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Joel Aoto
Waters
CO150
15 September 2015
Rhetorical Analysis
Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld wrote the New York Times article What Drives
Success? and tackled Americas puzzling diversity among the most successful
Americans. The authors point out that not all Americans are equal and that many
factors that contribute to success in America are due to these inequalities. While
success was determined by three traits; income, test scores, and college rates, they
showed that factors to success varied. Some of the factors that the authors wrote
about were; family income, parenting style, and cultural values. The authors showed
that family income had a large effect on children, from school supplies to college
tuition, being able to afford the opportunity of education is clearly an advantage.
The authors then brought up how parenting style effects children, how children view
academics and work is up to how parents raise their children. Teaching children at a
young age the importance of hard work and the rewards of education can have a
serious impact on their views on work, showing that work can lead to rewards
teaches children to work hard to reach their goals. Culture effects people trying to
achieve success simply because some cultures value it more than others. While
some cultures believe that supporting a childs mental health is the most important
factor, many families believe that achieving success is a more important aspect.
Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld use ethos and logos effectively as a way to back up
their claims on the different factors for success.

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Chua and Rubenfeld use ethos by establishing credibility to the audience. The
article is already provided to the audience by the New York Times, which gives the
authors a large amount of credibility. The audience of the New York Times is, most
likely someone in the middle of their life with children, therefore the audience is
likely to be very interested in what the authors have to say and open-minded about
the results. Because the New York Times published the article, the authors have
generated credibility before the audience has even read the article. The authors
also use evidence from studies to back up their statements. Using studies is an easy
way to support the authors point, viewing evidence in an alternative format like
numbers can make it easier for people to understand a point and are then likely to
agree with the author. The authors write Indian-Americans earn almost double the
national figure (roughly $90,000 per year in median household income versus
$50,000). Using statements like this lets the authors talk freely about the different
lifestyles Indian-Americans have and how it may affect their success. The authors
show that Indian-Americans make almost double the average, this lets the authors
use that fact to show reasons why Indian-Americans are more successful. After
learning that Indian-Americans make more money, the information provided about
Indian-Americans has more credibility.
After the authors established a credibility with the audience, they use risky
statements that are meant to persuade the audience. They used figures of numbers
that are formatted in a way to make the group seem larger than what actually is, in
2013 nearly one-quarter of the black students at Harvard Business School were of
Nigerian ancestry; over a fourth of Nigerian-Americans have a graduate or
professional degree, as compared with only about 11 percent of whites. This
statement was made to make the Nigerian-Americans with a degree look like a

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larger figure to the audience. While in reality the 11% of whites is still a far larger
number than the fourth of Nigerian-Americans. This was used so the audience would
trust the information about Nigerian-Americans.
The Authors used logos to appeal to the audience in a logical way. They make
statements that make sense to the audience, The most comforting explanation of
these facts is that they are mere artifacts of class rich parents passing on
advantages to their children. This quote is important because many people already
believe that wealthier children have an easier path to success. Presenting
statements that are easily understood or already understood by the audience make
it easier for the author to present different ideas. The authors bring up interesting
psychological theories, this can be used to persuade the audience because it is hard
to prove or disprove these theories. By using family life as a factor it makes the
audience think about their experience growing up, as well as think about
stereotypes of other cultures. The authors use the Asian-American lifestyle as an
example of success based on test scores and academic success, but with a negative
when it comes to mental health such as self-esteem. Stuyvesant High School
offered admission, based solely on a standardized entrance exam, to nine black
students, 24 Hispanics, 177 whites and 620 Asians. This backs the audiences
stereotype for Asian-Americans. Because the audience already had an opinion on
the subject, it makes it easier for the author to explain their point. Even if the
audience didnt have an opinion on a stereotype it is likely that they would still
agree with the authors opinion, because of the fact that it was supported by logic.
The authors, Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, used ethos and logos to
effectively persuade the audience on the different factors of success. They used
ethos through studies and facts to establish a credibility to the audience. And used

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logos by making understandable and relatable statements that let the audience
easily agree with the author. Through these strategies the author persuades the
audiences ideals, and creates a strong article.