Terror’s Purse Strings, By: Dana Thomas

Activity on pg. 109

Terror’s Purse Strings, By: Dana Thomas

The essay speaks about luxury items that are counterfeited and how many people purchase these fake purses or shoes and don’t think of the ones to work behind this. The children who are being abused are the ones to create the fake items in China in a factory.

First hand evidence

In this essay, Dana Thomas uses personal experience to explain her encounter when she accompanied Chinese police officers on a factory raid and how when they arrived inside and found a dozen children age’s eight to twelve working and sewing. She used this personal experience to appeal to the audience’s emotions. She did not use her own experience and perspective only, she included a small paragraph to prove her point but the essay contained multiple pieces of evidence to back her point up.

Another first hand evidence used is an anecdote. This essay includes anecdotes about other people that have been observed or stories that have been heard. Dana Thomas gives examples of other people she has observed or stories she has heard about this specific counterfeit of purses or objects. For example a direct quote from Miuccia Prada stating, “ There is a kind of an obsession with bags”  “Its so easy to make money”. This is here to prove that counterfeits agree with this because as soon as a purse is released, they buy it and reproduce and create a fake one.

Second hand evidence

Second hand evidence is one that is accessed through research, reading and investigation. In this essay Thomas used historical information in “ Sales of counterfeit T-shirts may have helped finance 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition”. This is from research; this shows that she took some time to research before writing this essay, because it appeals to ethos.

Another second hand evidence used is e2xpert opinion. Throughout this essay Thomas quoted some experts sayings for example Miuccia Prada.

Finally, the writer used quantitative evidence. She uses a variety of statistics and numbers to support her essay. For example, “at least 11 percent of the world’s clothing is fake, according to 2000 figures from the Global Anti- Counterfeiting Groups in Paris.