Wissinger Blog 3

The event I chose to attend was the 2009 Buckeyethon on February 28th. Buckeyethon was held to raise money for the Nationwide Childrens hospital. The cause was extremely worthy of such an event because the money could directly impact the lives of children. When people thought about dancing for 14 hours and taking time out of their hectic college life to raise money, an immediate response would arrise which I heard throughout the day "Do it for the kids." It's hard to fathom how much money was raised total because of the overwhelming support and number of college students in attendence.
I believe all three rhetorical devices; logos, ethos and pathos were prevalent, but the most prevailing device was pathos. It was hard not to support such a cause when children would get up in front of this massive crowd of people and speak about what they've been through, and to see families walking around with big smiles on their faces. Ethos was prevelant because the Nationwide Childrens hospital has credibility even if you don't exactly know where it is. The familes going through their individual situations also had credibility. One example of pathos is a story I heard about a little girl who had fought against cancer her whole life and for the most part beat it out. During one of her brain surgeries, a doctor dropped a tool in her brain which caused her to lose her memory to an extreme point. I was told that if you met her and introduced yourself, she could turn her back on you and forget you as soon as she turned back around. Stories like this are examples of the pathos and how hard it is to not give to this cause.
My direct experience and the story of this girl could help me to persuade others to join the cause and partake in Buckeyethon next year. The atmosphere of everyone coming together for the same cause is inspiring and there are many people who have went to this event every year of their college life. Overall I found it easy to give time and money to such a worthy cause.