Week 3
Speaker: Eugene Robinson
Occasion: A black teenager was recently killed by a white man for playing music loudly.
Audience: White people who are likely to assume the worst in black males.
Purpose: To show white people that they are in the wrong for needlessly killing black people and to make white people feel bad for others doing so. Guilt is the main emotion Eugene is trying to evoke from a white audience.
Subject: A black man being killed who did not deserve to be. The young man, Jordan, was not in the wrong in any way but a white man, Michael Dunn, took it upon himself to make Jordan quiet his music down by killing him and shooting at his friends as well.
Tone: The tone is somber and fearful. Robinson begs his readers at the beginning to please not shoot him or any black males in his family. It appeals to the audiences pathos and makes us feel bad that he should even have to ask that of society. His tone is frustrated and seemingly eager to blame white people.
The purpose of this writing is for Robinson to make white people feel bad that their race is becoming increasingly responsible for the negligent killing of black people, without justification reason. Robinson begins by appealing to the audience's pathos by begging. He asks," Please don’t shoot my sons, either, or my brothers-in-law, nephews, nephews-in-law or other male relatives. I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who also happen to be black men, and I’d appreciate your not shooting them as well, even if the value you place on their lives is approximately zero. " This appeal to pathos is directly made to blame white people for the needless death of black males. For the reader, it makes you want to shame all white people who have ever treated black people badly, especially young black males. This piece is harsh but the meaning behind the non-sugar-coated words are true. The worth of this piece is high because it shows the exact ways that young black males have been mistreated and killed by white people. However, it does not consider the good ways that the white community has helped the blacks and this piece is written by a black man, therefore making it potentionally biased.
Occasion: A black teenager was recently killed by a white man for playing music loudly.
Audience: White people who are likely to assume the worst in black males.
Purpose: To show white people that they are in the wrong for needlessly killing black people and to make white people feel bad for others doing so. Guilt is the main emotion Eugene is trying to evoke from a white audience.
Subject: A black man being killed who did not deserve to be. The young man, Jordan, was not in the wrong in any way but a white man, Michael Dunn, took it upon himself to make Jordan quiet his music down by killing him and shooting at his friends as well.
Tone: The tone is somber and fearful. Robinson begs his readers at the beginning to please not shoot him or any black males in his family. It appeals to the audiences pathos and makes us feel bad that he should even have to ask that of society. His tone is frustrated and seemingly eager to blame white people.
The purpose of this writing is for Robinson to make white people feel bad that their race is becoming increasingly responsible for the negligent killing of black people, without justification reason. Robinson begins by appealing to the audience's pathos by begging. He asks," Please don’t shoot my sons, either, or my brothers-in-law, nephews, nephews-in-law or other male relatives. I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who also happen to be black men, and I’d appreciate your not shooting them as well, even if the value you place on their lives is approximately zero. " This appeal to pathos is directly made to blame white people for the needless death of black males. For the reader, it makes you want to shame all white people who have ever treated black people badly, especially young black males. This piece is harsh but the meaning behind the non-sugar-coated words are true. The worth of this piece is high because it shows the exact ways that young black males have been mistreated and killed by white people. However, it does not consider the good ways that the white community has helped the blacks and this piece is written by a black man, therefore making it potentionally biased.