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Orlando Jaime

Professor Crosby

English Composition 3

28 February 2018

Made in China

In Fine Wine and Caviar- Made in China? (Made in China), Perrottet utilizes imagery,

syntax, diction, ethos, and logos to persuade and inform readers of the progress and success

China has made through the wine and caviar industry. The article discusses specifically China’s

wine and caviar, which can make readers believe the article to be for the wealthy middle aged

men or women that can afford the fine wine and caviar that China produced. Despite the

discussion of wine and caviar, the article can also help readers realize the success China has

made on the safety of their food. The author talks about China’s wine and caviar notably due to

the success the industries continue to have.

Perrottet utilizes imagery throughout the article to persuade the audience of the quality of

China’s wine and caviar and how they have been accepted in top-quality restaurants. For

instance, the author describes the restaurant he went to as, “[...] elegant dining room adorned

with contemporary artwork.” This excerpt brings a visual to the audience of the high quality

restaurant where the author went to try the wine and caviar. The description of the

“contemporary artwork” in a restaurant makes the restaurant seem to be of high class as well.

The small specifications the author gave of the restaurant he visited demonstrate how a majority

of the customers the restaurant has are wealthy. Perrottet continues to use imagery stating,“[...]

the kitchen prepares a banquet of delectable Shanxi treats, including scissor-cut noodles, sautéed

river fish and fried bing pasties.” This detail given presents a clear image of China’s caviar and
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wine being expensive and good quality. The use of imagery benefits the author’s claim since it

makes the overall message and image of the author’s traveling experience more compelling. For

example, Perrottet makes his traveling experience appealing through a lively description, “But

wine makers are also venturing into China’s more varied landscapes, laying vines from the desert

of the old Silk Road to the foothills of the Himalayas.” The purpose of the vivid scenery is for

the audience to picture themselves in China. The author generating that illustration of his

traveling experience can develop the audience’s desire of one day traveling to China to try its

wine and caviar.

Moreover, Tony Perrottet’s syntax helps set the mood for the scene in China to convince

the audience of China’s success not only in wine and caviar but in its environment as well. For

example, he bolds and capitalizes the beginning of a new topic in the article to give a glimpse of

the main idea of the paragraph, like in the beginning of the first paragraph he states, “ON A

RARE CLEAR DAY…” This lets the audience know the start of the article and be able to

assume what the paragraph will most likely going to be about. For example, the author alludes to

China's infamous polluted environment by emphasizing how a clear day is "RARE" — in all

caps. He argues this popular narrative later in the paragraph because his experience with China’s

food and environment has been well. Thus, the use of the bold words and capitalized letters is a

good transition from his main ideas that benefits the audience to predict the authors next topic.

In addition, the author wants readers to know he is a reliable source to give information

of China and its wine. Accordingly, Perrottet utilizes diction on the article to help readers believe

he is a wine connoisseur. For examples, he states, “The first sip is a surprise-crisp and bright,

with subtle nectarine flavors.” The high level vocabulary to describe the taste of the wine makes

the audience believe that the author is knowledgeable and well informed of wine . Not only does
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he seem to know wine, but the description of the taste seems to be a positive connotation of the

high quality taste the wine has. This demonstrates how Tony Perrottet knows his wine and be a

reliable source that recognizes great quality wine. The author utilizes diction to influence readers

to buy a wine bottle or simply be able to understand China’s progress on their food. For instance,

he gave a positive connotation and comparisons, like allusions, to help persuade the audience.

Perrottet restates a marketing business woman of wine, Chan. She hoped the wine marketing in

China will continue to evolve and progress over the years by alluding to the New World, “But if

the quality is consistent, China can overcome its poor image, she suggests, as New World wine

have.” The diction and statements from experts of the wine and caviar industry helped Perrottet

strengthen his reasoning and perhaps persuade the audience to try China’s produce, specifically

the wine and caviar. In, Bloomberg Pursuits, the article states how China surpassed Russia from

being the best caviar, Kate Krader (2017) claims, “It’s now the caviar of choice for 21 of the 26

Michelin three-starred restaurants in Paris, including Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée Hotel.”

This proves how Tony Perrottet was not just doing a great job on the word choice but on the

statistics and ethics as well. The excerpt from Bloomberg Pursuits was written in 2017, proving

China’s progress is still continuing to improve and help the article Made in China not just be

opinionated but factual as well.

