The Importance Of Civic Hacking

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Bracy’s article also features content meant to persuade. The majority of the text is focused on civic hacking; this may seem like an informative move, but the underlying motive is actually to persuade the audience of the importance of the practice. Once Bracy convinces her audience of the importance of civic hacking, it is much easier for her to convince it of her plea to join Code for America. Giving specific examples, such as the Honolulu Answers site (Bracy), leads to a relatable example of everyday instances of civic hacking; creating an easily relatable form of the speech allows a much easier way to grasp an audience’s attention and allegiance. This instance is also an example of logos used in her speech. Since it is a project that has …show more content…

References to Beddoes’ hacks (Bisson) evoke resentment among readers; they see that black hat hackers gain more by participating in illicit activities than honest citizens do in a year of work, causing them to feel as if it is unfair to themselves because they are stealing from honest citizens like most readers would be. Also, in emphasizing the damages done by black hat hackers and the mysterious backgrounds they often seem to come from, fuel is added to the fire of an already negative connotation. As the other two articles mention, the common perception of hackers is that they are rebellious teenagers out to destroy the world regardless of the channel used. The background described in this article supports those theories when Beddoes speaks of his past as a teenager who started out with an innocent interest in hacking and then transitions into a rebellious malicious hacker after being rejected by the companies that he was trying to assist. Beddoes’ ethos also supports the goal of the article because he is a credible, well-established hacker in recent years. After almost pulling off a multimillion dollar heist, he is a respected yet accessible authority on the topic. Statistics to quantify the amount of data Beddoes stole in his hacking career provide the base to an argument supported by logos. Referring to those numbers also evokes strong emotions in accordance with the amount of people losing money and being victimized by hackers. Readers are inclined to feel sympathy towards the victims of the hackers, evoking an even greater amount of resentment towards the hackers. The content of Bisson’s article effectively supports a negative reaction to

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