The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

123 “The Mammal with Heart” by Hannah Gaitan Instructor’s Notes All well-written texts incorporate appeals to pathos (emotions) as well as logos (logic). In this award winning essay, Hannah Gaitan effectively incorporates both into what could have been a solely logos driven, and thus, uninteresting, topic. After all, what is emotional about the circulatory system of a giraffe? Hannah shows her readers. Can you identify specific examples of pathos in this essay? How about specific examples of logos? Hannah also chose to include visuals in her essay. Why do you think she did so? What role do the visuals play? When might you choose to include visuals in a text of your own? Writers’ Biography Hannah Gaitan is a second-year Pre-veterinary Medicine major from Boulder, Colorado. Hannah enjoys scientific writing, specifically dealing with animals, but finds creative writing and poetry to be difficult. She spends most of her time, however, studying for her classes and gaining hands on experience in the field of veterinary medicine. Her hobbies include equestrian sports, running, and hiking. She also enjoys hanging out with her family, boyfriend, and black lab, Buddy. The Mammal with Heart The scene is an exotic African safari. The sun begins to set as excited tourists look out over the savannah. While looking out into the distance, the tourists spot a majestic giraffe leaning down to drink peacefully from a calm body of water. Then, to the surprise of all, as the magnificent creature raises its head from the water, it faints and collapses to the ground. This would be quite a sight! Of course, if one has ever seen a giraffe at the zoo or on a safari, he would notice that the giraffe does not, in fact, collapse dramatically onto the ground after it raises its head from drinking. However,