Tourism In Hawaii

Paving Paradise

American tourism to Hawaii has increased by 14.2 percent in just two years. This dramatic increase in tourism seems to be a beneficial boost for Hawaii's economy; however, the increasing rate of tourism is harming the native people of Hawaii. While the Hawaiian economy is experiencing one of its most fruitful years, the native Hawaiian people are suffering from job loss, poverty, depression, and an overall "cultural destruction" (Trask 260). Haunani-Kay Trask uses rhetoric to discuss these harmful effects in her essay "Tourist, Stay Home" in order to persuade her readers into believing that tourism can actually be a bad thing for an economy. On the other hand, in his article "Surf's Up for the Economy in Hawaii," Jim Carlton uses his own form of persuasion to inform his readers of the benefits that Hawaii is receiving from its present tourism boom. While both authors argue their opposing views, they are using the ethos, pathos and logos appeals of rhetoric to attract the readers to one side of the issue. Although each writer uses persuasion to provide a forceful argument, the emotional appeals in Trask's essay are more successful in persuading her audience than the ethical appeals found in Carlton's article. Trask, a resident of Hawaii, uses a personal voice to attack the issues, making her essay more persuasive than the "strictly business" attitude in Carlton's essay.

According to Jim Carlton of The Wall Street Journal, "surf's up" for Hawaii's thriving economy! The title for Carlton's article gives away which side of the argument he is on. Carlton's case relies heavily on logos and ethos. His article consists mostly of statistics that he uses to wow his reader over the positive impact that tourism has on Hawaii's economy. Carlton wants his reader to feel that he or she is doing Hawaii a world of good by contributing to their economic growth through tourism. This particular side of the dispute over the effects of tourism is targeted at a very specific audience; the readers of The Wall Street Journal. Carlton knows that his audience is among the extremely conservative, upper class business people of America. These are the people that have the money to spend on vacations to Hawaii. These readers have probably visited Hawaii more than once with their families. Carlton is there to give these vacationers gratification for their lavish weekends by pointing out how much their money truly helps the state of Hawaii. The Wall Street Journal, probably more than any other American newspaper, supports growth of the American economy as a whole rather than as an individual state. Not only do Carlton and this newspaper promote American economy, but they also devalue foreign economy. For example, Carlton explains the previous shortage of Japanese tourism in Hawaii by writing "the basic reason is that the U.S. economy is stronger than Japan." It is apparent that one of Carlton's objectives is to discourage American tourism of foreign countries in order to decrease foreign economical growth. The Wall Street Journal and its right-wing audience are actually more concerned with the development of the American Economy, rather than the development of the single state of Hawaii and its native people's well-being.

The presentation of Carlton's information is straightforward. He gives interesting statistics that include both the ups and downs of the Hawaiian economy. He does not deny that Hawaii has not always had the luster that it has today. His representation of both sides of the Hawaiian economy allows his writing to seem truthful. Ethos takes over his argument from this point. Carlton obviously knows his statistics and presents them in an intelligent way. His credible tone keeps his audience from questioning the effects that tourism has on Hawaii. If his own credibility isn't enough to convince the reader, the source of this article is. The Wall Street Journal has been in circulation since 1889 and has been a reliable source for business and financial news ever since. The readers of this newspaper are loyal to the paper and it is highly unlikely the paper's readers would disagree with what is published inside the newspaper. Through reliability, Carlton effectively uses ethos in rhetoric to make his readers understand and accept his view on the issues of tourism in Hawaii.

To every position, there is an opposition. One opposition of Carlton's article can be found in an essay written by Haunani-Kay Trask titled "Tourist, Stay Home." Born to natives of Hawaii, Trask holds an exceptionally different view of tourism in Hawaii. She takes a more emotional approach in arguing against the support of Hawaiian tourism. She develops her essay by first using personal pronouns. At the beginning of her essay, Trask speaks for Hawaii by using pronouns such as "we" and "us" (260). This proves that Trask feels connected to the state and therefore is more likely to be biased to the effects on tourism. The usage of personal pronouns takes away from the ethos of her argument, but she manages to make up for this by including a fair amount of pathos