Alexander Estrella
English 21007
Instructor: Susan Delamare
November 28, 2021
Rhetorical Analysis of a Research Paper in the Field of Civil Engineering
Li, 2021 stated that “it is of great significance to develop a new way to recycle waste cotton textiles with universality and economy” (p. 9). As a student attempting to major in civil engineering, I feel attracted to research papers that discuss an issue in this field. Moreover, I am a person who is also concerned about the environment and what we humans can do to keep our ecosystems clean. Thus, I deeply felt interested in this research paper and how it proposed recycling applied in civil engineering. This rhetorical essay aims to analyze how the author uses several strategies to convince the audience that her research is important and necessary.
The author of the investigation and the paper is Zhen Li. Throughout the article, there is no register of her credentials or expertise in any field. Nevertheless, the document does express the author’s affiliations. The author is affiliated with the College of Textile and Fashion and Anhu Vocational and Technical College. These two affiliations prove the expertise of the author in the field of textile, which is a crucial part of the author’s investigations into using recycled fabrics in the field of civil engineering. Even though there is no unambiguous evidence of her expertise in the civil engineering field, the author shows a vast knowledge of this field, and her research paper was published in a well-respected journal. These facts, plus the author’s affiliations, give the author more reliability and elevate her credentials.
Li (2021) makes the audience clear throughout the paper. The author explicitly states several times that her intended audience is civil engineers, scientists, and those affected while working in the construction field. This point is visible in the abstract. She affirms that civil engineering construction is rising due to increased economic construction, but so is the number of accidents of people working there (Li, 2021). Alternatively, she also stated in the introduction that structural health monitoring is a field that will tremendously affect scientists and civil engineers as they are the most concerned about the aging of infrastructures (Li, 2021). Moreover, the author uses language that would make people unrelated to the field have difficulty understanding the article throughout the method, experiment, analysis, among other parts. Even the graphs and charts prove evidence of engineers and scientists being the intended audience.
The exigence of this research is another point that the author indeed makes explicit. Li (2021) bases her exigence on two main aspects: the circular economy and the number of people that get affected while working in construction. She establishes that there is no use for textiles waste, and the country is losing much money. That is why her research is necessary to use textiles by recycling them, thus increasing its economy. Moreover, another exigence of the author is that these materials are better for health inspections, which prevent future damage to the infrastructure and the people. Li (2021) makes sure to explain this throughout the abstract, introduction, and conclusion.
The paper does not fully follow the IMRaD conventions. The introduction establishes what the issues are and how this research can be the solution. Moreover, it clearly explains what the exigence and the audience are. In the method section, the next part, the author adds a sub-section that makes the paper more organized. It divides the method section by the type of intelligent wall insulation materials and monitoring characteristics. Then the author adds an Experiment section where she explains the preparation method, the experimental principle, and the experimental purpose. This section also includes the equations to do the experiments. There are no results sections; instead, the author adds an Analysis section where she explains the results and presents the graphs of the experiment. There is no discussion section either. However, there is the conclusion where the author adds up the exigence of the research, the importance, the results, and how this can positively affect future civil engineer constructions.
On the other hand, Li (2021) does develop a research space (CARS). First, the author briefly talks about three different research papers relevant to the topic she is researching. Then, she questions the conclusion of these researches due to the lack of experimental proof. Through that questioning, she expanded the knowledge of health monitoring in civil engineering by investigation, expert interviews, and experimentation and developed an experimental model. Therefore, the author indeed created a research space throughout the introduction.
Li (2021) uses rhetorical appeal to highlight her reliability. First, she appeals to logos as she has a clear and logical organization of the paper. The paper is well organized into sections, but the author also adds sub-sections that make it easier to read and understand. These sub-sections also make the article more organized and logical. Moreover, the author added several visual formulas, charts, and tables to back up her point throughout the research. Second, Li (2021) appeals to pathos in several sections, such as the introduction and the conclusion. The author appeals to the audience’s feelings as she wants them to reflect on humanity’s negative impact on the environment and start recycling to reduce this effect. A clear example is when she stated: “the current situation of recycling and reuse is worrying” (p. 9). Finally, Li (2021) appeals to ethos as well. The author gets credibility when she states her affiliations to well-respected universities. Additionally, she proves her expertise in the civil engineering field as she possesses vast knowledge in this topic. A clear example is when the author stated: “Especially in the use of high-speed machinery and equipment, people are sometimes required to use the vibration signal generated by the system for condition monitoring and fault prediction and can timely and automatically take a variety” (p. 6). The author even includes formulas that a person not related to this field could not understand, convincing evidence of her knowledge.
The author does not fully elevate her reliability as there are no clear credentials in the document, or she does not entirely follow the IMRaD conventions. However, Li (2021) does an excellent job when organizing the document concisely. Moreover, she does state her affiliations and elevates her credibility throughout the document by showing her knowledge of civil engineering. Additionally, she creates a clear research space and uses rhetorical appeals to approach the audience. From this paper, I learned how to organize the ideas in a research paper clearer and easier to understand. Furthermore, I understood how to prove my expertise in particular topics without clearly writing my credentials or affiliations. Li (2021) did an excellent job transmitting the ideas to an audience in a clear, organized way.
References:
Li, Z. (2021). Application of Research and Development of Intelligent Wall Insulation Materials Based on Recycling of Waste Textiles in Civil Engineering Health Monitoring. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2021, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5585829
