Do you remember being younger and all you wanted were the newest and greatest gadgets and toys? Maybe a new bike or a new doll was what you wanted, but mom and dad wouldn't get them for you? Or maybe you wanted the new flip phone that came out, and all mom would get you was the To-Go phone from Wal-Mart? It might have always seemed like they were buying the cheaper older model toys from Wal-Mart. This was the case for most stable families. You might not have realized it then, but perhaps mom and dad had the same ideas as financial writer from US News Kimberly Palmer has in her article "End of Credit Card Consumerism." Palmer is a financial writer for the finance column of US News and World Report. Palmer believes that Americans spend their money on wants and not needs, luxuries and not necessities (Palmer 1). Her purpose is to inform her audience, readers and consumers, of the disadvantages of overspending and to persuade them to lead a life of scaling back and less spending to prevent the downfall of the economy. Palmer's uses a didactic yet persuasive tone in her article "End of Credit Card Consumerism," which provides an effective disagreement against national spending by providing the reader with solutions, evidence, and real life stories on cutting back works. By analyzing this essay the reader should have a better understanding of the persuasion strategies used by Palmer such as narrative stories, evidence, and propaganda tools.
Palmer's strategy is to reach out to her audience through her reliability of being a long time financial column writer and the solutions of others that are presented from experts in finance. She is trying to get the attention of readers of financial articles and those who are overspending, causing financial issues for their family. Palmer begins her argument by stating some strong facts to catch the reader's attention of how serious consumerism has been.
