This negative imagery causes the reader to ask, after such an effective start -- what is the purpose of this essay? Is the idea that adult children of alcoholics suffer really such a radical claim? The tone of the essay, beginning in a scene of bleakness, gests darker as it seems to foster a sense of despair rather than hope, without real evidence for such bleakness beyond the anecdotal and poetic evidence provided by the essay. Shifting to the register of logos once again, the essay, to educate the reader beyond the information provided by the author's own experience gives a textbook, generic definition of alcoholism, which the author says lacks even an educational function because it is so broad and does not take into consideration the consequences of alcoholism. "Denial," is part of the illness, and alcoholism has "genetic, social, and environmental" causes (53). The author criticizes the definition for not discussing its implications for children of alcoholics, but this might be true of any psychological illness -- the brother of a someone who is mentally ill with schizophrenia will also feel effects of the suffering of the sibling.

The victims of 'Say you love me' are clearly the two young girls" points out the author (53). The persistent use of the Peacock poem raises the question of the author really wanted to do a rhetorical analysis of the poem than discuss preventative techniques for alcoholism, or a more compassionate treatment program or societal view of the fallout of the illness for the children of alcoholics. She notes that sons and daughters of alcoholism as more at risk for alcoholism (52-54). Whether this is the case because of genetic or psychological factors is not discussed, even though this would affect how the emotional implications of alcoholism are addressed in the children of alcoholics.

The reader is moved to ask -- but how can society...

Because it begins with her husband, the reader also cannot help but wonder what were the quirks and strange behaviors the author's husband, a child of an alcoholic exhibited to his wife -- was he a lost child, a hyper-compensator for his father's failings (which seems to be the case, given that his father sought money from him), or did he fail in school and family and professional life? Or did he shine?
The beginning anecdote hangs in the air, unresolved, as does the father's eventual fate. Instead, the essay ends with a barrage of statistics and somewhat unsubstantiated urging for compassion, based upon what the children suffer. Whether the essay is a polemic or informational, or simply personal seems unresolved -- the essay is uncertain as to what it 'wants to be.' It employs logos, ethos and pathos but not in a fashion to create a persuasive argument that really changes the reader's mind in a meaningful way or spurs the reader on to action. Logos is deployed through the use of statistical evidence to back up the claim that alcoholism is a common societal problem, ethos is used to demand compassion for the victims that are the children of sufferer's like the authors husband (who is used to represent 'the many'), and pathos is deployed through the poetic invocation of the Peacock poem. But few readers, before reading the essay would deny that it is sad to be the child of an alcoholic, and ultimately the essay sheds little additional light upon the subject.

Works Cited

Who are the real victims of alcoholism?" From Reading Literature and Writing

Argument. 3rd Edition. Prentice Hall, 2007.