It only lasts an hour, yet the entire nation seems to know by the thirty-minute mark. It reaches the headlines of every major news network, capturing the attention of ordinary Americans watching their nightly news programs. Some are shocked, others’ hearts filled with empathy, and some, with rage. But some will not react at all, not to another American school shooting. Desensitization has gripped us, removing our ability to see the brutal reality in front of us. We fail to see the haunting truth that children die every day, not at the hands of illness or accidents, but at the mercy of an unforgiving gun. The short animated film, If Anything Happens I Love You, and the essay, The Science Is Clear: Gun Control Saves Lives both call for awareness …show more content…
It is a common expectation that rhetorical arguments should be rooted in ethos. As both the essay and animated short have shown, it is a potent tool that aids the audience in trusting the messages portrayed by the creators. Still, the notion that messages within films are only considered when they receive acclaim, or that rudimentary concepts must be published in esteemed scientific magazines for audiences to understand, is jarring. It’s absurd that unless the source’s credibility is proven beforehand, the argument for reducing gun violence is ignored. One of the most compelling features that leaves a lasting impact in If Anything Happens, I Love You, is its poignant and dull monochromatic hues. However, in the climax, moments before the shooter fires, a juxtaposing light envelops the room in color. Above the school windows, sits a bright red and blue American flag, undisturbed and unfazed as gunshots ricochet underneath it. The silent and bright flag acts as a harsh invective, reminding viewers of the American government’s guilt. They too sit unmoving and unyielding to change, even while blood stains their …show more content…
Using repetitive words such as “again”, and “always”, they condemn American politicians for their continuous lack of action on gun control. Patriotism, a once beloved blessing, has now morphed into a poison that taints the hearts of Americans. Citizens are forcibly handed an idealized image of their country and are expected to be comforted by the cyclic promises government officials make after every school shooting. Even while they always pledge to prevent such a horrific incident from happening again, nothing is done to change the situation. Through their respective invectives, the film and the essay speak against the unkept promises, defiantly proclaiming how children suffer the consequences of inaction. The inherent hypocrisy within the government is conveyed through both sources, ultimately establishing its absurdity. 3 times a year, students are led to gather in a small hidden area. They shush one another as the last giggles are let out, and the room turns dark and silent. But these children aren't playing hide and
By appealing to several different views, Wheeler is able to grab every reader’s attention. Using schools as his focus point grabs the reader’s attention on a personal level. A school is a place where your children, your friends, your spouses all could be, and we still aren’t motivated to change our gun control laws. Tragic events do not have to happen like those that occurred at Virginia Tech, The Jewish Day care in Los Angeles, and Pearl High School. Wheeler believes concealed carry should be allowed in every school. Let’s make the students and teachers of these schools and colleges their own heroes. Wheeler says we must embrace all of the varied disciplines contributing to preparedness and response. We must become more willing to be guided and informed of empirical finding. School officials base policies on irrational fears. Wheeler states, “What is actually worse, the fear of what we think might happen, or the massacres that actually did occur?” Wheelers essay is very well thought out and uses fear, credibility, and factual evidence to support his beliefs. My belief is we should allow teachers and students to have guns at schools, as long as they have gone through training to do
Although the families of those affected and the American people watching at home believed in the security of our Nation during the Sandy Hook school shooting, we as a Nation have not put in the recognition needed to see the restraint that has blinded us from noticing we aren’t doing enough for the safety of our children when it comes to gun violence; therefore, President Barack Obama wants the American people to see this as it is and to begin to resolve this issue, beginning with gun control policies.
To begin, this powerful essay focuses everything on violence and how it is being used by games, movies, and even the most influential people such as the president. The author, Barbara Kingsolver central point is to let readers understand the wrongfulness of the violence being shown and done by humans especially in schools. How can the
Violent Media is Good for Kids, by Gerard Jones, is an article which makes many claims to support the argument in which a controlled amount of violence could be beneficial for a young, developing child. Even though the topic of this article can be controversial, the claims serve to support the argument in many noteworthy ways. It is written in such a way that it tells a story, starting when the author was a child and works its way to his adulthood. In this case the author uses, what I believe to be just the correct amount of each rhetorical strategy, and fulfills his goal for writing the article. This argument is interesting and at the same time, effective. Throughout the analyzing process logos, ethos, and pathos are searched for and scrutinized.
