TOW #6: "Are Chicks Brighter Than Babies?" by Nicholas D. Kristof (via the New York Times)

     In "Are Chicks Brighter Than Babies?", Nicholas D. Kristof discusses the morality of the way we treat poultry. Kristof grew up on a farm, so he has firsthand experience with how birds are treated, and he certainly is credible as a writer, as he has written for the New York Times since 2001. Since this is an opinion piece, Kristof is writing to virtually anyone. The article serves simply to express Kristof's opinion: just because we are ultimately going to eat poultry doesn't mean that we should treat the birds inhumanely before they are slaughtered. To get this across, Kristof appeals to logos through references to credible scientific data and to pathos through figurative language.
     Kristof's main argument focuses around that fact that chickens (and other poultry) are in fact intelligent creatures, and it is wrong to treat them inhumanely. To prove this, he references specific scientific experiments. For example, he writes, "Even chicks can do basic arithmetic, so that if you shuffle five small items in a shell game, they mentally keep track of additions and subtractions and choose the area with the higher number of items. In a number of such tests, chicks do better than toddlers." By mentioning scientific experiments, Kristof demonstrates a credible source with concrete proof to show the intelligence of chickens. This appeal to logos shows the reader that there is hard evidence to support Kristof's opinion.
     Appealing to logos is not Kristof's only tactic to express his opinion – he also appeals to pathos. He writes, "evidence is mounting that [farmbirds are] smarter than we have assumed, and just because they don't have big brown eyes doesn't mean that they should be condemned to spend their lives jammed into tiny cages in stinking, fetid barns, with bodies of dead birds sometimes left rotting beside live ones." These strong adjectives and imagery evoke feelings of pity in readers. This effectively shows Kristof's audience that we should care more about poultry than we currently do.
     Through appeals to logos and pathos, Nicholas D. Kristof successfully expresses his views toward the treatment of poultry to his audience. His use of scientific data and figurative language effectively demonstrates to readers that he believes it's not terrible to slaughter and eat poultry, but if it is to be done, the farmbirds should at least be treated humanely.

Caged Chickens:

Nicholas D. Kristof would certainly argue that this method of raising chickens for slaughter is inhumane. Caged chickens often don't even have room to turn around, and they are therefore forced to live in constant filth.

(Source: http://www.earthintransition.org/2012/07/bird-flu-strikes-mexico2-5-mil-chickens-killed/)