Summary Of To Catch A Bombmaker By Clay Dillow

“To Catch a Bombmaker” written by Clay Dillow was featured in the November 2015 issue of Popular Science, a magazine that publishes articles on science and technology. It was informative yet easy to read but could also be entertaining, for those who enjoy reading about scientific projects/happenings. It is important for an author to make their article an enjoyable to read. However, a writer’s purpose is to inform, persuade, or entertain. For example, Dillow’s purpose was inform; he succeeded in informing readers. The article might have been interesting to some, mainly just informed. Dillow did successfully answer the key question of the article. However, the article was presented as more of a story, rather than an informative article and lacked

The writer can appeal to the reader’s emotion, too create a stronger message to send to the reader. One example of logos was, “In Iraq alone they accounted for between half and two-thirds of all U.S. wartime casualties and killed tens of thousands of civilians” (Dillow 54). Also, this was pathos because it generated fear in the reader. The words “Mix of violent chemicals” were also an example of pathos because it created fear. Dillow created the emotion of fear to send a strong message to readers. Another aspect of pathos was an appeal to patriotism. When he discussed American military personnel, “He starts talking about participating in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. He’s talking about building bombs” (Dillow 56). Of course, appealing to a reader’s patriotism, intense emotion is created. Creating pathos had a lasting impact on the

He used quotes from an expert, Greg Carl, to help to validate his information, but he could have used more information from sources. Although, he had creditable quotes; Dillow ultimately told a story rather than informing the reader. Telling a story is important for a writer to be able to do, but not when the purpose is to inform. In addition, the reader might learn more if pictures of what he was explaining were included when he was discussing the bombs. In fact, diagrams of objects being described will help the reader to not only better understand what’s being discussed, but also help them to broaden their knowledge. Despite that, Dillow could have helped the reader to visualize what he was describing. Description is a useful tool when the author is creating a visual, and can inform readers. Dillow could have helped the reader to visualize what he was