Prewriting Essay 1

Dan Sheldon

Professor Henderson

Academic Writing 1

February 9, 2011

The article “Government Should Create Stricter Gun Laws” written by “Megan Weintraut” is a well written article that discusses the major controversy of having stricter gun laws in the United States.  Although this article is well written it seems to lack certain parts of the three main elements of written articles LOGOS, ETHOS and PATHOS.  Without these three elements an article could be well written but ultimately end up being pointless and wrong.

The author of “Government Should Create Stricter Gun Laws” “Megan Weintraut” discusses her own opinion on gun laws in a credible and scientific way. She uses numbers and percents to layout the basis of the article.  Through these numbers and statistics she states the facts that are necessary to get her points across to the average reader.  The logic she uses makes it virtually impossible to argue the opposing side. She argues a point that most Americans can follow and understand. She writes in a way that makes it appear as if there is no other side and it is obvious that her point is correct. Using the numbers and percentages makes it seem as if everything she is saying is strictly fact. On top of this the vocabulary she uses clearly shows that she is an educated writer, although it is not too complex to the point where it is difficult to understand. It is because of the facts that she implements that make it so clear that gun laws need a change. This is why the author has used the element of LOGOS (reasoning) effectively.

The author Megan Weintraut is a very persuasive writer, however her lack of personal experience and education of the matter hinder her qualifications as to the topic that she chose to write about. Megan Weintraut is a Senior Mathematics major at Ithaca College. This is clearly not a powerful credibility to discuss the controversy of gun laws in America. Although throughout the article she does state specific national crisis’s and sources that are credible and can appeal to the general public that has an interest in such matters. Even though most of her sources are credible she does use certain sources such as Chris Rock, a well known comedian to further explain her point. It is obvious that although Chris rock may be funny he is not a reliable source to the matter of stricter gun laws. In no way can his quote be backed up by any facts or statistical information. So it is evident that the author may not be the most qualified candidate to discuss the government’s restriction of gun law. Being a mathematician major has absolutely no girth in the credibility towards the matter of restricting gun laws. On top of this her lack of personal experience in the matter does not help to influence her credibility to gun laws. Overall the author has a very weak element of ETHOS (credibility) towards the dilemma in which she bases her article on. In these ways the element of ETHOS is a key chunk to the credibility of her article.

The author Megan Weintraut does an excellent job of reaching the common people through emotional understanding. The matter of stricter gun laws is a very controversial topic which reaches the heart of many Americans. By stating specific national disasters such as the most recent Arizona shooting she touches the hearts of people around the country. It is also an easy topic to talk about since many parents in the United States feel that their children’s safety can be threatened by gun use. As stated by the author America’s youth is becoming desensitized of the violence of gun use by video violent games such as Grand Theft Auto. It is because of video games like this that America’s youth have gotten the notion that use the use of guns are “cool” instead of realizing the true potential danger that guns hold.

Throughout the article the author uses reliable resources such as The American journal of public health that the readers feel reassured that the article is indeed true and that gun laws need to be changed. It also through quoting the famous comedian Chris Rock, readers are able to feel a closer, more personal connection to the topic. The quote she used being “everybody is talking about gun control… I think we need some bullet control!.. If a bullet costs 5,000$, there’d be no more innocent bystanders.” Even though the thought of Chris Rock saying this may bring some chuckles, her usage of the quote is relevant to the topic. In this way as well what has been said above the author uses PATHOS (emotion) into the article.

                To conclude the author Megan Weintraut makes some hearty, good points that will leave her readers with a different view on the government’s restriction of gun laws. Seemingly she has gotten her point across as was the whole initiative of the article. Her use of LOGOS, ETHOS, and PATHOS for the most part can be used to back her view up.