The Story of Joseph Kim: Rhetorically Analyzed

The best storytellers don't gain their audience's attention from just a good story, but rather through the circumstances in which the story is being told. Joseph Kim, a refugee from North Korea and victim to the country's tyrannical regime, tells his story of hard work, hunger, and hope at the TEDGlobal 2013 Convention. Through Joseph Kim overcoming his struggles of not only the oppression of North Korea, but also the struggles of being a stranger in a foreign land, his proper usage of ethos, pathos, and logos efficiently engages his audience into finding within themselves the hope they need to survive and overcome daily and lifelong struggles.

Joseph Kim, a North Korean man who has escaped his motherland for a new life in the United States, proves his excellent use of ethos by sharing his testimony. Any man, woman, or child can claim that they are from North Korea, but in Joseph Kim's eyes, one can see the struggles, battles, and experiences that he has endured, regardless if they are from that country or not. Although he doesn't presently possess the proper documentation or any official records that state his personal information, such as a birth certificate, the majority of his testimonies and stories can be proved by his rescuers and family. Believing Joseph Kim's credibility is easy because his presentation gives the idea that he genuinely suffer as he testifies he did.

Explaining his difficulties and battles, physical and emotional, Joseph Kim's words cut deep by the usage of pathos. Although I may have gone through a breakup in the past, Joseph Kim admits that he has had nights where hunger or the bitter cold kept him from sleeping. I can't say I have felt the same, but my heart goes out to him because I can't fully comprehend and understand exactly what it feels like to be so distracted by hunger pangs that I am unable to sleep. There were days when I worked a seven hour shift during major holidays. There were days when he worked in a coal mine during the harsh winter for up to sixteen hours a day just for food and nothing more. My heart breaks for him, and my heart breaks for those who have, and are currently, going through the similar struggles, and I believe that my heart breaks because of Joseph Kim's powerful use of pathos.

Because of the nature of the TED Talk, logic seems to dwindle in Joseph Kim's story. The element of logos seems less emphasized simply due to the story being an autobiography rather than an infomercial about toothpaste. There are moments, however, when Joseph Kim explains his circumstances in a much more logical approach. For example, he states that his family especially struggled during the Great Famine of 1994 in North Korea, and later he says that others with similar stories worked up to sixteen hours a day inside coal mines during the bitter winter just for scraps of food. Towards his conclusion, however, Joseph Kim reasons that the only thing that we as human beings can do for others is to show love and express hope to those around us, because the only things that kept him alive were the small acts of love from his rescuers and foster parents, and the hope he discovered during his struggles. Although he may be attempting to gather sympathy from the audience, Joseph Kim does an appropriate job of implementing logos.

Through the various usages of the elements of pathos, logos, and ethos, Joseph Kim efficiently convinces and persuades the audience into understanding his message and mission. Hope and love are the weapons we can use against the North Korean regime, and hope and love are the comforts we can give each other to lift each other up, rather than push each other down. This very message makes its home in the audience's hearts due to Joseph Kim's implementation of the elements of pathos, logos, and ethos.

If you want to see the TED Talk given by Joseph Kim, you can watch it here.

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Works Cited:

Kim, Joseph. "The Family I Lost in North Korea. And the Family I Gained."

          TED, June 2013. Lecture.