he essentially has a 0% chance of surviving, and only through surgery do these odds increase. She was trying to outsmart the humble parents into not trying to have the expensive surgery.

This whole movie used the rhetorical appeals to make the audience feel strong emotions throughout. I felt angry at the system, which made me excited to write my paper on health insurance.