Children Caught In The Crossfire Analysis

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Maureen Samms-Vaughan’s article “Children Caught in the Crossfire” sends a very sensitive message to the families out there. The title encompasses the whole issue presented in the article. Vaughan creates a forum for families undergoing this issue, as well as for other families out there, to be educated about the severe consequences that the change in family structures have on children. Vaughan introduces her message by beginning with the thesis statement, “The change in family structure that children experience during their lives are not without consequences.” Even though the thesis would have been much more effective at the end of her introduction, it still helped to pave a path for the readers. As readers read the first line of her work, …show more content…

The information presented, even though very informative, lacked sequence. Vaughn starts off first by listing and elaborating on the impact of the change in family structure, then goes on to describe family functioning (which takes in the description of family structure), then back again to the impact; this should have not been so. Being that the writer uses the cause and effect method of organization to convey her message to the readers, then she should have begun with the description of Family functioning, then continue with the consequences that the change in family structure has on children. Structuring it that way would have made it easier to understand. The first paragraph under the heading “Family functioning would have been a more suitable introduction to the article, accompanied by the thesis outlined in the beginning sentence of the article, also “the Impact of Parenting Stress” should be the title for the last paragraph as the focus is really on parenting stress. Vaughan’s arguments are logical, as it is an issue that is currently affecting youths; the article is also free from bias, as her arguments are based on research. There were no invalid assertions in her article, however she could have incorporated some examples to make it more convincing. Generalization however is one major fallacy within her