"The Bleakness of the Bullied" : Toulmin Analysis

There are many issues facing society today, one of the most pertinent being bullying. Bullying and its impact on the lives of its victims are some of the issues author Charles M. Blow focuses on in his article “The Bleakness of the Bullied” The author of the text, Charles M. Blow uses an inverted structure to get his point across. From the start of the passage, he uses a personal experience as a way to come to a general conclusion on the life of the bullied. Although it is slightly understated, Blow’s main claim is that life for those who are bullied is a bleak, sad existence that seems never-ending. He makes it apparent in his title “The Bleakness of the Bullied”  and his third to last paragraph. To back up his claim, Blow uses two main points.             Life for those who are bullied is a bleak, sad existence that seems never –ending. 1) I know that pain. I, too, was bullied as a child. And I, too, considered taking my life. I was 8 years old.   2) Bullying isn’t just a harmless game.It can be a deadly one, and we need to be reminded of that constantly. You never know how your words are affecting another person.   When shown in the text, the example of Blow’s almost suicide attempt at eight years old implies that suicide sometimes seems like the only solution to a depressing, lonely life. On the other hand, he subtly qualifies this by saying “And so there it was, not summoned and without warning, pushing its way through the crowd of questions, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand" one of my mother’s songs sang hard and true, out of her heart and into a steering wheel, coming to save me.” He establishes that whether it is a song or something else, there may be a way to save those being bullied from going over the edge.Blow backs away from wanting people to downplay the nature of bullying and its effects on the victims. If he did downplay it, that would mean accepting bullying as a natural part of life and society, which it isn’t. As a warrant, Blow relies on the basic principals that everyone is created equal and that everyone is guaranteed the rights to “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Having a depressing life due to bullying clearly violates these rights and its clearly American core values are hard to dispute.              Blow creates his ethos throughout the article by using a personal analogy about his experience with bullying and suicide as his argument. By making himself so vulnerable, Blow really creates a connection between himself and the reader. It also makes the reader believe that if he is willing to be so honest about himself, he will also be truthful about everything else he says in his writing. Having that trust and positive ethos is important in quality writng and in being  a good author.

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