How long do we have to wait until we see another body laying down on the ground motionless in cause of gun control? The next one might be a brother or a sister, son or a daughter or any family member. This has to come to an end, Obama speaks his heart out in the speech saying “In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun -- 900 in the past month. And every day we wait, that number will keep growing.” This quote presents a real life experience of the whole nation that touches the lives of millions of Americans. Obama effectively appeal to the audience emotions by mentioning the tremendous loss of the 20 precious children, the six brave adults, and the 900 of our fellow Americans. Obama also appeals to the audience’s emotions by using another real life example where he argues a serious situation about mass shooting happens in amusement places. Obama states in his speech “And that's what allowed the gunman in Aurora to shoot 70 people -- 70 people -- killing 12 in a matter of minutes. Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater” This quote carries lots of emotions, how innocent citizens loss their lives in a matter of seconds. These machine guns
Gun Control in America is seen as ineffective, citizens believe gun control laws in place are not protecting lives, but taking them away. In order to solve this problem, many think more laws should be put in place. By doing so, they believe guns would no longer be in the hands of criminals and lives would not be ended before their time. In Christine Watkins’s article, “Stronger Gun Control Will Save Lives” She explains that if guns were objects that truly kept us safe, America would be the safest country in the world. She also states that a gun in any home is more likely to be mistreated, causing an accidental shooting. She also hints that more common sense laws would greatly benefit gun owners (Stronger Gun Control). One of her points is quite agreeable, more common sense gun laws would be entirely useful in the long run. By having more safety guidelines, such as; trigger locks, which make it so the gun cannot be used, keeping the ammunition and the gun separated, never pointing a gun at another person, unless your life is in life threatening danger, making sure the weapon is properly cleaned on a regular basis, and even teaching children how to properly handle weapons. By taking these common sense precautions to use, it would prevent innumerable accidental misfires in homes. On the other hand, laws put in place to simply make it more difficult to obtain a weapon is not the answer. By keeping guns out of the lawful citizen’s hands, only the lawbreakers will benefit. Author John R. Lott, Jr. wrote the book entitled More Guns Less Crimes, informs readers that by having a concealed weapon, as opposed to carrying a weapon openly, carries more potential to reduce crime rates across America. By concealing a weapon, no one knows who is ...
Aroung the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the controversial and widely argued issue of gun control sparked and set fire across America. In the past decade however, it has become one of the hottest topics in the nation. Due to many recent shootings, including the well known Sandy Hook Elementary school, Columbine High School, Aurora movie theater, and Virginia Tech, together totaling 87 deaths, many people are beginning to push for nationwide gun control. An article published in the Chicago Tribune by Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, entitled “Gun Control is Long Overdue” voiced the opinion that in order for America to remain the land of the free, we must take action in the form of stricter gun laws. On the contrary, Kathleen Parker, a member of the Washington Post Writers Group whose articles have appeared in the Weekly Standard, Time, Town & Country, Cosmopolitan, and Fortune Small Business, gives a different opinion on the subject. Her article in The Oregonian “Gun Control Conversation Keeps Repeating” urges Americans to look at the cultural factors that create ...
The United States will not soon forget the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut that came just two weeks before Christmas last year. This tragic event resulted in the death of twenty students and eight adults. Although the event shocked the nation, rampage shootings are nothing new. Over the years, many families have lost loved ones to these horrific events. As a result, these mass shootings such as the one that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary caught public attention leading to a push to find the cause of these events. Out of this research a variety of possible causes came to light consisting of arguments stating that high school bullying, availability of guns, mental illness, violent movies and video games are the cause of mass shootings. However, these researchers and debaters tend to ignore the role of massive media coverage in the increase of copycat shootings in the United States.