Furthermore, this article utilizes ethos to persuade the audience that the information he

gives is reliable and true. Since this article is a travel writing genre, it helps the readers be

intrigued in the success of China in the wine and caviar market. Moreover, the author makes

himself seem more trustworthy by commenting based off his own hands on experience and

expertise on wine. It is less convincing if the author only did research behind a computer and not

personally know the feeling of going to China and trying their caviar and wine. He gives in
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detailed of his traveling experience in China so the audience can know he is a reliable source to

the information he gives throughout his article. For instance, Tony Perrottet claims that going to

China and trying their fine wine will not be a regret by stating, “After visiting Changyu, it is easy

to understand why the arrival of smaller producers causes such relief and excitement among

China’s wine lovers.” Similarly, the use of the author's personal experience helps persuade

readers since he takes the liberty of traveling and making a well-detailed review of the product

for consumers. For example, Perrottet mentions a restaurant he visited when he traveled to China

and explained, “At Sir Elly’s Restaurant at the five-star Peninsula Shanghai, if you order the

selection of caviars, three will be Chinese.” This demonstrates how in his personal experience

when he visited China, Chinese caviar was known and served in a high class restaurant. Thus,

the author having experience indicates how China’s caviar is one of the best since he witnessed it

himself.

Another example of Tony Perrottet demonstrating ethos in Made in China, is how he

dispels a possible counter argument about China’s contaminated food. He argues, “‘Made in

China’ label is even more severe when it comes to food, thanks to the scandals that have become

staple of international news since 2008…” and later on the article he quotes Chef Florian Trento

commenting, “‘The quality is excellent, the industry is well-regulated, the farms are

sustainable.’” This counter argument helps the authors claim by stating a negative situation that

lead to a stereotype of the food produced in China, but then argued the opposing claim with a

chef commenting a positive and up to date quote of the fine produce of China, backing up the

authors true claim. However, according to Food Supply and Food Safety Issues in China, “ ...we

identified important factors limiting agricultural production in China, including conversion of

agricultural land to other uses, freshwater deficits, and soil quality issues” (Lam, Hon-Ming,
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2013). The experts on food safety from this article mention how China is being contaminated

due to the environment but later mention the improvement China made over the years, “[...]the

country’s demographic transition is being accompanied by rapid economic growth and a

nutritional transition involving increased consumption of animal products and edible oils” (Lam,

Hon-Ming, 2013). This information helps Perrottet be correct on using statistics and ethics that

display the negative first so it can later lead to the positive impact of China’s food products .

The logos the author used in his essay were mostly to strengthen his argument of

defending China’s food industry, including their wine and caviar. There were some statistics that

he used to help argue towards it. For example, Tony Perrottet mentions how in 2013 thousands

of chickens were slaughtered for the fear of bird flu and arrests were occurring for passing rat

and and mink meat as lamb. This does not exactly support his claim of the safety and progress of

China, but giving the example of caviar and wine from China being successful worldly helps

reinforce his claim. In addition, the success of wine and caviar in China proves to readers that

their produce in general has improved and not be contaminated. For instance, he states, “China is

now the world’s eighth-largest wine producer…” This is a statistic that the author gave to let the

audience know he is not just giving his opinion but also stating facts of where China’s caviar and

wine stands world wide.

Aside from the author trying to persuade the audience, his purpose is to also inform

readers. He wants readers to be informed of China’s progress and their food industry from passed

years. Perrottet wants to help break the stereotype China has of their food causing health issues

due to a tragic event that brought illnesses to many people. For instance, the author gives a brief

background of an incident that occured in 2008 stating, “[...]baby formula tainted with toxic

melamine killed six infants and sickened 300,000 more.” China is known to be one of the most
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polluted places, therefore, many fear China’s produce since they do not want to catch a fever or

worse. For instance, an article from Time Magazine says, “Last year, the food supply chain

became an international concern when a series of faulty export products were uncovered

including fish contaminated with banned drugs, toothpaste and cough syrup made with toxic

chemicals and lead paint used on toys” (Yang, Austin Ramzy And Lin, 2008). This statement

makes people not trust China’s food and safety. China has had a negative reputation due to

outdated articles similar to the previous excerpt. Therefore, the author wants to help China’s

reputation by giving a positive connotation of its current food. However, in order for the author

to state China’s progress on their safety of their food, he had to state China’s negative reputation

so the audience can see China’s progress on the food industry from past years to now.

Hence, Made in China, Perrottet intends to persuade and inform the audience of China’s

food safety utilizing imagery, syntax, diction, ethos, and logos. He also accomplishes to break

the stereotype of China having to have contaminated food due to their environment. The news of

the food in China being threatening to human health was old news, therefore, the author wants to

update and inform readers of the progress and success their food has made, including the fine

wine and caviar. The article demonstrates how China’s food safety is also being improved from

past years, and the wine and caviar are examples of the improvement China has made over the

years.
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Works Cited

Krader, Kate. “The World's Best Caviar Doesn't Come From Russia Anymore.” Bloomberg.com,

Bloomberg, 19 Sept. 2017,

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-19/the-world-s-best-caviar-doesn-t-come-

from-russia-anymore.

Lam, Hon-Ming, et al. “Food Supply and Food Safety Issues in China.” Lancet, U.S. National

Library of Medicine, 8 June 2013,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3888022/#!po=16.4286.
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Yang, Austin Ramzy And Lin. “Tainted-Baby-Milk Scandal in China.” Time, Time Inc., 16 Sept.

2008, content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1841535,00.html.