The article presents an appeal of a young man to Mr. Dugan, the father of his presumed girlfriend, Samantha. The objective of the young man’s argument is to convince Mr. Dugan to allow his daughter to help him transfer his couch into a new apartment. The decision-maker in this situation is Samantha’s father since she appears to have already agreed to participate. The young man claims that he wants Mr. Dugan’s daughter beside him when he is relocating his sofa and cannot see a future for himself “that does not involve a moving day with Samantha” (Aldrich, 2017). While he admits that moving the couch will not always be easy, he wants to be with Samantha “through it all”, promising that however difficult the process might get, they will eventually succeed (Aldrich, 2017). He also claims that he wants Samantha’s parents to be with them that day since it will make him grateful and happy. He finished his appeal mentioning that Samantha is already two months pregnant, so the decision has to be made as soon as possible. Though compliments and the courteous manner of the young man may please her father, his argumentation is primarily based on his emotions, and his happiness, therefore, can be easily refuted. On the other hand, the pregnancy argument might be more convincing. The article clearly parodies the tradition of asking a father’s blessing before marriage, and the moving day alludes to a wedding day with Samantha’s parents being present to witness the happy occasion.
References
Aldrich, B. (2017). Sir, I’d like to ask for your daughter’s hand to help me move this couch. The Onion.