Don't you have friends to go with?

1. **Personal Reflection**

1.1. I personally identify with the women who Gannon specifically points out in her article. The ones who don't prioritize themselves. I myself have never taken myself out to eat, which is actually something I recently pointed out to my husband a few months ago when he was telling me about a restaurant he took himself to on lunch one day. However, I do view myself as someone who would rather enjoy dining solo. I always go out with my big family to eat, almost every week or other week and as enjoyable as it is, as a mother, it isn't just about going out to eat. I have to make sure my children are behaving, that they are eating their food, that they don't make a mess. Often, I tend to overlook what I need to do, such as eat my own food, while we're out because I'm so focused on my kids during that time.

1.2. I agree with Gannon's argument that solo dining should not be stigmatized. I agreed with her point of view from the moment I read her article but through her ability to present facts on both sides of the solo dining vs. group dining debate, her use of her personal experiences and informing us on the societal stigmas which are already in place, this article made me want to take the jump from being a "group diner" to an adventurous "solo diner."

2. Visual and Multimodel Elements

3. Clear Argument

3.1. Her argument is that it's important to not stigmatize the idea of solo dining and that it is not a sign of unhappiness. Based on her use of statistics, personal narratives and addressing social standards, she effectively communicated her message.

4. Understanding of Rhetorical Situation

4.1. The author is Emma Gannon who is an established author, podcaster and journalist. She has written a book over the subject of solo dining after a breakup, she herself enjoys eating alone even though she's happily married.

4.2. I believe the audience is directed to those who read the Guardian, those who struggle with the social pressures of dining solo and those who enjoy challenging their opinione on different subjects.

4.3. The purpose of her article is to show that even though it's a common thought for solo dining to be considered a sign of unhappiness, there are those that do enjoy dining alone and that it's okay to enjoy it.

4.3.1. I feel Gannon's purpose was to persuade and inform, especially to those that do view solo dining as strange, lonely or a sign of unhappiness. She attempts to persuade those readers by showing an equal balance of statistics that are for and against solo dining compared to group dining and illustrates and informs how much society plays a role in those viewpoints.

5. Analysis of Rhetorical Appeals

5.1. Ethos

5.1.1. By using data from the World Happiness Report, she solidifies the idea that eating alone too much shows a bad picture (paraphrasing): "too many people have no one to eat with, they lack community, and are clearly rather isolated and lonely.

5.1.2. By using the statistic of "Solo dining in restaurants in the US has risen by a staggering 64% since 2019, according to the OpenTable", she uses the data to show that after the Covid pandemic, we as "Americans are spending more time on their own." as stated in the NYTimes article she hyperlinked in the article.

5.1.2.1. Later in the article, she even mentions the pandemic and who it effected people, "Many of us were either stuck inside a house full of people with no escape or desperately alone, craving company and conversation."

5.1.3. By using phrases like "two-for-one deals and sharing platters" and not selling wine by the glass, but only by the bottle, she shows the social standards are generally always geared towards multiple diners and group dining, rather than catering to solo diners.

5.2. Pathos

5.2.1. She identified with being a solo diner herself. She explained that she is "...one of these people (I've even written an entire novel called *Table for One*, about a woman rekindling her relationship with herself after a breakup). I'm always looking for new solo experiences to book. She also states that while she's been married happily for 13 years, her biggest pleasures include "taking myself out for a solo date."

5.2.2. She brings light that sometimes, people who do enjoy solo dining are sometimes "women, who often forget to prioritize their pleasure in a world of endless to-do lists for other people." This appeals to a whole niche of women who will identify the "community" they may be apart of through their love of solo dining. It brings a sense of unity between the author and the reader if the reader is a woman with these feelings

5.3. Logos

5.3.1. She remains on neutral standpoints regarding other cultures as well as group dining.

5.3.1.1. She points out "in London, I've been told they would need the table back within 45 minutes and I wasn't given the full dining foreplay". This indicates that she felt London's social pressures towards solo diners and how engaged they would've been had she been apart of a group.

5.3.1.2. She also points out that "Someone who lives in Tuscany recently told me that solo dining is not as widely accepted there: People would think you were strange". This gives the same imagery as her experience in London, social pressure and an overall feeling of inconvienence.

5.3.1.3. However, in other countries such as "Japan, it's encouraged and respected. There is even a famous Ramen chain, Ichiran, which offers individual booths..."

5.3.1.4. She appeals to logos as well through showing that she doesn't just prefer solo dining, that she loves "a heart group meal" but due to being an introverted person, she sometimes just wants "to eat slowly and silently while chewing over her thoughts."

6. Close Reading and Specific Evidence

6.1. In the first paragraph, the questions "Why would you *choose * to eat a three-course meal with a good view or order room service in a nice hotel on your own? What's the point? Wouldn't you want to share that with someone?" make the reader ask themselves those questions and creates a tone of voice of a person that believes eating alone is a sign of loneliness.

6.2. When paired with the World Happiness Report, the quote "too many people have no one to eat with, they lack community and are clearly rather isolated and lonely" gives a negative feeling. This tone of voice implies that it's bad for business, its bad for social tendencies and its bad for the community.

6.3. "It's not easy being a solo diner" is a way to show that while all the statistics are showing people as unhappy and lonely due to wanting to eat alone, that it is incredibly hard to enjoy a solo dining experience because our societal culture is geared to couples and group dining.

6.4. When her solo dining experience was described as being "strange" by her Tuscan colleague, the article turned more defensive, as she stated "I couldn't help but feel defensive that anything other than dining at a big tablet is labelled 'strange'." She goes on to solidify that by stating "I don't always want a big, raucous dining experience."

6.5. Nearing the end of her article, the last sentence that stuck out to me where her tone shined, was in the quotation, "Some people might think this is sad and too antisocial, but what about if it's chosen as an occasional treat? Life is busy and stressful: what's wrong with wanting to eat a meal in privacy every now and again?" In this sentence, I feel as though she is aiming this at those who view solo dining as strange, lonely and a sign of unhappiness. She uses these wuestions to justify in a way why some people would want to eat alone.