SeaWorld vs. the Whale That Killed Its Trainer

The article “Seaworld vs. the Whale That Killed Its Trainer” by Kenneth Browrer is an article aimed at an audience not knowing how SeaWorld treats its animals and trying to persuade them that they treat their animals cruelly and needs to stop keeping killer whales in captivity.  This article is very one-sided full of pathos trying to influence the audience to believing the author’s point of view.  There is some evidence of ethos sprinkled throughout with the author stating that he has written different books on the subject and at the end of the article when it is stated that he has contributed to National Geographic magazine and again states that he has written 3 books for the National Geographic society.  What the article lacks most are cited facts and logos that help the author bring reasonable concern to the issue.  There is an anecdote that the author gives about how there was a “twin” to the whale that killed its trainer named Keiko that went on to be in movies and eventually be released to the wild.  This bit seems to add nothing to the argument the author makes except for the fact that, that whale was released to the wild and lives a happier life according to Browrer.  This rhetorical device that Browrer uses best in this piece though is his choice in words.  Referring to the whale that killed its trainer as homicidal and referring to SeaWorld capturing the whales it uses in its parks as a collecting operation to insinuate that the whales’ lives don’t matter that much to SeaWorld since they are just collectables.