He says he has “grey, bushy eyebrows” and smells like “stale cigarettes and urine” (Asher 41). Apparently his urine smell invades the small, overheated room. Instead of being chased away, the shop owner approached him with a steaming coffee in a Styrofoam cup and a bag containing an unidentified offering. Accept the offer and leave the bar. This details the common value of compassion at its highest expression. At the end of the essay, Asher implies that true compassion is learned through “adversities that become so familiar that we begin to identify and empathize with them” (Asher 42). The author believes that one is not born with compassion but is felt after experiences and learnings. Writer Barbara Lazear Asher employs the quintessential use of persuasive appeals to inform and persuade the reader. His purpose to illustrate compassion through observation and experiences is acknowledged and carefully detailed throughout the text. “On Compassion” uses an ideal amount of logos, pathos, ethos within the essay drawing from life in the city. Barbara's account of the kindness she experienced is felt and understood by the reader. Acts of sympathy and compassion are clearly detailed in the text. Asher imposes his attitude on compassion through the figurative language he embraces in the idea of