Jiyeon Song Professor Fuentes English 1101 5 December 2013 (Revised)

Different Points of View about the Government Shutdown

Clint Henderson, "October 2. 2013 Happening Now - Shutdown Shut down Day 2: Obama Care Exhanges Open for Business Glithches and All", October 2, 2013: The exigence of this article is brought from the political controversy over Obama health care act. People who agree with this care are the members of the Democratic Party and people who disagree with this act are the members of the Republican Party. This article is written in the midst of political disharmony, trying to give general information and voices of different views. The rhetor of this article is basically the writer of this news article and in the article, there are three voices - his voice, the President and the House Speaker. The audiences are people who are interested in this situation - basically the citizens of the United States and people who are sensitive to international politics or international business. Among the three articles, this seems to be the most objective and focuses on providing general information about what is going on now. Since the other two articles talk about the same situation, we can say the exigence and audiences are quite same. However, there exist differences about rhetors and the languages they use. Funny or Die, "47 Fun Things You MUST Do During the Government Shutdown", October 1, 2013: The rhetor of this article is the website writer and he or she tries to convey the actual phenomena which ordinary citizens might meet from the government shutdown. The

language and situation he or she describes are funny and easy-going. However, the article reflects negative views and informs of side-effects sarcastically, so we can say that this article conveys the contents indirectly. Charles P. Pierce, "THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT", October 2, 2013: The rhetor of this article is the reporter Charles P. Pierce and he seems stand for the Obama health care and the Democratic Party, opposing the Republican Party. In this article, he puts some pieces of voices from the Republican Party to rebut them clearly with his arguments. People who don't support the Republican party and long for the end of the health care act controversy would especially be interested in this article, than other citizens. Also, the language he uses is much straightforward and direct, unlike Funny or Die's "47 Fun Things". Among the three articles, I think the second article - "47 Fun Things You MUST Do During the Government Shutdown" is the most effective article to appeal its audience. The first article just provides general information about current situations and puts actual truths objectively. In contrast, the third article is subjective and written in a straightforward fashion to convey the rhetor's opinion. Therefore, the audiences of this article would be decreased to people who share same opinions as the writer. Although the second article is not very straightforward and conveys its content indirectly, it is the most effective one, in my opinion. When I read this article, I could not stop laughing and read this all thoroughly without pause. The other two articles are quite serious and complicated so people who are not that interested in the policies and the political situation would not read the articles with ease. However, because of the humor the second article has, I think this article attracts more people than the other two. Also, it appeals not only people who seriously care about policies and politics but also ordinary people who dont care about the policies and politics too. In other words, readers would read through the article till

the end, not quit reading in the middle lost interests. For these reasons, I think the second article, "47 Fun Things You MUST Do During the Government Shutdown" accomplishes its purpose the most successfully.