Family Values

English 102 Rhetoric- Article Analysis

Family values have changed a lot over the past few decades. The main reason for this is because society has been changing and becoming more open, therefore values for families and individuals have changed with it. The writer of “Values, Family, and a Changing Society” (F. Ivan Nye) takes the time to define different types of values and how they have defined family values.

The message of the article is talking about how societal change has been shaping the values of family and life in general. The writer gives an example of change with the obedience of children. Children have become a lot less obedient as they grow up. In the past, family used to be the main example a child would follow growing up. This stopped the child from being influenced by society and the outside world. They have learned to become independent and not rely so much on family. This is an example of what Nye calls instrumental values. The tone of this article is plain spoken and simple. It doesn’t add very many statistics and/or facts and examples to make it more interesting or to make the tone more exciting.

The logos of the article are mainly based on two concepts: instrumental and intrinsic values. Instrumental values are defined as things that are valued because they have previously given out a positive outcome. Intrinsic values are things that are valued for what they are, not for their consequences or outcomes (Nye, 1967, 243). The author spends a good portion of the article defining what instrumental and intrinsic values are. While explaining to the reader what intrinsic values are he takes the time to tell us what other words he was planning to use to describe values before he found the word “intrinsic” (Nye, 1967, 243). This was completely unnecessary. This essay is largely a definition essay. Instead of spending time writing, and wasting our time reading about what these words mean, he could have used much simpler terms such as practical and traditional values. This way he could have spent more time making the article interesting by adding facts and examples instead of giving us definitions of instrumental and intrinsic values. When talking about instrumental and intrinsic values, the author uses the example of value on education. He says that it is an instrumental value because with time people have come to see that most people who are educated lead a more successful life. In this case he could have found statistics or facts showing for example, on