1

Chelsea Eom

Klimas

English 10 H Pre-Ap

09 February 2018

Citation:

Dowd, Maureen. “The Hillary Effect.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company,

November 18, 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/opinion/sunday/the-hillary-effect.html?rref=collect

ion%2Fcolumn%2Fmaureen-dowd&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=st

ream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=collection

Part 1: Article Analysis

Maureen Dowd expresses her discontent with the political system and the candidates that

ran for the spot of president in regards to feminism. She describes the issue of sexual harassment

as being “clouded by politics” and having the “stench of hypocrisy overpower the perfume of

justice.” She expresses her frustration with having Donald Trump, an accused predator of sexual

assault, lead her country and her disliking of candidate, Hillary Clinton, a woman who

“demonizes women as liars, bimbos, trailer trash, and troubled souls,” even as a woman herself.

Throughout the article, Dowd makes many references to the hypocrisy shown by the nation’s

rulers and the foul play shown by them as well.

Tone:​ Dowd makes use of belligerent tone in describing Donald Trump’s, the current president,

and the Clintons’ lack of respect towards women and an outraged tone in describing the

hypocrisy of both Donald Trump and the Clintons.

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Context:​ Maureen Dowd provides historical events that help to support her claim; however, it is

helpful to keep in mind that this piece is being written a little after the 2017 Presidential Election,

with the two main candidates being Hillary Clinton, former president, Bill Clinton’s wife, and

Donald Trump, a businessman. While she touches on the subject of Donald Trump winning the

election and taking the position as president, Dowd rants about her frustration with both the

Clintons’ and Trump’s disregard for women and sexual harassment.

Appeals:​ Dowd primarily focuses to persuade using all three of the rhetorical appeals: logos,

pathos, and ethos, having logos be the most prevalent throughout the article. Logos can be seen

in all of the anecdotes and true historical events that are mentioned throughout the article, an

example being when Dowd discusses the “scalding national seminars on sexual predation over

the last 26 years.” Pathos can be seen when Dowd explains how she “felt super powerless” when

Trump came into presidency, and ethos can be seen in all of the quotes she got from interviewing

people such as Susan Fowler.

Organization:​ The article has extended definitions with examples, which can be seen in how

Dowd starts off by explaining her discontent with the political system and the candidates that ran

for the spot of president in regards to feminism and more indepthly explain why and her

reasoning behind the discontent as the article continues.

Diction/Word Choice:​ The article is very readable and could be understood by most high school

students. Some complex vocabulary is used, but the meaning is not hard to conceptualize

because the overall message is very straightforward. Words like “brazenly” and “heinous” are

used to help better visualize the article.

Part 2: Personal Response:

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Maureen Dowd’s piece is a rant about her discontent with the political system in regards

to feminism. She opens the column by stating hers and different women’s that she interviewed

frustration with having “an accused predator in the White House.” She then goes more in-depth

into one of the interviews that she had. She closes the column with another interview, but this

time an interview with a person that is confused about the real problem with sexual assault and

the political system. The main idea of the column, as stated at the end of the column, is that

“politics are clouding the issue of sexual harassment.” The intended audience for this article is

the residents of the United States because the purpose is to inform the residents of what the

political system has come to and what type of people the residents are being led by. While the

column is all based on observations, interviews, personal experience, and Maureen Dowd’s bias

opinion, she supports her claim by stating concrete historical facts that may lead one to agree

with her claim and sometimes even change one’s opinion on the matter.