In his essay, “A Pedagogical Response to The Aurora Shootings” (235) Henry Jenkins analyzes shocking events involving public shootings in society. His main objective is to discuss why violence is a prominent factor in our popular culture and how the media inflames the issue. Jenkins does pose his belief that violence should be critically debated in order to research the main cause of violence within people. He also states that people must step out of the “media effects” assumption of violence and expands the scale to the meaning of what violence represents in movies and books. Jenkin states, “To be extra clear, I do not think media is where this debate should be focused” (236). He proposes that violence in movies plays an important role in
Tim Wise’s article contains a lot of emotion and it is though the clever tactic of appealing to Logos and Pathos that Wise makes the reader really consider what he is speaking about. There is even an ethos aspect to his argument. Since Wise is a white man shaming his own race, this removes bias which in turn gives him credibility. Now to examine the Logos aspect of his argument. By using the statistic “in past two years, thirty-two young men have either carried out a mass school shooting or attempted to do so, and of these thirty-two, thirty were white teens,” Wise is using the logos aspect of a claim to really make the reader consider the gravity of the situation and take into consideration his appeal to begin profiling these kids (69).
These violent incidences evoke certain emotions in the audience reading this book today in addition to those exposed to it back then. Television broadcasts were primarily responsible for displaying public violence and they had a great affect on viewers and ultimately the
In her essay, “Sizing Up the Effects”, Professor Sissela Bok states the harmful effects of aggressive media and accents her informational argument with scholarly accounts of emotion in order to grab both the hearts and heads of her audience. Bok references a study done on homicidal men and says “What is most startling about the most violent people is how incapable they are… of feeling love, guilt, or fear.” , shortly after she takes a quote from Macbeth “I am in blood. Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” By including these hard hitting, poetic pieces she stimulates a new part of each audience member, a personal element is introduced making all of her given information apply on a deeper level.
Media outlets consistently take advantage of the public's fascination with serial killers in a destructive way, ultimately distorting the viewer's sense of empathy and overlooking the feelings of the victim's families. As humanity learns to balance the legacy of serial killers like Ted Bundy and the natural fascination with crime, it is crucial to remember the true essence of these crimes. The victim's voices, as well as their families should be both acknowledged and prioritized. As these goals are accomplished, the public can move towards a more compassionate and empathetic understanding of the legitimate impact of violence on our
They force us to confront the discontents simmering beneath the surface of our seemingly harmonious society (Richter). Unforeseen violence not only instills fear and apprehension but also raises questions about the root causes of such acts. Is it the culmination of pent-up frustration, a cry for attention, or an expression of deep-seated anger? These incidents highlight the pressing need for introspection and a comprehensive understanding of the societal factors contributing to
The article “Do Video Games Kill” written by Karen Sternheimer responds to one of the most sought-after question; are video games the cause for “young killers”? (220) Sternheimer believes the influence of video games on today’s youth maybe spiraling out of control. She focuses most of the blame on the media, politicians and the Juvenile Justice System. Sternheimer suggests that there are other factors to blame for violent behavior: poverty, the neighborhood, unemployment, family violence, divorced parents and mental illness (218). While juvenile crimes have declined, and personal backgrounds effect actions, it cannot be proven that video game violence has no to little effect on America’s youth.
Journalist and author, Dave Cullen, in his book, Columbine, redefines how his readers understand the Columbine tragedy. His purpose is to illustrate the misconceptions Americans have of the shooting by explaining how these misconceptions came about and became rooted in Americans’ minds, although they were so unbelievably wrong. Cullen creates a blunt tone in order to get straight to the facts to show who Eric really was. Through his use of rhetorical devices in this passage, Cullen unravels that Eric was not a bullied outcast like so many believe, but a psychopath.
In 2003, the motion picture, Kill Bill Volume 1, debuted in theaters. Set to a backdrop of bloodshed and violence, the film offers 112 minutes of savagery, as the main character attempts to get back at every person who has wronged her in the past four years. Kill Bill is only one of the many films in which violence is the number one attraction. “Kill or be killed,” seems to be the overarching motto, as millions of moviegoers flock into theaters each weekend to watch as characters fight to the death. In contrast, violence portrayed on the silver screen is no longer acceptable outside of the theater.
It is human nature to occasionally feel the need to break society’s norms. Breaking the law often involves violence and is a form of breaking the norm. It leads people to be driven or drawn towards the concept. In Tom Wolfe’s essay- “Pornoviolence”- Wolfe makes a valuable argument that people are becoming more desensitized towards violence as a whole because of how books, movies, tabloids, and television utilize brutality to grab viewers attention. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Capote retells the gruesome event of a family who was murdered in Holcomb, Kansas.
This article has great viewpoints, use of argumentative reasoning, and shows what truly happens in the hallways of a school shooting. The main person he explains is Eric Harris, who killed over two-thousand students and faculty in a Colorado high school in 1998. He set off bombs all over the school and used a semi-automatic
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Many believe this, but columnist Nicholas Kristof, author of “Our Blind Spot about Guns,” published in 2014 in the New York Times, disagrees. A rhetorical analysis should consist of: logos, pathos, and ethos. Kristof’s use of logos is strong due to the amount of facts and statistics he offers to his audience, but he fails to strongly use pathos and ethos, due to the lack of these elements Kristof’s argument is weakened.
The documentary ‘Bowling for Columbine’ was put into production shortly after the shooting at Columbine High school and in it Michael Moore explores the reasoning behind America’s violent nature. Moore’s belief as too why there are more shootings in America is due to the relaxed gun laws in place in America. To show his point of view he uses a variety of persuasive techniques such as: visuals, audio/music, use of archival footage, political agenda/bias and scenes from various other documentaries. All of which he expertly strings together to influence the facts and opinions of other people.
Furthermore, Moore try’s to show the violent and deadly effect that guns can have in the wrong hands. The ideas that are presented in Bowling for Columbine still remain topical in American society some 14 years after the film’s release. Michael
Informative Speech Going Out with a Bang General Purpose: To inform. Specific purpose: To inform my audience about the causes of school shootings in America. Central Idea: The main causes for school shootings are easy access to guns, mental instability and trauma. INTRODUCTION I. (Attention Getter)
He feels as if this is something that’ll never go away, as when these events happen, the media can get coverage and learn every single gruesome detail, thus netting them millions upon millions of viewers. Our generation is the one most adapted to technology. If information like this is going to be covered, what’s stopping people from watching it? People wanted to find the reason as to why the killers did what they did, and this was left very unclear, as it their actions didn’t have any clear justification. Answers were still craved, so naturally, people started making assumptions as to why the shooters did what they did.