Abstract — Assignment #3

My rhetorical situation revolves around the flaws within how the concept of empathy is taught. I am considering whether empathy can be taught ethically in the first place. As an individual, I find myself in multiple marginalized communities. In each phase of my life, I’ve found that people are no longer empathetic or are only empathetic for such a short period of time, leaving me questioning their intentions. When I was younger, I struggled to grasp the idea of empathy. I was constantly in spaces where people’s blatant ignorance became my problem, almost reinforcing the subliminal thoughts in my head that believed in only demonstrating empathy to a selective few. I found myself wondering about the upbringings of others and how they were taught to show understanding. I aim to reach parents and teachers in an attempt to make them consider their direct role in teaching empathy. I imagine my writing existing in a newspaper or blog. My writing will either consist solely of a narrative (fable or short story) or a combination of a narrative and a research paper. I think this will be effective as empathy is mainly taught through narrative. Most cultures teach kindness through personal or fictional stories. Some of the first readings children are exposed to are short stories and fables that focus on the concept of understanding. Parents use the stories they grew up on to instill empathy in their children, continuing this for many generations. Teachers include these readings as ways to see how a child is developing emotionally, even having reading tests where children are expected to empathize and understand the make-believe starting at the age of 5. Exposing those who are supposed to teach children to the same material they share allows them to decipher the flaws within the concept of empathy and change their approach for the better. I don’t think that everyone in the world is willing and capable of true understanding, but I hope that in reading my work, they can at least attempt to understand, the same way I force myself to every day.