Sean OLeary

Professor Sipin
English 110C
2/19/15

Love Re-Invented
How do you analyze a persuasive written text? A great way to start is to determine what
type of argument is being portrayed. A Toulmin argument weighs and supports points both for
and against the argument. Be aware that in the Toulmin model, the main proposition is not
intended to always be true. A Rogerian argument contains more limitations because the other side
of the argument is not always explored. I think the article To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do
This by Mandy Len was successfully structured as a Toulmin argument because the author
explains how a study proven to make two strangers fall in love, also worked for her, even though
she was uncertain that it would.
The argument in Lens article is that two strangers are capable of falling in love by using
an experiment done by Arthur Aron. Ethos and logos are both observed because Aron is a
psychologist that proved his scientific studies. Aron began by having two strangers walk into a
room having them sit in front of each other and then asking each other numerous questions. The
two participants got married six months after the experiment. To counter argue, Mandy Len
debates that you cant choose who loves you or create romantic feelings based on convenience
alone. Biology matters for love to be real, our pheromones and hormones do a lot of work
behind the scenes says Len. So in reality is the compassion that the two strangers obtained true
love or is it just the luck of an experiment to make them believe they fell in love?
Arthur Aron was able to succeed in his experiment if and only the two random strangers
fell in love. Arthur is best known for his work on intimacy in interpersonal relationships, and
development of the self-expansion model of motivation in close relationships (Wikipedia). In
Arthurs experiment, the two strangers of opposite sex entered the room and sat in front of each

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Sean OLeary
Professor Sipin
English 110C
2/19/15
other. They were then provided with questions to ask each other. The questions were personal
questions that became more and more personal as they were asked. After asking questions they
had to stare each other in the eyes for exactly four minutes. From there they fell in love and got
married later on. Arthurs experiment concludes with romance and sympathy for the applicants.
He got what he was intended to accomplish out of the experiment and proved that it is possible to
make two complete strangers fall in love.
Mandy Len doubted the experiment would be true for just anyone without any attraction
to the other person. She was curious to see if the experiment would work for her or not. Len had
ran into one of her associates from the university one day and as they were talking they both
thought it would be worth the try to run the experiment together. They started to become more
and more attached as they were steering into the personal questions. By the time they were
staring into each others eyes they could see the love building intensely. She realized the study
had taught her different and that it was possible to achieve sympathy for somebody through trust
just by communicating feelings back and forth. Not only did Mandy Lens use of pathos find
romance, but she was also able to prove that Arons, love experiment truly does work.
It is interesting to see where this experiment can take others who are searching for love.
This well-structured Toulmin argument taught Mandy to challenge her beliefs against the
scientific studies of a relationship building psychologist. As we viewed in this Toulmin model,
the main proposition was founded to be true. Arthur Aron succeeded by conducting his study and
allowing two complete strangers to fall in love. Mandy Lens argument that the study could not be
true was mistaken for her as she fell in love and achieved a real marriage out of it.

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Sean OLeary
Professor Sipin
English 110C
2/19/15

Works Cited
"Arthur Aron." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

Catron, Mandy Len. "To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 10 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

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