Robert Wright's Article "The Evolution Of Despair"

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at some point, has experienced the feelings that Wright
describes. And with the pronoun ‘we' Wright tells his readers, ‘Yes, I have
been through the same things.' This sort of statement is like a token of good
will. The readers feel that Wright understands their plight and thus are more
likely to listen to what he has to say.
With this trust established, Wright moves on to the task of building
confidence in his readers. He lives up to his title of science writer by
providing various statistics ("As of 1993, 37% of Americans felt they could
trust most people, down from 58% in 1960" (4).) and reporting the findings of
numerous professors and scientists ("The anthropo-logist Phillip Walker has
studied the bones of more than 5,000 children from hundreds of preindustrial
cultures, dating back to 4,000 B.C." (2).). This serves a three-fold purpose:
1) to give credibility to the article, 2) to provide subject matter on which
Wright can comment, and 3) to indirectly ...

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