The Military Vs. Wives Summary

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In 2008, civil rights lawyer Laura Dempsey wrote a persuasive report in The Washington Post titled “The Military vs. Wives.” Dempsey wrote this report because she wants people more informed about the struggles military families go through every year. Dempsey is one of many that have spoken out about how unnecessarily difficult life is for military spouses. By publishing this report, The Washington Post hopes to raise awareness of the problem and simultaneously support military spouses in hardship. Dempsey uses two strategies to appeal to readers. The first strategy is where Dempsey gives readers background about her experience as a military wife when she says “I know the challenges that Army wives face. I've been a lawyer and an Army wife for 10 years. In that period, I've moved seven times. I've taken four different bar exams and held five different jobs.” Because of her experience, the argument is more persuasive to readers. Dempsey’s experience gives readers a chance to imagine themselves in a similar scenario as her and other military wives. She also uses statistics and quantitative reasoning to appeal to the audience’s sense of rationality. She mentions and explains a high number of real world problems that military spouses go …show more content…
However, that is not the only solution to the problem that military spouses face. One solution that she did not consider was having military spouses try to work around the unemployment issue by working from home rather than having to commute. The readers could catch on to the fact that Dempsey displays multiple problems, but only one solution. By discussing only a single solution, the concern can look deceptive to readers as they could perceive the concern based on financial benefit rather than helping military