In paragraphs one to eight, Sandler shows a typical conversation she often has about the stigma of having more than one child. Sandler’s argument about the stigma of having more than one child is generally persuasive. Sandler begins by stating, “It’s a conversation I have most weeks – if not most days.” This shows that there is certain amounts of pressure couples get from the society for just having one child. The society makes it seem that having another child would complete a family and make it whole. Sandler then goes on with brief responses like “yup” and “nope – it might just be this one,” to show that she is not willing to engage in this discussion. She sounds angry and sensitive about having another child. Sandler then goes to show that there is a connection between her daughter's age, and the time to have “Another one,” due to Sandler’s daughter age, people assume that there should be another child in the family. Society expects the children keep each other company as they grow. Sandler ends the paragraph through the last words of the cashier, “You wouldn’t do that to your child. You’ll see.” The cashier sounds assertive and she is exaggerating the situation. The tone of the cashier depicts that only children are suffering from being lonely. In reality, the parents are suffering from the harsh judgment of the world. It makes them look selfish and inhumane. Sandler provides enough evidence to show that there is a stigma in have more than on child. One of the reasons people want big families is because of the status quo of being cool. Sandler tries to prove that people with only children face the harsh judgment of the society. Even though Sandler tries to seem typical about the situation, it also confirms that she is very sensitive about the topic.
In paragraph nine, Sandler provides some evidence to prove how expensive it is to raise one child compared to two, but she is not convincingly persuasive.
She begins by saying, “I offer no retort, but if I did, I’d start by asking these young minimum-wage earners,” Sandler says that the cashier is “young” but the manner in which the cashier speaks shows that she maybe a mother or grandmother who has had experience with children. Young people do not usually question how many children someone has. By Sandler not being responsive, it shows that she is overly sensitive about the issue and it shows that she may not be overly objective about the issue as she is trying to seem throughout the rest of the article. Sandler provides evidence saying, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average child in the U.S. costs his or her parents about $286,050 – before college.” It is hard to come up with a...
