Question
"Useless Creatures"
by Richard Conniff
But usefulness is precisely the argument other people put forward to justify destroying or displacing wildlife, and they generally bring a larger and more persuasive kind of green to the argument. Nothing you can say about 100 acres in the New Jersey Meadowlands will ever add up for a politician who thinks a new shopping mall will mean more jobs for local voters (and contributions to his campaign war chest). Nothing you can say about the value of rhinos for ecotourism in South Africa will ever matter to a wildlife trafficker who can sell their horns for $30,000 a pound in Vietnam.
What type of argument does the author use in this speech?
ad hominem
• syntax
• pathos
O logos
by Richard Conniff
But usefulness is precisely the argument other people put forward to justify destroying or displacing wildlife, and they generally bring a larger and more persuasive kind of green to the argument. Nothing you can say about 100 acres in the New Jersey Meadowlands will ever add up for a politician who thinks a new shopping mall will mean more jobs for local voters (and contributions to his campaign war chest). Nothing you can say about the value of rhinos for ecotourism in South Africa will ever matter to a wildlife trafficker who can sell their horns for $30,000 a pound in Vietnam.
What type of argument does the author use in this speech?
ad hominem
• syntax
• pathos
O logos
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The author primarily uses **logos** in this speech. Logos refers to logical reasoning and the use of facts or evidence to support an argument. In the provided excerpt, Conniff presents logical points about the value of wildlife and ecosystems, contrasting them with the economic arguments used by those favoring development and exploitation of resources. He illustrates how politicians and wildlife traffickers prioritize short-term financial gain over the long-term ecological benefits, thereby presenting a logical critique of their rationale.