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Jiankun Ke
Brittany Stephenson
English 1010
October 26, 2015
Rhetorical Analysis: When Prisoners Protest
When Prisoners Protest was published on July 16, 2013. The article is talking about
why prisoners cannot meet their demands by protesting. The author is Wilbert Rideau, and he has
written several books and is an award-wining journalist. He was imprisoned for manslaughter
and confined in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. While in prison, he was the editor of a prison
magazine named The Angolite, which was the nations only uncensored prison magazine. Rideau
is referred to as the most rehabilitated prisoner in America. by Life magazine in March 1993.
In the article When Prisoners Protest, he has shown a strong personal connection and
encourages people to help prisoners to improve their living condition (by his use of examples).
Prison protests are not common news the public hear a lot about. In order to make
connection with the audience, Rideau wisely used comparison of power between prisoners and
prison authorities. Logos appeared in the beginning of the article, Rideau started with an
explanation of why there have not been many prison protests throughout history. He says, The
typical inmate doesnt want trouble. He has little to gain and too much to lose: his job, his visits,
his recreation time, his phone privileges, his right to buy tuna, ramen and stale bread at inflated
prices in commissary. He pointed out the serious consequences prisoners would receive for
protesting. Rideau listed those little privileges prisoners have which most of people cant even
imagine, because free people can have much more. The examples where successfully connecting
with the public making them feel grateful for their life and sympathize with the prisoners.

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Rideau brought up the case of a huge strike that happened on July 8th 2013. I would
consider this incident as the reason why he was writing the article since the date of article
published and the strike were so close. It also made an appeal of pathos when he mentioned the
case due to his former prison experience and horrible period of solitary confinement. In this case,
Rideau was successfully connecting his personal feelings with audiences. In the text, he also
explained his personal experience when he was incarcerated in solitary cell for 12 years which is
cruelest thing you can do to a person.
He used himself as an example to explain what happened if a person gets incarcerated for
years. Its always convincing when you use personal experience as an example. This personal
experience and feelings are ethos, which inspire and set the path for the following text. For
example, Rideau writes, Deprived of all human contact, you lose your feelings of connectedness
to the world. You lose your ability to make small talk, even with the guard who shoves your meal
through the slot in the door. You live entirely in your head, for there is nothing else. You talk to
yourself, answer yourself. You become paranoid, depressed, sleepless.
He goes on to list some examples of comparison between typical prisons and good
prisons. Rideau brought up the unprecedented prison protests in California during July in 2013.
He also pointed the miscommunication between prison authorities and inmates. Which leads into
the articles main claim of why they are having hard time to understand each other and how to
solve the problems. He suggested its good to keep communication with prisoners regularly to
understand what the issue is and prevent incoming troubles. Then he listed out the Louisiana
State Penitentiary as an example of how they work with prisoners and why it is one of the safest
maximum security prisons in America. And if prison officials actually listened to inmates, they

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would find that their demands are often reasonable. Rideau is definitely a representative of
prisoners, since he was former prisoner with great achievement.
Pathos and Logos appeared through the ending. Rideau encouraged everyone to be a part
of the action. He connected people by using example as every year men form Californias
Pelican Bay and other supermax prisons around the nation are released directly form the vacuum
of their cells into free society, to live and work among you and your loved ones.
In general, Rideau put his personal experience as the example to make connection with
readers. Logos, pathos and ethos are found throughout the whole article. As a reader myself, I am
totally understanding his situation and feel a connection with the author.