Rhetorical Analysis – Encounter at Gold’s Gym

1. Identify the Argument – Join our gym.
2. Target Audience – Me, a 22-year-old, married, female, BYU student, that exercises at least 5 times a week.
3. How the Argument is Made
Ethos – The guy who tried to sell me a membership was close to my age and also a student at BYU and he is also really into fitness and has worked at Gold’s for a few years actually so he knows a lot about the gym and he is in a similar life stage as I am – I could relate to him, which made him more credible than some overweight guy who started working there yesterday.
Pathos – He understood that I like to work out alone and I also like to do classes so he talked to me about how could the classes are so I’ll feel like I’m getting a great workout and he also appealed to the fact that I hate having to wait for machines by explaining that they guarantee open machines.
Logos – He appealed to my logic when he explained that it only costs $16 a month at Gold’s right now, and as a member of 24 Hour-Fitness I pay $35 a month so obviously I would save a lot of money by joining. He also showed me the newer equipment and machines that they have at Gold’s, which were nicer than the one’s at 24.
Sufficient Evidence – I don’t feel like he gave me sufficient evidence because he didn’t talk to me about the fact that you have to join for two years at a time and you have to pay a large fee to cancel your membership before that 2 years us up. He also didn’t explain to me how they can guarantee a machine no matter what, I mean, what would they do for me if the machine I wanted was not open the exact second that I wanted it.
Typical Evidence – He gave typical evidence – Look how awesome our facility is, look at our nice machines, we are open 24 hours, etc.
Relevant Evidence – The evidence he gave me was relevant because he asked me what I like to do at the gym so he showed me things that I specifically care about, etc.
4. Was the argument effective? – No, because I did not get a membership and I wasn’t tempted to. Not because e didn’t do a good job, but mostly because I really like the gym I am at now, it’s closer to my house, the classes are good, I have a friend that also belongs to that same gym as me so we go together often, etc. Also 24 is month to month, so you quit without having to pay a bunch of money.