In response to the debate about flying the confederate flag over the South Carolina Capitol, Selwyn Duke wrote the article “Keep the Confederate Flag Flying”. The debate in South Carolina started after a shooting in a church in Charleston where the shooter referenced the confederate flag. In Duke’s article, ““Keep the Confederate Flag Flying”, he takes a different stance on the issue. He …show more content…
makes a point to not make a hasty decision to remove the flag because it may not be the best decision in the long run. With a casual style of writing, Duke targets his fellow conservatives to raise support for keeping the flag flying over the state Capitol. As a friendly informative debater, Duke takes a serious but relaxed tone of writing from the knowledge that his readers will agree with his statements.
Reacting to the Church massacre in Charleston by a white man, the Editorial Board of New York Times writes the article “Take Down the Confederate Flag, Symbol of Hatred”. Nine African-American lives were taken in a church by a white man seen waving the confederate flag. The Editorial Board points out that this event caused many people to view the flag as a symbol of hate rather than a symbol of Southern heritage. Putting themselves in a position of authority and knowledge, the Editorial Board writes to the general public specifically those who believe differently, like Duke and his readers. With a more formal and factual based writing than Duke’s, the New York Times Editorial Board takes on a serious and determined tone to get their point across to their audience.
In response to heinous crimes in Charleston, South Carolina, two writers wrote the articles “Keep the Confederate Flag Flying” and “Take Down the Confederate Flag, Symbol of Hatred” to defend their side of the issue.
Both articles are written about the same topic however, each has its own style, tone, audience, persona, and occasion. Duke writes casually to ‘rally up to troops’ from his conservative readers. The New York Times Editorial Board writes formally to defend their opinion to the newspaper’s readers. While each writer has their own opinion and voice, it is the elements of style, tone, audience, persona and occasion that make an author’s work
distinctive.