From across the globe, thousands of people will pay tribute on the day that the tragic events took place at Sandy Hook Elementary. No one will forget that chilly December morning. Where at 9:30 am on that day, a heavily armed maniac named Adam Lanza, walked into the school and took the lives of 20 innocent children, and 6 brave adults. Across the United States, from the president to the NRA’s vice president, there were calls for greater constraints on firearms. At this time, two valiant leaders rose and shed their insight on the events that had unfolded. Barack Obama’s, “Newtown Speech” and Wayne LaPierre’s, “NRA speech on gun control and the Newtown Massacre” have their similarities, and differences. Obama on one hand uses pathos, rhetorical …show more content…
For instance, in his speech he states, “…and you’ve got a recipe for a national nightmare… (LaPierre, 1)”. In this quote, he uses alliteration because he is trying to show the nation just how serious this topic is. Placing this device like he did really get’s the audience to focus their full attention on this speech. It attracts them. Simultaneously, he is trying to produce a frightening or worried effect, considering he is talking about how violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years. Furthermore, Barack Obama uses rhetorical question again and again, as his central rhetorical device. An example of that would be when he says, “Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? (Obama, 2)”. Here, Obama uses rhetorical question for the soul purpose of getting the nation thinking, to get the nation to realize, what is really going on in the world we live in? Everything considered Barack Obama uses rhetorical question in his speech because he wants to infuse the audience with empathy. It is an empathetic tone. He wants the audience to think. In contrast, LaPierre uses alliteration for the purpose of injecting a fearful vibe into the audience. He wants audience to act, and act
Sandy Hook is an elementary school in Connecticut that was invaded by a shooter, Adam Lanza. Twenty-eight people were shot and killed, twenty of them being children between the ages of five and ten. Before Lanza arrived, he shot and killed his mother who was a teacher at this school. The article was published the day of the shooting to the Washington Post. The article was written announce what had actually happened during this tragic event. The article was directed towards parents with kids and adults to inform everyone on the catastrophe and to hopefully make schools as safe as they could possibly be. Additionally the author also states that this is not the right time to try and discuss the gun control laws.
In his article “Gun debate? What gun debate?” Mark O 'Mara discuses the controversial issue of gun control. O’Mara takes the tragic school shooting in Oregon as an opportunity to voice his opinion on the debate of guns. He clearly states his position and explains that gun violence has increased enormously because of the lack of command by the government and support from the public to speak out against it. O’Mara claims the issue is no longer a debate because it is so evident that guns have become a significant problem in this country and therefore actions must be taken to control and govern gun laws. In his article he attempts to raise awareness to the severity of the issue and tries to persuade his readers to take a stance against gun violence
According to Blitzer’s Rhetorical Situation the main components in a speech are looking for a fitting response, an audience that’s listening, constraints and a rhetorical response. (Bitzer, 1968) The speech that I used to illustrate what Bitzer’s rhetorical situation was the speech President Obama gave about the shooting that took place in Connecticut, at the Sandy Hook Elementary school. The school shooting took place on December 14th, 2012. A twenty-year-old man by the name of Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty-six people then killed himself; Adam Lanza killed twenty children and six adults. In this speech, I will tell you Obama’s exigence, audience, constraints, and fitting response.
The tragedy that happened in Newton, Connecticut swept the world with a variety of emotions. Many individuals became angry or saddened by the tragedy. I think more of the individuals were angry of what happened to those 20 innocent children. Parents send their children to school thinking that they are safe but in this case ended in tragedy. I am going to discuss similarities and differences between two articles. I am also going to discuss how this shooting is a symbolic crime, how likely policy changes will be enacted and how unlikely they are to be enacted.
Authors use rhetorical strategies to express themes in their writing. Different rhetorical strategies help convey different themes with varying degrees of effectiveness. One way to measure the effectiveness is to rhetorical analyze two pieces of writing to each other and see which is best.
Lloyd F. Bitzer’s article, “The Rhetorical Situation”, is an account of what he calls the “rhetorical situation” as what he believes to be the conditions necessary for compelling a rhetorician to engage in rhetoric (35). It is Bitzer’s position that a work of rhetoric comes into existence as a response to the call of a certain state of affairs in the world (32). Furthermore, Bitzer claims that when we find ourselves in such “situations”, we are compelled to engage in rhetoric in order to restore the balance that we find lacking (34). He identifies three interconnected elements of situational rhetoric: exigence, audience, and constraints (35). Bitzer argues that a rhetorical discourse, which consists of an engagement with an audience for the purpose of compelling that audience to modify the world so as to repair the problem which is presented (35), is required to solve the problem as the world presents it (34). This lack of balance in a rhetorical situation or state of affairs in the world leads to what Bitzer calls exigence, which he defines as “an imperfection marked by urgency” (36). Bitzer also expands on the notion of a rhetorical audience, which is central to his theory of situational rhetoric. Bitzer defines a rhetorical audience as persons who, through discourse, are subject to influence and as persons who can be compelled to bring about the change called for by a rhetorical situation (37). Bitzer also identifies constraints as being a vital component to his theory, which he defines as anything within the rhetorical situation which has the power to “constrain decision” (38).
