Practice Essay #07

“Most of the songs were pretty familiar until, one night, I found myself the only one in my tent still awake and heard a new sound that animated me. It was new, edgy, and rebellious. It was Elvis Presley.” Here, Holliday emphasizes the importance of the sixties through his first reaction of this period. In his essay, “Everything Goes: How the 1960s Made the World Modern,” Chris Holliday persuades his audience that the sixties were an enjoyable yet historically important period of history. He proves this by appealing to the audience through the use of compelling facts and information, including broad trends, and using conversational tone, all the while maintaining a credible account.

Holliday builds a convincing, logical argument through the use of broad trends. He writes in the second paragraph, “In England, where I grew up, the kids were ready: no young teenager could afford to miss a chord.” Holliday utilizes this fact about the popularity and powerfulness of Elvis because it shows how influential the 60s were; indeed, many bands revolutionized music, especially in that era. He tells us that there are other factors that relate to this issue, explaining that “The energy of that decade’s celebrities, was infectious. Everybody wanted to follow (or, in my case, lumber after) the trends.” His purpose in providing this information is simple yet potent: it’s to show that the 1960’s were extremely important and influential for everybody. Holliday does, however, give us one further line of reasoning that enriches his argument: “Things were going to be different from then on.” He then gives an example of the major transformation their culture went through during the 1960’s. Together, these excerpts use broad trends and historical examples, to clearly and decisively indicate that the 1960s were important. All of this information is used to bring us to the climax of his argument: the era of the 60’s were extremely important and fun for everyone.

The conversational tone that Holliday uses also helps persuade the audience of his argument. He skillfully begins the essay with a personal anecdote that immediately pulls the reader into the problem, right from the outset, without any reservations. He begins with, “In the summer of 1956, I went camping with the Boy Scouts.” He uses the anecdote because he can easily connect with the reader this way, especially if the reader was alive during this time period. Then he takes us further into the emotional subtleties and intricacies of his argument, “You could neither ignore them nor dismiss them.” With this second-person address and conversational tone, he connects with the reader even more, and puts the reader’s in the place of him in the 1960s. From there, he deepens the emotional appeal of his argument, stating that “Everybody wanted to follow (or, in my case, lumber after) the trends.” This bit of humor is very effective in that the reader is drawn even further into his argument. Activating the innate, human pathos of the reader is a clever way that Holliday pulls the reader onto his side.

Holliday’s background further adds to how convincing his argument is. The reader learns early on in the essay that Holliday is not simply a layperson when it comes to this issue. He tells us that he has firsthand knowledge by describing his own experiences in the 1960s. As Holliday writes, “I distinctly remember wearing Cuban heeled boots and long, limp-collared and full-sleeved shirts in paisley, not to mention bell-bottom trousers. I let my hair grow, though not quite to my shoulders, for I was always a conservative at heart.” This shows that he, as an engaged writer, was fully active in the 1960s, taking part in the transformation of culture. A reader is more likely to believe him because he knows more than the average person knows about this problem and was actually a participant in this change. The fact that he is knowledgeable helps lend credibility to his argument.

Ultimately, Holliday concludes that “Things were going to be different from then on.”But he doesn’t leave the reader hanging at this point; he provides another shock that even more describes how important the 1960s were, writing, “After the show ended to tumultuous applause and I left the theatre, the streets outside were crowded with vendors selling special editions of a local newspaper. “American President Kennedy Assassinated” was the headline.” And the reason, we, as readers accept the author’s closing statements is that by the time he gives them, he’s already persuaded us of his argument; we are already convinced that The 1960’s were very important historically and culturally and this comes at a time when the reader is receptive to it. If his logic, language, and credibility don’t win over the reader, certainly, his final maneuver of a shocking detail does the trick.

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