The author's overall purpose is to inform readers of her opinion regarding the holiday, Thanksgiving, and the history of the holiday that she claims to be often sugarcoated. Belan Fernandez addresses the fact that the true meaning or history of Thanksgiving is often overshadowed, forgotten, and sugarcoated throughout the United States. Throughout the text, the author uses personal anecdotes and facts to support her claim. The audience for the article as a whole is very clear due to the subject matter being Thanksgiving. The author's purpose is to inform those who are residents in the United states, specifically those who celebrate Thanksgiving. From the beginning of the text, the author uses a personal anecdote describing the "important life skills" she acquired while she was in school. She specifically emphasized about "how to craft a teepee replica out of a paper bag." The sarcasm used in the beginning of the text hints at a casual tone. Although throughout the text the diction is informal, at times as a reader I became lost when phrases such as " socioeconomic ostracisation " were used. This casual diction or tone used throughout the text allows Fernandez to blatantly get her point across regarding her distaste with the Thanksgiving holiday. She breaks the reason why she disagrees with the holiday into two sub-categories. The two being: "Land Grabbers and massacres" and "Predatory Capitalism". Throughout these two sub-categories the author appeals to both ethos and logos to support her distaste with the Thanksgiving holiday. The tones used throughout the text are both subjective and accusatory. These tones are expressed when Fernandez refers to Thanksgiving as a "thoroughly nauseating affair." The subjective tone shines through the text often between appeals to logos. The author often shares her opinion with mild/dry humor and sarcasm. After informing readers of the fact that "of 29 Native Americans killed by US police between 1 May 2014 and 31 October 2015, "27 of those deaths received no coverage" in the media." She shares her opinion soon after by saying "talk about disappearing acts." Ethos is also appealed to within the text when Fernandez quotes the work of historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Personally as a reader, the informal diction used within the text was very effective in terms of the author getting her opinion across. The informal diction creates a relaxed mood although the subject matter of the article itself is not very pleasant. The author uses a rhetorical device, irony, to further support her claim. Within the text Fernandez describes how "there's Black Friday to look forward to: the ode to gross overconsumption" which is right after the day of thanks.
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AuthorAdesuwa Obasuyi. Student. Language Lover. 16. Archives
February 2018
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