The traditional method is incredibly contextual, meaning, it looks deeply at the source, message, and audience as they interact within a give time span. Furthermore, this method is a critique of the assumed interaction between a speaker, text, or artifact and its intended audience. In contrast, a narrative criticism examines all facets of any rhetorical artifact for its form, structure, and pattern, treating it as a dramatic story that unfolds and reveals itself for a certain purpose. Additionally, narratives are primarily utilized as a cognitive instrument for comprehending significance.
Aroung the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the controversial and widely argued issue of gun control sparked and set fire across America. In the past decade however, it has become one of the hottest topics in the nation. Due to many recent shootings, including the well known Sandy Hook Elementary school, Columbine High School, Aurora movie theater, and Virginia Tech, together totaling 87 deaths, many people are beginning to push for nationwide gun control. An article published in the Chicago Tribune by Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, entitled “Gun Control is Long Overdue” voiced the opinion that in order for America to remain the land of the free, we must take action in the form of stricter gun laws. On the contrary, Kathleen Parker, a member of the Washington Post Writers Group whose articles have appeared in the Weekly Standard, Time, Town & Country, Cosmopolitan, and Fortune Small Business, gives a different opinion on the subject. Her article in The Oregonian “Gun Control Conversation Keeps Repeating” urges Americans to look at the cultural factors that create ...
“I don’t believe people should be able to own guns. (Obama)” This said prior to Obama’s presidency, in the 1990’s, is still a topic that is constantly questioned today. Many American’s feel the need to seek ownership of weapons as a source of protection; While others believe that private ownership of guns will do nothing more but heighten the rate of violence due to people taking matters into his or her own hands. Philosophy professor Jeff McMahan agrees with Obama’s statement in regard to the ownership of guns. In his New York Times editorial titled “When Gun ‘Control’ Is Not Enough,” McMahan provides evidence to support his theory of the dangers that quickly follow when allowing the community to own guns legally. McMahan, throughout the text, shows responsible reasoning and allows the reader the opportunity to obtain full understanding and justifies his beliefs properly.
"How the Gun-Rights Lobby Won After Newtown." PBS. PBS, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
In the article “Gun Control Can Prevent School Shootings,” Bennett shares the effects of gun violence in the past, present, and future. The Sandy Hook shooting occurred on December 14, 2012 when twenty children and six adult staff members were killed. Barely a month after the shooting, eleven of the families affected by the shooting went to meet privately with Joe Biden, and members from the Congress and cabinet. Bennett stated, “They were preparing to wade into some of the roughest waters in American politics: the gun debate.” President Obama gave a speech in Connecticut vowing to fight for change. And as Bennett put it, “Members of Congress started acting as parents instead of politicians.” Bennett explained to the families that they couldn't get rid of assault weapons or high capacity ammunition magazines, no matter how bad the shooting was. The families got angry and stated they did not want to know what they couldn't do, but what they could do to honor their children.
By appealing to several different views, Wheeler is able to grab every reader’s attention. Using schools as his focus point grabs the reader’s attention on a personal level. A school is a place where your children, your friends, your spouses all could be, and we still aren’t motivated to change our gun control laws. Tragic events do not have to happen like those that occurred at Virginia Tech, The Jewish Day care in Los Angeles, and Pearl High School. Wheeler believes concealed carry should be allowed in every school. Let’s make the students and teachers of these schools and colleges their own heroes. Wheeler says we must embrace all of the varied disciplines contributing to preparedness and response. We must become more willing to be guided and informed of empirical finding. School officials base policies on irrational fears. Wheeler states, “What is actually worse, the fear of what we think might happen, or the massacres that actually did occur?” Wheelers essay is very well thought out and uses fear, credibility, and factual evidence to support his beliefs. My belief is we should allow teachers and students to have guns at schools, as long as they have gone through training to do
This paper will critique the Persuasive Speech Gun Control by Sergeant Steve Cheatham published on April 2, 2011. Sgt. Cheatham started the speech by using a current event at the time that involved a public shooting. By using this incident to start his speech he grabbed the audience’s attention as the incident had national attention at the time. The audience members could conjure up their own feelings of how that incident affected them and their position on gun laws and gun rights. The purpose of the speech emphasizes this is a learning opportunity for the audience –"Currently the President of the United States is pushing for more gun control in the wake of the shooting. And we as Americans are allowing this to happen.” (0.07). With this
As a teenager, eager to take on the rights and responsibilities of young adulthood, it has been easy, even complacent, to ignore the major political quarrels and controversies of these past few years. That is, until recently when the fundamental principles of safety and privacy have collided in the ethical dilemma of gun control, a hotbed issue that affects all of us irrespective of our political party membership or our support of the Second Amendment. After the very different but equally tragic mass shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida, we are all faced with a moral imperative to choose a position about gun control. It is now the responsibility of each of us to talk about, debate and support a platform against gun violence.
Clark (2016) suggests that rhetoric isn’t limited to oral communication, but currently has a permanent foothold in written works: magazine or newspaper excerpts, novels, and scientific reports. Not only written