Merry Christmas!
Tooth fairies, mermaids, monsters, and magical creatures of some sort make up a great amount of children's childhood. Nathalia Gjersoe, a lecturer in developmental psychology and the author of "Why Do Children Believe in Santa But Not Harry Potter?" goes into great detail as to why children tend to believe in Santa more than other mythical and imaginary creatures. After various studies conducted regarding children's beliefs, it was concluded that there should be "physical evidence" that supports the claim that such characters exist. For instance, "in the Candy Witch study, 5-year-olds whose Halloween sweets had been replaced with a toy in the morning were much more likely to subsequently say the Candy Witch was real than those who has simply been told about her." However, Santa is considered to be the most believed fictitious character though because not only parents, but also because society goes to great lengths just to publicize Santa and make young children believe in him. Santa is everywhere during the Christmas, which only makes him more believable! Gjersoe's purpose of writing her article is not only to convey information, but also to make parents and society to consider whether it is ok to perpetuate the myth about Santa. To achieve her purpose, Gjersoe incorporated statistics and hypothetical situations. With the addition of statistics, Gjersoe is able to effectively illustrate the beliefs of different groups of children, playing a role that makes parents and society think about how children would feel once they find out that Santa does not exist. Furthermore, by describing various hypothetical situations, Gjersoe is able to prove to the readers why children believe in such fantasies. It establishes her credibility because she is applying her knowledge of psychology into her article. Also, Gjersoe's hypothetical situations make it easier for the readers to understand the points she is making by simplifying the results of the studies into something more general. Through those two rhetorical devices, Gjersoe was able to successfully able to achieve of purpose.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2013/dec/13/why-do-children-believe-in-santa-but-not-harry-potter
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