Rhetorical analysis is the ability to read an article and determine whether it was written to persuade, inform or entertain an audience and sometimes they were written to do all three. Sometimes essays and articles are written in response to another article. Usually a popular text is written based off of an academic text and sometimes the transition from academic to popular text can cause the information that is in the academic text to be miscommunicated. However, this is not the case in Alan Schwarz’s article that was published in the New York Times titled, “Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds, Raising Worries” which reports on a study done by Susanna N. Visser and it was published through the Center For Disease Control. Although they are both two very different types of writing they both include the same information regarding the amount of kids that are diagnosed and medicated for A.D.H. In Schwarz’s article he is able to summarize the academic article as well as provide his own insight, analysis and criticism about the issue. Schwarz is able to do so by summarizing information in the academic article and “dumb down” the scientific jargon in the CDC report therefore making it easier for a vast audience to comprehend and be interested in the article. According to Martin Robbins article, “Why I spoofed Scientific Journalism, and How to Fix It,” regarding the issue of scientific journalism he states that one of the hardest things to do is do more than just simply report and summarize scientific findings.
Another thing that makes a strong popular media article is being able to appeal to a reader’s ethos. In order for this to happen, the text that they are reading must be coming from a reliable author as well as contain credible information. A credible article is more enticing to readers and it makes the argument or point of the article stronger. Schwarz’s New York Times article appeals to the audience’s ethos because of the way it was published as well as the external sources that it uses. The fact that Schwarz’s article was published by the New York Times it automatically gives it credibility seeing as it is the nation’s third largest newspaper and it has won over one hundred Pulitzer Prizes. In the text of the article itself Schwarz refers to Visser’s academic article that she wrote for the CDC which is a government run organization. For example in Schwarz’s article he states that, “More than 100,000 American tolddlers 2 or 3 years old are being medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder outside established pediatric guidelines, according to data presented on Friday by an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” (Schwarz) The official that Schwarz is referring to is Susanna Visser who was one of the academic journal regarding the treatment of ADHD in young children. Without stating where he received his statistics and information from, it would have made Schwarz’s statement less reliable because the audience knows that he, himself, did not do the research to find out that more than 100,000 American toddlers were being medicated for ADHD. In addition to Visser’s CDC article, Schwarz also refers to other reliable sources such as information from The Food and Drug Administation and direct quotes from doctors who specialize in ADHD. Logos is another rhetorical analysis feature that is portrayed in this essay and it is a way of persuading the audience through logical reasoning. Articles that are published by CDC are aimed towards people who are looking for specifics when it comes to research and new health findings. Whereas articles that are published by the New York Times are for the “everyday American” who are more interested in research findings rather than the process that it took to find those results. Visser’s CDC article was written much like other academic articles which includes a background, methods, results, and discussion section which is much more complex that a popular media article. The fact that the article is divided into these different sections makes it easy to follow but sometimes hard for a broad audience to comprehend due to its vocabulary and formal tone. In Schwarz’s article he is able to take the information that is found in Visser’s article and make it easier for a broader audience to understand, thus making his arguments more logical because the audience is able to comprehend his arguments easily. In the results section of the CDC article you can find statistics such as, “ADHD diagnosis (ever and current) was significally associated (p < .05 based on x statistics) with every demographic indicator studied. Ever-diagnosed ADHD was higher among boys (15.1%) than girls (6.7%) and increased with age (Table 1). The highest point estimates were among boys, children 11 and older (11-14 years: 14.3%, 15-17 years: 14.0%), and children with public health coverage (14.4%).” (Visser) In Schwarz’s article he states what was previously said but in a much simpler way. This can be seen when he says, “Last year, a nationwide C.D.C. survey found that 11 percent of children ages 4 to 17 have received a diagnosis of the disorder, and that about one in five boys will get one during childhood.”(Schwarz) Schwarz’s ability to communicate the same information but in a much more understandable way shows that he is reliable when it comes to reporting accurate and correct facts to support his arguments.
A major component of a good popular media article is its ability to not only report news and facts but to use the information to support the author’s argument or point that they are trying to make. The main point of the article that was published by the New York Times was to educate people about findings that concern ADHD diagnoses. It mainly emphasizes findings that were conducted by Visser about how children who are covered by Medicaid were far more likely to be diagnosed with the disease and treated with medication. They also found that a majority of these kids were treated with Ritalin and Adderall and compared to patients who were covered by private insurance had a lower rate of patients who were put on these medications. Other than the finds done by Visser, the author of the article also includes evidence from other studies such as statistics a prominent 2006 study found that methylphenidate could mollify A.D.H.D. She also includes quotes given by doctors regarding ADHD as well as other researchers. The journalist does not seem to be biased or leaning toward once side because at the end of the article the author states that there is no firm explanation for why certain patients were being put on the medication and others weren’t. However, the author includes quotes that talk about how children can be misdiagnosed with ADHD and that similar symptoms can be onset by certain environments at homes and this shows that the author believes that this is true since they include evidence from multiple sources that supports this.
The relationship between these two articles shows that it is possible for an academic article to be written in a new genre such as popular media writing so that it is available for a broader audience to understand. Schwarz takes statistics and results from Visser’s CDC article to show that thousands of toddlers are being diagnosed with ADHD and this number increased greatly over the years and people should be worried by the number of children who are currently taking Adderall and Ritalin. Schwarz is able to simplify the information in the CDC report as well as criticize and analyze it too which shows how science writing can effectively adapt the message of original research and make it easier to understand for a much more diverse audience.

References
Robbins, Martin. “Why I Spoofed Science Journalism, and How to Fix It.”Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 05 Oct. 2010. Web. 29 May 2014.
Schwarz, Alan. “Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds, Raising Worries.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2014. Web. 30 May 2014.
Visser, Susanna N., Melissa L. Danielson, Rebecca H. Bitsko, Joseph R. Holbrook, Michael D. Kogan, Reem M. Ghandour, Ruth Perou, and Stephen J. Blumberg. “Trends in the Parent-Report of Health Care Provider-Diagnosed and Medicated Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: United States, 2003–2011.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 53.1 (2014): 34-46.e2. CDC. Web.