Lia Rebore

Dr. Newcomb

English 170: Writing and Rhetoric

February 9th, 2024

American Girl Doll

 

When I think back to my childhood, I immediately think of the memories I have playing with my American Girl Dolls. American Girl Dolls are 18-inch dolls that come in a variety of characteristics, like different hair colors, textures and styles, different skin tones, eye color, and more. According to The Strong National Museum of Play, they are made to represent “an era of America’s past paired with rich historical narratives and accurate reproductions of accessories and clothing” (The Strong). The dolls give girls an opportunity to have a doll that looks like them, maybe learn about the past and empower them to be whatever they want to be.

This theme, of the dolls empowering girls, is supported by The Strong’s article on American Girl Doll being inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Specifically, it says “[w]hen paired with intelligent stories based on history or with individualized representations of girls growing-up in America, the dolls promote diversity in the toy industry” (The Strong). The Strong presents the history of the doll, beginning from when it was created by Pleasant Rowland, who was motivated to make a doll that didn’t “celebrate being a teen queen or mommy.” It goes on to describe how carefully each doll is created so that it can let girls see themselves in the dolls and teach them either about the past or some life experiences they can relate to. For historical dolls, which can take three to five years to create, “librarians, curators, historians, educators, writers, linguists, and product designers help to ensure accuracy in all the seemingly minute details” (The Strong). One example given by The Strong is how Shirley Chislom was consulted when they were designing Addy and she pushed to have Addy wear a cowrie-shell necklace to show a connection to Addy’s roots to West Africa. This detailed description of the process that is used to create an American Girl Doll, with multiple experts taking years to design each doll, is an effective use of logos because it shows the step-by-step of how much care and thought is put into how to connect girls’ experiences to history and present day, to make sure the purpose, girl empowerment, is fulfilled. In addition to the description of the process used to create a doll, ethos is also shown by The Strong’s inclusion of background information and quotes from the original creator, Pleasant Rowland, which add to the credibility of the article.

If readers, who are most likely parents and other adults who are deciding whether to buy the doll as a gift for a child in their lives, weren’t already convinced that the American Girl Doll was worth the investment, the writer uses pathos to tell how the dolls had an incredible impact on her life. She explains how she had a void in her life, as “a kid growing-up with an auditory processing disorder and feeling lost and bored… and] had refrained from reading as a pastime until I came across American Girl (The Strong). Her parents were so thrilled that they bought her one of the dolls and “proceeded to spend a month sneaking shifts in the basement to make her trundle bed with heart keyholes and painted flower design and matching trunk for me to discover under the Christmas tree” (The Strong). The imagery created by this story elicits a strong emotional response because wanting a child to feel so positive and empowered, and knowing that this toy can give that to your child, is something most loving parents or other adults want children to feel.

 By the end of the article, readers will feel that little girls all over the United States deserve a doll like this because it’s something that can show them that they are just as good as anyone else. And if I were a parent, reading this article in The Strong would convince me to buy my daughter a doll from American Girl Doll because it supports and celebrates her and the strength of girls.

Work Cited

The Strong National Museum of Play. “American Girl Dolls Inducted into the National Toy Hall 

of Fame.” The National Toy Hall of Fame, 2021, https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/american-girl-dolls-inducted-into-the-national-toy-hall-of-fame/. Accessed 9 July 2024.