There is no doubting the fact that animals do not have rights in the conventional sense, or in any other sense for that matter. The reason is because they are not moral agents; they cannot do things out of a sense of right or wrong and unlike humans, cannot use reason. Without reasoning, they are unable to have rights and therefore, are not responsible for themselves. In "An Animal's Place"", Michael Pollan points out the issue of whether or not it is right to consume animals. He goes to great lengths to research this topic to find a reason to eat meat. He does a great job supporting his opinion that we should be able to eat animals, by using narrative, compare and contrast, and exposition. Not only did his thesis recognize the problem of animal cruelty but, it also proposed a solution which strengthened his article.
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In the very beginning of "An Animal's Place"", Pollan introduces the reader to a narrative which will encompass most of his work. "The first time I opened Peter Singer's 'Animal Liberation', I was dining alone at the Palm, trying to enjoy a rib-eye steak cooked medium-rare. If this sounds like a good recipe for cognitive dissonance, that was sort of the idea" (par 1). By using of this technique, Pollan is attempting to attract the reader into his piece. This use of narrative also sets a conversational tone to the article. This helps Pollan's thesis since it fortifies the personal connection between the reader and the article by making the reader understand his point in the most coherent terms instead of terms a scientific expert would use. Pollan's use of narrative shows that the support for his thesis doesn't only consist of secondary sources but also of personal experience.
Pollan also uses compare and contrast between humans and animals to further justify his thesis. Singer's main argument in "Animal Liberation" is that we should be equal to any kind of animals. Singer's statement was contradicted by saying that humans, in fact, do suffer more, taking into account of emotions and understanding that animals do not have.
