Aaron Hernandez
Professor Beth Backes
ENGL 110C
March 14, 2021
Rhyetorical Analysis
When reading a piece of literature such as a comic or article have you ever been left feeling enlightened or a certain type of way? As a reader, you may not know that these writers were intentionally writing it to make you feel that way. You may not notice but they were probably using some techniques such as language choice or rhetorical appeals. Today I will analyze a piece written by David French an author who wrote: “What Critics Don’t Understand About Gun Culture” that appeals to emotions and facts to influence readers to protect themselves and encourages them to get a gun.
In this article, I will use critical disclosure analysis to uncover author bias. Critical disclosure analysis is a tool in which you look at the writer’s language choice and rhetorical strategies. These strategies may include the use of logos, ethos, and pathos which are all techniques used to influence the reader. Ethos is used to influences the reader through the use of credibility. An example of this would be using personal stories or expert testimony. Logos is a writing technique that uses reason to persuade the reader while pathos uses emotion to persuade the reader. These all tools used by writers to help influence readers.
The article I chose to analyze was “What Critics Don’t Understand About Gun Culture” this article was written by David French on February 27, 2018. This article was published by “The Atlantic” a well-known magazine that was originally started in Boston in 1857. Their inspiration when starting this magazine 160 years ago was to challenge assumptions and to pursue the truth. The writer David French is a well-known writer who has published hundreds of articles which include publishing in The Dispatch, The Atlantic, and many other magazines and blogs, He is a conservative who had formally been an Iraq veteran. He was awarded the bronze star in 2007 for his service and bravery in the Iraq war. French focuses mainly on writing about politics, policies, and culture. French is a family man who is happily married to Nacy French and has three kids. David was born and raised in Opelika, Alabama and he graduated from Harvard law school. David then went on to give lectures at Cornell University and he began writing. In the past French was a senior counsel for the American center for law and justice. David French wrote this article using his own story and his own experiences with gun culture. He goes on to talk about the failures in the system and explains that one must stand up for themselves. Throughout this article, you can see the political bias since he writes from a conservative perspective. He uses many techniques throughout this article including pathos and logos to influence the reader to change their opinion on gun culture and to also influence the reader to take charge.
The writer begins his article by writing about a personnel experience he had and explains how vulnerable he and his family were in this story. He tells the story about a man who had pulled up in his driveway and was demanding to see him. At the time only his wife and kids were at home and he was a 50-minute car ride away. The man seemed divagated and had an empty holster on his waist he finishes this story by telling the reader that situations like these are why he feels safer carrying and owning a gun. He states that if the situation had worsened that the police would have not been close enough and his family would have been helpless until they got there. But because he and his wife are both licensed firearm owners that it’s situations like these that one must protect themselves. I used this as my first example because the writer David French is using a tool called ethos to persuade the reader through credibility by using his own experience. He is also using pathos to persuade the reader through the use of emotion. By using this story he is making the reader feel connected and it gives the reader something to possibly relate to. Maybe not everyone has gone through that same situation but there has been a time where the reader may have felt scared and vulnerable and that emotion is what French is trying to bring out in the reader.
French later goes on describing the steps on getting a gun and shooting it at the gun range and throughout this paragraph, he uses pathos and also uses a positive language choice. When the writer talks about this experience he uses positive reinforcement to make the reader feel safe. An example of this would be when he writes “I’ve seen this without fail—is that the person behind that counter is ready to listen.” This sentence makes the reader feel better about going to gun shops because he showing the reader that it isn’t as scary as they say. He also makes the reader feel inclined to trust the person at the gun range because they are friendly and ready to listen to your situation. In this paragraph, he only explains this experience from a positive perspective continuously trying to give positive reinforcement as they care and they are there to help you. In this paragraph, he also states that most workers at gun stores are retired cops or veterans this gives the reader authority figures which is an example of ethos.
Although not everyone may agree with what French is saying he used many techniques to make the article relatable and used strong facts to back up his point. Through rhetorical analysis, we see that French uses lots of ethos and pathos to have the words work for him. With these techniques, the reader can relate and may feel inclined to purchase a firearm. French used this article to encourage readers to take charge and also showed a conservative perspective on gun culture. He wrote this piece showing the true colors of gun culture and created a positive view through the use of language choice.
Work Cited
- French, David. “Why I Carry a Gun.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Mar. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/gun-culture/554351/.
- Members. “David French.” The Dispatch, thedispatch.com/people/5849328-david-french.
- “A 160-Year Tradition.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, www.theatlantic.com/history/.
- Gass, Nick. “What Does David French Believe?” POLITICO, 1 June 2016, www.politico.com/story/2016/06/what-does-david-french-believe-223777.
- “David French.” Time, Time, time.com/author/david-french/.
- French, David. “America’s Racial Progress.” National Review, 9 July 2020, www.nationalreview.com/author/david-french/.
Reflection Paragraph
On this paper, I felt most comfortable writing the conclusion and writing the background paragraph. I also felt that my supporting paragraph was strong enough and that I support my thesis I believe. I also believe that my weakest link writing this paper was trying not to reusing the same words again. I felt well prepared to write this essay because of our class lessons and I used worksheets from class to also help me write this essay. Overall this essay was a great experience and I had a lot of fun analyzing and breaking down the use of Rhytorecal devices. I never noticed how much writers use these techniques because while writing this easy I found myself analyzing and seeing all these techniques being used in everything I read.