Essay Database

Lani Guinier, in the excerpt from The Tyranny of the Majority, illustrates the "central theme of [her] academic writing" -- "not all rules lead to elemental fair play"(49). She discusses the importance of the consideration of the minority in a majority rules position, and provides solid alternatives to the tyrannical approach of a "win/lose" situation. While taking her audience into careful consideration, Guinier opens her piece by stating her "lifelong ambition:" "I have always …

…of the majority," and has proven herself as a credible source. Through pathos, ethos, and logos, she brings her audience a developed argument with credible evidence. She has proven quite effectively that "'it is no fair' if a fixed, tyrannical majority excludes or alienates the minority"(54). Guinier's "commitment to democratic fair play -- to playing by the rules as long as the rules are fair"(49) has brought her success as she is confident and willing.