On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Cruz fled the scene, but was later captured by police nearby. Looking back on the tragic incident, officials have discovered many warning signs that went unnoticed. Many students claimed that there had always been "something wrong" with Cruz. A few months ago, a social media user with the name Nikolas Cruz commented on a post saying, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." These missed signals are becoming major controversies. School shootings, sadly, are becoming very common in the American society.
Elizabeth Chuck, the article's author, uses many pictures, videos, and statements from survivors in order to appeal to pathos. In one picture, a student and family members are seen crying at the scene. The cover image is of a student being wheeled away on a stretcher. These images make the reader more accurately feel what the victims felt that day. The tone of the article is very sorrowful. The author informs the audience of what happened, but it heartfelt towards the victims and anyone involved.
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This flu season, there is another virus we need to watch out for: the adenovirus. The adenovirus is preventable through a vaccine, but US military personnel are some of the only people being vaccinated against the virus. The virus can cause symptoms similar to a common cold and influenza, but it can cause other complications. In a 2007 outbreak. ten people were killed. This doesn't compare to influenza but it is preventable, so we should be working to stop it. Unlike other viruses, the adenovirus is very difficult to kill. It can remain on plastic and metal surfaces for up to a month, so people need to get the vaccine in order to prevent against the virus. The author of this article, Maggie Fox, uses appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos to inform her readers of the adenovirus. She appeals to logos by stating fact regarding the disease. For example, in a college campus study, 13 out of 168 people who came in for influenza treatment actually had the adenovirus and they didn't know it. Fox also states, "Influenza puts up to 700,000 [people] in the hospital [per year]." These facts provide the reader with background knowledge about the disease so that they know what they are really learning about. Next, Maggie Fox appeals to pathos by describing cases of individual people with the adenovirus. She tells about a 43 year-old healthy woman from Rochester, New York, who contracted pneumonia and respiratory failure. The woman suffered from brain swelling and bleeding, and was placed on a ventilator. Over a year later, she still felt out of breath at times. This detailed story pulls into the readers emotions. Knowing how bad this disease can escalate to makes readers want to get vaccinated to prevent against the virus. Finally, Fox appeals to ethos in her article. She cites several official people and businesses, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Adriana Kajon, Ph. D, of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute. Knowing that Fox got her research from well educated people and programs makes readers trust the facts. It may make readers want to do something about it because they have this information from a qualified source. The tone of this article is informational, but also urgent and demanding. This adenovirus can become a major problem if you are not vaccinated against it, and Fox wants to inform her readers of its effects. For the second year in a row, life expectancy in the United States has fell. This hasn't happened since 1962 and 1963, when it also dropped in two consecutive years. The author, Maggie Fox, believes that drug overdoses may be to blame. As our life expectancy is dropping, drug use is rising. In 1999, only 6.1 out of every 100,000 people died from drug overdose. In 2016, that number jumped to 19.8 deaths out of every 100,000, totaling over 63,000 deaths from overdose. Infant mortality rates barely changed in 2016, which supports the fact that the decreasing life expectancy is in part due to drugs, because most babies are not doing drugs. Fox' tone in the article is very informative. She appeals to logos by using an abundance of facts and statistics relating to the topic. Her article is not biased as she does not include her own opinion or lean towards one side of the argument. This article also appeals to pathos for some people. Knowing that drug overdose death are on the rise may encourage people to stop doing drugs, because they don't want to die. The author's purpose is to inform Americans of where we are heading. If we continue to live a lifestyle filled with drugs, our life expectancy will continue to drop. On Friday, November 24, 2017, several gunmen opened fire in an Egyptian mosque in the Sinai Peninsula. The gunmen also bombed the mosque. At least 305 people were killed, 27 of which were children, and an additional 128 were injured in the attack. This is one of the deadliest attacks in Egyptian history. Many Sufi Muslims attended this mosque, a group that is disliked by ISIS. As worshipers tried to leave the scene, they were shot by gunmen. Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah-el-Sissi, gave his condolences and called a meeting for security officials in Egypt. President Donald Trump also addressed the attack on Twitter.
The authors of the article, Charlene Gubash and F. Brinley Bruton, use a somewhat formal diction. The article is informative and gives a general idea of what happened, where it happened, when it happened, and how many people were involved. Words such as "among the deadliest attacks", and "dozens of bodies wrapped in blood-soaked cloth" show the authors emotional attachment and appeals to pathos. This helps the reader feel connected to the event. The authors have informational, professional tones. They include many details of the attacks, and they appeal to ethos by including statements from people of authority, such as the presidents of Egypt and the United States. The authors purpose is to inform people all around the world of a deadly attack that occurred in Egypt. It is beneficial for us to know what is going on around the world. Events like these prompt us to be more aware of our surroundings. Beginning on August 26, 2016, the phrase "national anthem protest" has become all too well known. At this point in time, over a year after Colin Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49er's, first knelt for the national anthem, this topic is still a major controversy. Following Kaepernick, many other NFL players have knelt for the national anthem during football games. Kaepernick exercised his first amendment right, the freedom to protest, in hopes of bringing awareness to the oppression occurring in our country. On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, eleven NFL team owners and a few players met to discuss the current situation. No agreement was made on what the league will do moving forward, but the owners and players stated that the meeting was very productive. The author of the article, "NFL Players Huddle With Owners Over National Anthem Protests," Chandelis R. Duster, portrays the situation well. Duster appeals to ethos and pathos in his article. Duster's first appeal to ethos comes from including commentary from several NFL players and owners, including Malcolm Jenkins, Stephen Ross, Jerry Jones, and Roger Goodell. Duster appeals to pathos by stating, "Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got an earful from a protester who accused him of treating the players like '$40 million slaves.'" By including this, readers can get a feel of how the players are treated, as well as the criticisms and challenges that NFL team owners are facing throughout this controversial time. The audience of this article is mainly directed at people who watch NFL football, as well as people who are interested in the controversial protesting and the reasons behind the protesting. Duster's tone throughout the article is informational, as well as ambivalent. The article focuses on the meeting of the NFL players and owners, and its outcomes. The article seems somewhat one-sided, but this may be the author's way of avoiding future controversy for himself. Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem. On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock shot and killed over 50 people and injured over 500 more in Las Vegas, Nevada. He fired the shots from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel across from a country music concert. Several NBC authors including Richie Duchon, Andrew Blankstein, F. Brinley Bruton, Pete Williams, and Elizabeth Chuck reported from many cities across the globe, describing the awful event in great detail. The author uses a neutral diction, while including segments from society, including Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as well as the performers at the concert, which provide sympathy from them. The author appeals to ethos and gains credibility by inserting these comments. Including comments from famous people such as the president and vice president show the validity of the event and the outcome. The authors show repetition by using the words "gunshots" and "firing" multiple times. These words become drilled in the readers head, which give them a better idea of exactly what happened in these moments. The author's purpose is to provide information about the shooting to the public. This gives our society a clear picture of the violence that is going on today. The author's tone in the beginning is informational when he describes the event. A tonal shift occurs and the author inserts commentary. The tone becomes very sympathetic and shows many signs of grief for the victims and their families.
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February 2018
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