A rhetorical analysis of the article
The article was a report of the hearing by the US senate on the impact of media violence on children. In this article, Senators aim to convince the audience that media violence is real and that media has harmful effects on young minds. “Children today are being subjected to an unprecedented level of violent television content. There’s no doubt it is coarsening our culture, probably debasing our culture.
I fear, too, that it is weakening our society, as a whole.” Contrast, comparison and command are techniques that are used in this article to create a strong and convincing article.
The article is opened by the personal words of Senator Rockefeller describing the fruitless years of trying to limit the media impacts on children’s development. This technique immediately establishes the essay as formal and authoritative. It is a great way to capture the attention of the interest of the reader. This anecdote is used as background information-“The issue of protecting children from indecent, violent, and profane content is a deeply personal and important issue to this Senator. Last Congress, I introduced legislation to address this issue, and I will do so again in the coming weeks, and I will keep on doing so until something happens.”
Another anecdote states how the senator hold the entertainment industry responsible for the adverse effect of the media on children. “Decades of scientific research have shown that violent television and programming has a detrimental impact on the development of children, yet today the content industry is in a never-ending race to the bottom; indeed, one questions whether there is a bottom somewhere, anywhere, these days.”
Work cited
United States Senate, The impact of media violence on children hearing before the Committee on
, Science, and Transportation, Montenegro College Lib, Washington 2011. Print
