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Running head: Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis: The Great Recession and Unemployment


Alia Dahlan
RC2001 Bret Zawilski

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The most impactful effect of the great recession was the high unemployment rates in the
US during and after the economic downturn. The Great Recession: a Statistical Analysis of Its
Effects on Unemployment published in the International Journal of Business and Economics
Perspectives and Unemployment and the Great Recession published by the Federal Reserve
Bank of Cleveland both argue this claim (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015). Although both articles are
about unemployment during the Great Recession, the International Journal of Business and
Economics Perspectives article is scholarly (and will be referred to as the scholarly article) and
the Federal Reserve Article is non-academic (and will be referred to as the non-academic
article) (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015). The scholarly article was found in the Appalachian State
University library database and the non-academic article was found by searching for great
recession unemployment in Google. Both sources contain graphs and cite data from other
sources (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015).
The exigence, or gap to be filled, for both articles is similar. They are both fairly recent
articles analysing the Great Recession, which the scholarly article states ended in June 2009 and
the non-academic article states ended in October 2009. Both articles needed to answer how
unemployment changed during the Great Recession and how it affected people. They also lay the
groundwork for more research on the subject to be done (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015). The
scholarly article was published on September 22, 2015. It is looking back at the Great Recession
and possibly attempting to prepare the country for future financial turmoil. The researchers
divide the US population by geographic region, education level, gender, and race possibly to
recognize who may need more assistance in the future. The scholarly article needed
mathematical proof to fulfill the research (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article was published
on November 8, 2011. It was written in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession when

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unemployment was still high. The piece looked at the overall employed versus unemployed
population of America. It used statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis to make points
(Tasci, 2011).
The audiences of both articles are people who keep up with national news, are interested
in the countrys economic outlook, and want to learn more about current events. The scholarly
article would most likely be read by academics, forecasters, policy makers, and anyone who
needs statistical proof, including numbers, graphs, and demographics, to make conclusions and
decisions about unemployment (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article would possibly be read
by academics, people who subscribe to the Federal Reserves publications, people who work in
business, and journalists who trust the Federal Reserve as a source. The piece has easily
understood charts, simple language, and asks questions that readers may wonder about (Tasci,
2011).
Both articles have constraints in that they were both published in print and on the web. As
a result, they both have restrictions on length and accessibility. Despite this, they both enable the
exigence to be addressed. The scholarly article was published in a journal with length and
formatting constraints to fit the academic atmosphere. The authors also have the responsibility of
representing their educational institution, Georgia Gwinnett College. They have to be completely
sure of their findings and use reliable sources. It makes sense for the article to be published in
2015 because the Great Recession was still relevant (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article
was published in a magazine-type of publication, which allows for color images and requires
shorter articles. This article represents the opinion of the federal government, so it had to use
trusted government sources. It was also very timely because the high unemployment was still
occurring when the article was published (Tasci, 2011).

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Both articles exhibit a lot of ethos, or credibility of the author. They both used labor
statistics reported by the US government and both included research. The scholarly article
included a literature review of previous research on similar topics that helped determine what
needed to be researched and how to conduct statistical analyses. The four authors are all faculty
at Georgia Gwinnett College with research interests in economics. Miranda M. Zhang is a
Professor of Finance and Economics and Coordinator of Business Science in the School of
Business, Stephanie Peppas is an Instructor of Business Quantitative Analysis in the School of
Business, Spero Peppas is a Professor of Marketing and International Business in the School of
Business, and Tyler T. Yu is a Professor of Economics in the School of Business (Zhang,
2015). The non-academic article was written by a research economist who works for the Federal
Reserve Bank of Cleveland who specializes in economics. Previously, Murat Tasci was a
Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Texas at Austin (Tasci, 2011).
Neither articles appeals very strongly to pathos. They both contain a lot of numbers and
statistical trends, but few emotions. The scholarly article uses geographical regions, education
level, gender, and race as variables for unemployment rates, which can insight emotion if one
believes that unemployment is not related to these things. In the introduction, the scholarly
article states that One of the most significant features of the 2007 to 2009 economic recession
was the high and, to a certain degree, long lasting effect of unemployment in the labor market,
which is a subjective statement (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article uses questions to probe
readers. It opens with If unemployment is the single most important indicator of the job
market's health, the patient is unquestionably sick, which is a subjective statement. It also uses
the phrase the bad news is and includes a survey based on opinions entitled Households

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financial situation in 2010 compared with a year earlier where the responses were better off,
same, or worse off (Tasci, 2011).
Both articles put to use a lot of logos, or reasoning to appeal to the audience. They both
use many pieces of data, historical statistics, and conclude that more research can be done based
on what they found in their research. The scholarly article uses logos in its literature review,
statistical analysis, and tables (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article uses easy-to-read charts
and statistics (Tasci, 2011).
Both articles use kairos, or seize the moment for discourse. They were both written
within 6 years of the end of the Great Recession. The scholarly article seems like it aims to
predict unemployment if there was to be another recession. It provides statistics to look back on
(Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article has more kairos because it was written while the high
unemployment rates were still occurring. The author was writing about current events and
contemplating what to do next (Tasci, 2011).
The invention for both articles is similar in that they need to know why there was high
unemployment during the Great Recession and what circumstances it fell under. They both
contributed to similar discourse and were both in print and online (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015).
Both papers had similar arrangements where they started with an introduction that stated
that unemployment was the worst part of the Great Recession, they both had body paragraphs to
make their arguments, and they both closed with conclusion that call for more research (Tasci,
2011; Zhang, 2015). The scholarly article had an abstract, introduction, literature review,
research questions and stated hypothesis, methodology, statistical analysis with tables and
equations, conclusions, and references (Zhang, 2015). The non-academic article started with an

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introduction to Unemployment and the Great Recession, then sections titled Why
Unemployment Is Still High and Unemployed Feeling Recessions Sting (Tasci, 2011).
Neither article has much style, or artistic expression because they both had
straightforward facts and analysis about the economy (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015). The nonacademic article had more color pictures, graphs, a stock photo, and the website had different
fonts and organization with colors (Tasci, 2011). Neither article encorporated any memory. The
delivery, or how the information was said, was active voice for both articles, which is
understandable because they were both published within the last six years and are talking about
recent events. The scholarly article had a more academic tone while the federal reserve article
had a more casual tone (Tasci, 2011; Zhang, 2015).
In the field of finance, most people use similar vocabulary and trust federal reports on the
state of the economy. In academia, research on finance needs a lot of statistical evidence,
otherwise it is just another opinion or possible forecast. Financial analysis depends on
predictions and probabilities to be successful. Both articles that have been examined adhere to
these guidelines, but were published in different rhetorical contexts.

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References
Tasci, M. (2011, November 8). Unemployment and the Great Recession. Retrieved September
05, 2016, from https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/
forefront/ff-v2n03/ff-v2n0359-unemployment-and-the-great-recession.aspx
Zhang, M. M., Peppas, S., Peppas, S., & Yu, T. T. (2015). The great recession: a statistical
analysis of its effects on unemployment. International Journal Of Business And
Economics Perspectives (IJBEP), (1), 44.

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