Rhetorical Analysis: Harper-Mercer

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On October 1st, 2015 Christopher Harper-Mercer went on a shooting spree at Umpqua Community College, killing nine people in the process. Since the shooting, Harper-Mercer’s father, Ian Mercer, has spoken out, stressing the need for more gun legislation. In the article written by The New York Times, Jack Healy and Laura M. Holson present Mercer’s claim that stricter gun control is necessary. In an attempt to make Mercer’s claim effective, Healy and Holson present emotionally charged anecdotes from the shooting, emphasize Mercer’s pleading tone, and use factual information from the shooting to legitimize Mercer’s point. Throughout the article, Healy and Holson use pathos so that their readers can connect to the piece, and so that the audience can accept or reject Mercer’s claim. To craft pathos, the authors rely heavily on anecdotes from the victims of the shooting’s families. In one instance, Healy and Holson introduce the story of Cheyeanne Fitzgerald, one of the victims of the shooting; by having her mother and aunt present the horrific details. “Tears welled up in her eyes as she explained …show more content…

To establish background information on why Ian Mercer is claiming that stricter gun regulation is needed, Healy and Holson inform the readers that Mr. Harper-Mercer had fourteen guns, thirteen of which were used to kill ten people and injure eight more (Healy and Holson 1-2). These guns had the sole purpose of killing innocent people and all of them were legally purchased according to page two (Healy and Holson). Traditionally, mass murders are completed with the use of illegal firearms, but the shooting in Oregon was carried out by legally purchased weapons. The facts presented about the shooting force the American public to reevaluate the gun control debate, and the gruesome details help to persuade the readers to agree with Ian Mercer’s

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