Family environment and the press are two major influences resulting in the recent tragic school shootings. As much as society continues to focus the killing rampages on factors such as television and music, what children are exposed to in reality contributes to the violence. The most recent school shooting in Michigan involved a six-year-old first grader who killed a classmate with a .22 caliber pistol. The news coverage had vanished after two or three days, and I was left wondering what had happened. Considering the fact that the media wore the Columbine incident out, I wanted to know why they did not pay more attention to this school shooting. As evidence did arrive, it was discovered that the child lived in a household where cocaine, heroin, and many other illegal drugs were commonplace. Also in this “home” guns were easily accessible to the child. Children growing up in this type of environment certainly are likely to be held accountable for future violence. Even though I am against the news media presenting too much school violence, Americans should have been deeply disturbed by this shooting because of the child’s young age. The Michigan shooting should have enlightened Americans to the dilemma we face in this country. Two weeks after the Columbine High School shooting, information on the mass murder was still being broadcast on television. The press was feeding young viewers ideas on how to kill their classmates. News was reported how the teenage murderers acquired information regarding building bombs, obtaining guns, smuggling guns into the school, and proceeding to kill their classmates. A mentally unstable teenager could simply watch these news reports and write a book entitled, “How to Slay Your Classmates”. This onslaught was ridiculous and the news coverage should not have been permitted to continue for countless weeks. Society has determined three reasons on which to blame the shootings. First, the nation blamed it on television’s violent programs. Following that, Americans gave the music recording companies the evil eye as well as attacking the gun manufacturers. All of these reasons involve material objects that are unable to think for themselves. Televisions and CD players do not control themselves, people control them. Finally, boundaries controlling the television programs children view should be set by the parents. The same explanation applies to firearms. How can it be a gun’s fault that a person killed another human being?
The NRA argues that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees individuals the right to own and carry guns. They are concerned that federal regulations will continue to increase until owning a handgun will be difficult to achieve, infringing on their Constitutional rights. They also argue that if law-abiding citizens have guns, they are safer from criminals, bringing crime rates down.
School shootings have been a part of America’s history since 1700’s when four Lenape Indians went into a school in Greencastle, Pa., and killed the teacher and up to as many as 10 children (Epstein, 2012). Since that day school shootings have become almost a regular occurrence. This school year alone, we have already reached eleven shootings (Hefling, 2014). Perhaps, an even more stunning number, since the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012, just fourteen months ago, America has had an appalling 44 school shootings, totaling a horrific 28 deaths, in just fourteen months (Dimon, 2014). Since that day in December, about 1,500 state gun...
America, standing in fear, waiting for another mass shooting to break out in front of their eyes. More than 3,000 American Citizens die from gun violence each year (USA Gun Violence Stat.). Sadly, a fraction of the lives lost are mostly due to school shootings. This year alone, 52 school shootings have occurred, leaving 30 dead and 53 injured (52 School Shootings). From the mass murder of Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University to the well known Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, it becomes clear how ordinary people turn into brutal killers. The causes of these horrible tragedies are the availability of guns, media, and mental illness.
It is a well known fact that guns can kill people, but the problem occurs when people do not recognize the danger of weapons other than firearms. An example is the serial killer Ted Bundy who used a crowbar to knock out and kill his victims. He was able to kill at least 35 people without the use of a gun. Additionally there was another killer in Ohio named Donald Harvey who claimed to have murdered 87 people through poison. Furthermore after going through 28 serial killer cases from all over the world and only four used guns to murder.
Gun control, in the United States especially, is an issue of high current relevance and it has become of great importance to address it immediately. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have measured that more than 33,000 people die each year as a result of firearms in the United States. As of February 21st of 2018, a total of 34 mass shootings had occurred. And the numbers keep rising at a vertiginous speed. Communication media aid in the spread of this information, but the most important part is that they provide a platform for discussion and proposal of ideas, powered by the pain and frustration of the relatives and friends of the victims, that could be implemented towards gun control. However, after the particular incident, eventually the silence reigns again. However, there has been a recent shooting in Parkland, Florida, that had a stronger impact than
“We fight each other for territory; we kill each other over race, pride, and respect. We fight for what is ours. They think they’re winning by jumping me now, but soon they’re all going down, war has been declared.” Abuse, Pain, Violence, Racism and Hate fill the streets of Long Beach, California. Asians, Blacks, Whites and Hispanics filled Wilson High School; these students from different ethnic backgrounds faced gang problems from day to night. This movie contains five messages: people shouldn’t be judgmental because being open-minded allows people to know others, having compassion for a person can help people change their views in life, being a racist can only create hate, having the power of the human will/goodness to benefit humanity will cause a person to succeed at any cost and becoming educated helps bring out the intelligence of people.