Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Writing Project 2
Writing Project 2
Song 1
Justin Song
Professor Johnson
WRIT 2
15 June 2018
Difference in Similarity
A chemical attack that devoured the hearts of many Syrians has struck news all over the
world or was there no chemical gases involved? In Douma, President Bashar alAssad allegedly
launched a chemical attack on the Eastern Ghouta that killed more than
onethousandsevenhundred people, including children. The media world responded instantly to
the sinful acts of President Bashar alAssad. Two responses were carefully analyzed “The Search
for Truth in the Rubble of Douma and One Doctor’s Doubts over the Chemical Attack” by
Robert Fisk and “Syria War: What We Know about Douma ‘Chemical Attack’” by BBC. The
article by Robert Fisk showed us what really happened behind the scenes in Douma and if there
really was a chemical attack using a persuasive tactic. The other article published by BBC,
British Broadcasting Corporation, was an informational and factual article about the incident in
Syria. Even though the two responses are both news articles, individually the articles have their
own particular purpose and audience that the articles need to convey.
In “The Search for Truth in the Rubble of Douma and One Doctor’s Doubts over the
Chemical Attack” by Robert Fisk, the purpose of the article was to show awareness and stir up
questions and possibilities of what really happened in Douma. Allegedly, the media has been
pointing their fingers at President Bashar alAssad for the chemical attack, but was there a
chemical attack? According to Fisk, he had personal interviews with Douma citizens on what
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happened the day of the attack. Personal interviews are seen in this article to get an eyewitness
news from the victims in Douma to persuade the readers that these statements are true.
Apparently, there were no signs of chemicals in Douma, yet outside countries say they tested the
area for gases when they are not even allowed to be in Douma. Foreign countries stating that it
was a chemical attack is mysterious .The article uses “I” multiple times which shows the article
gave a firstperson perspective of the incident because the article was more of a report made by a
reporter on duty at Syria. Since the article was in a perspective of first person point of view, it
gave the article a persuasive tone. Fisk would also ask questions such as “Am I hearing this
right? Which version of event are we to believe?” to challenge the readers to really ponder on the
subject and to have them engaged and focused on the reading. Fisk also answers the questions
too to give his statement on the subject. Overall, the article gives us a view of his thoughts on the
situation. Then, Fisk transitions into an interview of a doctor onsite in Syria. The onsite doctor
has been dealing with people that have been allegedly affected by the chemical attack. The
article briefly states the interview of the doctor, “I was with my family in the basement of my
home three hundred metres from here on the night, but all the doctors know what happened.
There was a lot of shelling [by government forces] and aircraft were always over Douma at night
– but on this night, there was wind and huge dust clouds began to come into the basements and
cellars where people lived. People began to arrive here suffering from hypoxia, oxygen loss.
Then someone at the door, a “White Helmet”, shouted “Gas!”, and a panic began. People started
throwing water over each other. Yes, the video was filmed here, it is genuine, but what you see
are people suffering from hypoxia – not gas poisoning.”. The onsite Doctor gives Fisk an
eyewitness news of what went down the day of the attack. Fisk believes that there were no
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chemical attacks and since the citizens were living underground when a dust of storm hit them,
which triggered hypoxia. The onsite Doctor also states that “WhiteHelmets”, medical
responders, yelled that there was a gas attack and everyone panicked, yet there was no chemical
attack involved according to Fisk. The citizens panicked and hosed everyone down with water as
shown in videos. These videos were used all over media in persuading that there was a chemical
attack through witnessing the aftermath, but the videos did not really speak the whole truth. The
citizens were hosed down with water because they believed it was chemical attack from the
“White Helmets’ but indeed they were just suffering from hypoxia. Fisk makes a great point of
showing what really happened in Douma through a persuasive article and leaving the last
sentence as a question “and gass?” to leave the audience to ponder and decide.
Fisk’s main audience is to the common people and teenagers around the world because
the quality and content of the article grasps the audience to be interested in the article. Fisk tries
to stir up the minds of the audience by sharing a story a persuasive story of there not being a
chemical attack in Douma. Fisk uses logos to persuade the audience if there really was a
chemical attack. Fisk brings up the idea of there not being a chemical attack using eyewitness
interviews to fully allow the audience to believe in what Fisk states because the statement came
from the interviewer. Fisk also brings up a counterargument to those who believe in the chemical
attack because they witnessed the aftermaths of the chemical attack in the video, but Fisk argues
that the citizens were told lies about the chemical attack, but they were really suffering from
hypoxia due to a dust storm. Fisk’s main goal was to stir up the minds of those reading his article
by questioning the audience throughout the article whether the gas attack was real or not. In
Fisk’s case, the chemical attack never happened.
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In “Syria War: What We Know about Douma ‘Chemical Attack’” by BBC, the purpose of
the article is to allow people to understand what is going on logistically overseas through factual
information. BBC’s main audience is those who want to get a deeper understanding of what is
happening in foreign affairs and those who are higher intellectuals because they tend to read
articles that deal with a lot information and hardfacts only. The article choices formal diction
because the article is specifically about the information about the chemical attack. An example of
how BBC uses formal word choice is, “In February, forces loyal to President Bashar alAssad
launched an assault on the Eastern Ghouta that has reportedly left more than 1,700 civilians
dead.”. The tone was in thirdperson, which gives off more of a formal tone because it does not
use the term “I”. The article also does give any opinions or thoughts on the subject, but only
gives the cold hard facts. Not only does it give information about the chemical attack, but it also
states the government actions and the cause and effects of the outcome of the tragic event. One
rhetorical strategy used in this article is logos because it gives hardfacts only and it does not
give any opinion at all. The article is very specific too as it shows the times the chemical attacks
occurred and the location of where the chemical bomb specially hit. Being very detailed and
specific about the information of the attack allows the readers to fully rely on this article.
Although the two responses were articles, these articles had two different genres within
the one broad genre of journalism. One article leads towards more of the formal and
informational article while the other article fell into the category of a persuasive article. These
articles have different writing conventions, purposes, and audiences. The article by Fisk gives a
firstperson point of view of the incident to better show what is happening in the situation and
using a story to help readers stay engaged and question about what really happened in Douma,
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while the article by BBC gives a thirdperson point of view and uses formal vocabulary to make
the article seem factual. The purpose, however may be similar as to both desire the awareness of
the incident, but for Fisk’s main purpose was to persuade and make the readers question that
there were no chemical attacks in Douma. While, BBC is more focused on letting everyone
know the details of what is happening through a bigger picture.
In conclusion, both responses were articles but, there are plenty of different genres within
journalism. In this case with the article, there was an article that had informational and formal
writing, while the other article was a persuasive and interviewed based article. Having the same
type of genre but showing that there were more genres within, shows that there are endless
amounts of genres. The term “article” generalizes the two articles but at a closer look, these two
articles are quite different.
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Cited Works
Robert Fisk Douma, Syria. “The Search for Truth in the Rubble of Douma – and One Doctor's
Doubts over the Chemical Attack.” The Independent , Independent Digital News and
Media, 17 Apr. 2018,
www.independent.co.uk/voices/syriachemicalattackgasdoumarobertfiskghoutadam
Ascusa8307726.html.
“Syria War: What We Know about Douma 'Chemical Attack'.” BBC News , BBC, 16 Apr. 2018,
www.bbc.com/news/worldmiddleeast43697084.