The Last Couple Standing by Gerri Hirshey, Article Review Example

For this assignment I decided to choose the article “The Last Couple Standing” by Gerri Hirshey for my rhetorical analysis. Mass divorces and the instability of the family values is the problem that raised the need for this article. Breaking up after several decades of the marriage is extremely painful for the both sides and the main purpose of the article is to find out and share the ideas why this might happen. This issue is rather personal for the reader, as family is one of the most important and dear things for all the people. Therefore, the example of happy marriages breaking up after twenty years affects the audience’s emotions strongly. At the same time, the question might be rather controversial, as different people handle divorce in an unlike way. It may be more (or less) painful depending on the relations in the family, presence of children, career status, etc. Nevertheless, one point that the author stresses is hard to argue with – divorce is always rather stressful and painful experience.

Gerri Hershey arranges her article in a very interesting manner – starting with the recent events and then exploring the reasons that lead to her reaction. The main tool for the development of the discussion is an extensive usage of examples, which makes the narration easily understandable and grasping people’s emotions. Another technique that is very effectively used is starting the article with the rhetorical question, which is extremely hard or even impossible to answer. The thesis statement for the entire text is simple, but at the same time very demonstrative: “Why do some marriages survive while others perish?” Such a beginning largely predetermines the mood of the further discussion and at the same time gives the reader a clear idea over what the article is going to be about. As a basic persuasive tool the author uses her personal emotions and feelings and looks at the problem in the light of her couple.

The tone of the text is highly emotional, presented from a point of view of the woman who has witnessed several divorces within the last couple of years. The beginning of the narration is especially moving, as the author describes her feelings as she sees the baby crib that has been passed from a family to family twice, as the children grew out of it (Hirshey Gerri, 2008). The fact that among the three families that used the crib only one remained is indeed a striking fact.  The overall style of the text is unified and coherent; the literary means remain the same, as Hirshey does not use complicated metaphors and synonyms that might confuse the audience, but otherwise prefers simple and understandable language.

There still are some weak points in the article. To begin with, the audience is relatively narrow – mostly married women over thirty. Arguments and emotions used mostly appeal to this category of women. Younger generation will simply not realize the degree of affection after several years in the marriage. At the same time, males are presented in a negative aspect, as they are defined as the main reason for breakup (on the third page of the article the author says that 5 out of six couples broke up because of men). This makes the arguments somewhat one-sided, though no negative emotions are expressed towards these males. Surprisingly, such an important issue as the kids’ feelings after the divorce is not addressed seriously enough and that makes the argument even less objective.

Overall, the article “The Last Couple Standing” discusses an extremely important problem – the gradual destruction of the nuclear family. However, the main accent of the article is not upon the social consequences of the problem, but rather on the personal feelings over it. The question stated in the thesis remains unanswered – there is no clear single reason for some families to break up and others to remain together.

Works Cited

Hirshey, Gerri. The Last Couple Standing. Ladies’ Home Journal, November 2008, p. 48