The article, "What Critics Don't Understand About Gun Culture" was published on February 27, 2018. It was published by The Atlantic and written by David French. French is a senior writer at National Review and a former veteran of the Iraq War. The article was made in response to an ongoing issue about gun control in the US and his personal experience with guns and what they have done for him and his family. The writer uses a conversational tone and appeals toethos throughout the article.
French uses a thoughtful tone in the article. It is obvious through the low diction being used due to the use of very informal words. For example, French states "So you take a big step. You walk into a gun store. Unless you’re the kind of person who grew up shooting, this is where you begin your encounter with American gun culture". The previous quote shows the low diction and a second point of view. This allows the reader to take the article a bit less seriously and connect with it more, as it shows what the writer has considered in the article about this issue. Therefore, this is why the article shows a thoughtful tone. The writer appeals to ethos throughout the article. The author states: "At the end of this process, your life has changed for the better. Your community has expanded to include people you truly like, who’ve perhaps helped you through a tough time in your life, and you treasure these relationships". This shows appeals to ethos as the author is putting personal accounts where guns have impacted his life. Later on in the article, French states "it strikes me that many millions of Americans don’t truly understand how 'gun culture' is built, how the process of first becoming a gun owner, then a concealed-carrier, changes your life". The previous quote shows the author's personal account with this and how it has changed him as well when purchasing a gun. French also quotes many other websites to support his information, such as from Politifact, National Review and Time: "Thus the overwhelming support for background checks, the insistence from gun-rights supporters that the government enforce existing laws and lock up violent offenders, and the openness to solutions—like so-called 'gun violence restraining orders". This supports his credibility a bit as it shows where French is getting his information from and how he is implementing it to explain it to the audience. Overall, this is how the author appeals to ethos. The author's purpose in this article is to show what people don't realize about gun control and what it can do for your life if put in the right hands. It also attempts to address the issue about gun control and what should be done about it. He states "It’s a myth that gun owners despise regulation. Instead, they tend to believe that government regulation should have two purposes—deny guns to the dangerous while protecting rights of access for the law-abiding". This shows what the author believes about gun control and what a majority of others see as well. They introduce this topic by first stating a personal account about the reason some may purchase guns. The author's goal is to shed light on a different side on gun control and what should be done about it in the US. French's use of a thoughtful tone and appeals to ethos create an inadequate article about gun control. This is due to the lack of evidence and by the author taking a simple take on the issue. French uses many appeals to ethos which don't support his purpose as effectively and attempts to make statements on behalf on all gun control users which isn't strengthened at all in the article. Although the author does attempt to take a strong stance on gun control and what guns can do for your life, it is supported with weak evidence which makes the article not effective at all.
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AuthorMy name is Alan Ma. I am a student at North Cobb High School, in the class 1A for AP Language and English. Archives
February 2018
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