Rhetorical Analysis: Is Our Country As Our Athletes Are? '

The New York Times journalist David Brooks has wrote countless editorials about the political climate of today’s current election. Brooks also contributes to the New York Times by writing various articles regarding culture and the social sciences. The issues Brooks presents in his pieces is about the political candidates and how they’re faring in their respective parties. In addition to this, Brooks provides an overlook on the various aspects of American culture which can date back to the 18th-century America. His focus is on the national issues and includes United States history that has effected today’s society such as Frederick Douglass, who wanted to change his society’s perception of African Americans so he had 160 photographs of himself

taken presented in the article “How Artists Change the World”. I am aware of the political race going on in this election season and the daily issues the United States is facing but the cultural insight and history Brooks writes information on in his articles is what I am not familiar with.
Brooks keeps a neutral tone when writing about political issues by discussing faults he personally sees in each candidate and discussing culturally sensitive issues such as race.

In his articles, Brooks points his claim to the audience with several data that supports his thesis. Any argument he starts with has evidence from various sources referenced from multiple authors or research facilities such as the World Values Survey in the article “Is Our Country as Good as Our Athletes Are?” He provides a counter argument that may be brought up to discount his claim and he refutes it by adding additional evidence. David Brooks usually poses his question to his audience so they can think introspectively about how the claim relates to their life. Altruism is a topic discussed in his article “The Power of Altruism” and he exposes human’s will of doing good is negatively affected when monetary gain is put into their situation. Brooks provides research that could be applied to daily life so the audience can see the change money adds to morality. He asks his question outright in the aforementioned article “Is Our Country as Good as Our Athletes Are?” He puts a positive spin to this and marks the United States as successfully which can be compared to the many achievements the United States has won in the Olympics. The similarity in his structures is evident with his continued use of providing a clear claim and followed with fact based paragraphs. The audience he targets is the person who is open minded to the issues he addresses and is willing to hear his outlook on topics like United States future, ideal affluence, and the economic effect to

altruism.
Overall, shadowing David Brooks’ pieces exposed me to a variety of interesting information on people like Frederick Douglass and the engaging topic of affluence in western society in comparison to Native Americans which I wasn’t aware of. His proposition of this topic opened my view on the changing culture of millennials who are veering off the typical idea of what affluence means for a more community based living. Brooks did not change any of my views but he exposed me to more of the United States story and made realize the resemblance between the country itself and the country’s athlete’s performance in the Olympics. I would like to shadow another columnist for the reasons of reading another viewpoint on similar topics on this country’s current generation and the political election. This would further my knowledge and exposure to new ideas and writing.