Essay Example on CDC: Keeping Americans Healthy through Research and Prevention

Introduction

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a government agency that operates under the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is mandated with ensuring the health of the American population and providing useful information regarding health issues. It also serves in the prevention of health problems, if possible. The agency strives to ensure American citizens remain protected by regularly conducting studies on medical conditions. They also utilize the CDC’s website to serve as a medium for sharing the outcomes of the research (CDC, 2020). The webpage of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the products of their research. ADHD refers to a mental health illness that potentially causes above-normal levels of impulsive and hyperactive behaviors. Individuals with ADHD experience trouble sitting still for a long time or concentrating on their attention for a given task. It commonly occurs in children and is established to persist into adulthood (CDC, 2020). The site also notes that children who do not have ADHD disorder cannot simply grow out of it. As a result, they face more challenges with school personnel, peers, and family. The web page also adds additional important information on ADHD disorder types and how one can find help for their children. The authors of the webpage managed to simplify it such that it is easier to identify ethos, pathos, and logos appeals. The appeals are identified and discussed as follows from the CDC website on ADHD:

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Rhetorical Tools

The appeal to the emotions of the reader is known as pathos (Stucki & Sager, 2018). It can be identified on the CDC webpage, although not very strong. A reader of the website is likely to stress with parents, and guardians, among other key persons who have or know a child diagnosed with ADHD disorder. Particularly, one can easily identify with the signs and symptoms section of the page. For instance, one of the listed symptoms is that a child depicts challenges getting along with other individuals (CDC, 2020). It is found that a reader is likely to deduce that a child experiences the above signs since they feel different or rejected, leading to more significant challenges. Besides, the CDC identifies various causes of ADHD, including environmental hazards or brain injury (CDC, 2020). The impact is that it appeals to the emotions of a reader since it causes them to become genuinely concerned. The appeal is likely to heighten a reader’s ability to pay even closer attention.

When individuals indulge in reading a given scholarly article, they focus on ensuring the author has expertise on the topic discussed. It, therefore, leads to establishing the ethos, which includes the credibility of the author or source (Stucki & Sager, 2018). It may be challenging to identify authority when reading the text. However, the web page undergoes constant updates and monitoring by the CDC, which allows the deduction that it is a credible source since the CDC is a government agency. Besides the website, it also includes hyperlinks that direct the reader to another credible source for verification or support of the arguments presented by the CDC on ADHD disorder. It also adds a telephone number to be used.

Logos is a commonly used rhetorical tool among the three appeals. It typically appeals to the reader's logic (Stucki & Sager, 2018). When reading the site, it is essential to establish that the author is clear on their claim. The concerns include whether the author presents effective communication of the information. The website has several areas where logic is applied. For instance, parents are the primary target audience, especially those who seek primary information on ADHD. The CDC claims that ADHD is among the well-known neurodevelopment disorders occurring in childhood (CDC, 2020). The author fails to give any statistical evidence to back the claim, but ethos or authority is sufficient to back CDC’s claim.

The website of the CDC on ADHD is regarded as an effective and convenient approach to information distribution on the topic. The target audience appears to be parents of children with ADHD. It also targets any individual who knows or meets a child exhibiting ADHD symptoms. The author attempts to build a trusting relationship with their target audience through the use of neutral word choice and tone since they are crucial aspects of creating a character. The document is accessible to anyone, but the author assumes that the readers are likely to be parents. For instance, the author notes that if you or the doctor has issues regarding ADHD, it is important to take the child to a specialist. Besides, the authors add that it is essential to fill out the symptoms checklist and present it to the child’s doctor (CDC, 2020).

Site’s Effectiveness

Effective communication abilities about an individual’s feelings, research, and thoughts, alongside other aspects through writing is established to be more challenging than speaking. The author is restricted on how to appeal to the reader's logic, and emotions, and restricted on proving credibility (Ting, 2018). The site would be of great help, especially as a guardian to a child with ADHD if I knew about it before. I believe the author manages to accomplish their goal, which includes the effective provision of information to the target audience regarding ADHD. They ensure that the relevant information that parents, guardians, or any person who may encounter a child with ADHD needs to know is clear and understandable. The tone applied in the text is not biased, and there is no limitation for the author. The tone is neutral or unbiased as it does not depict feelings against or for the topic.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020). Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html

Stucki, I., & Sager, F. (2018). Aristotelian framing: logos, ethos, pathos, and the use of evidence in policy frames. Policy Sciences, 51(3), 373-385. DOI: 10.1007/s11077-018-9322-8

Ting, S. H. (2018). Ethos, logos, and pathos in university students' informal requests. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 18(1). http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2018-1801-14