Analysis Of Death At A Penn State Fraternity

Death at a Penn State Fraternity In her 2017 article “Death at a Penn State Fraternity”, Caitlin Flanagan utilizes a plethora of rhetorical devices and strategies to convey her argument that large universities and their respective fraternities must be evaluated and ultimately reformed to prevent incidents similar to the death at Penn State from occurring. Flanagan presents readers with the stunning account of a young, affluent Penn State freshman who suffers and ultimately dies at the hands of his newly acquired “brothers”. Throughout the article, the veteran writer emphasizes the systemic ineptness of many universities to control and improve their fraternal organizations. Consequently, she argues, there must be concrete plans enacted to combat the widespread mistreatment of newly pledged fraternity members - referred to as “hazing” - in universities across the nation. To effectively present her anti-fraternity sentiment, Flanagan partially relies on concrete facts and statistics. As she informs readers, eighty percent

Before Tim Piazza’s night begins, he reaches in a closet that “his mother will soon visit to select the clothes he will wear in his coffin.” After the night of “torture”, Tim’s family will be reunited one last time with “the redheaded boy they have loved so well” so he does not “die alone”. These pieces of wording are prime examples of the instrumentality of emotionally involving the audience in any piece of writing. When simple statistics and bland facts don’t seem to push Flanagan’s stance quite far enough, she turns to powerful, almost agonizing wording to complete the task. The language may be exaggerated at times, but it’s undoubtedly effective. However, the poignant wording of the article serves as just a portion of the emotional tactics in this piece. As readers soon find out, every statistic has a