The Long Road To Forgiveness Rhetorical Analysis
Jered Niehaus
English 103
10/4/12
Rhetorical Analysis- The Long Road to Forgiveness vs. Untold Stories of Kindness
In “The Long Road to Forgiveness” the reason Kim started to hate her life and the people around her is because her freedom of will was taken from her and she was now told what she had to do with her life. This would make anyone angry and I don’t blame her for the hate she had. She was jealous of the other people who were normal because it wasn’t fair that she was the one to get hit by the napalm. Everyone else got to decide what would become of their lives, while she was now going to have everything decided for her. While Kim tells her story, she makes several statements that key on the readers’ emotions and get
us to take her side. Kim uses good imagery when she tells about her village being burned down and her clothes scorched off. She says “I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down. I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by the fire.” Anyone who could imagine this happening to a nine year old wouldn’t be able to help feeling sorry for this person. To make matters for the little girl worse, she was then forced to become a poster child for the Vietnamese government to show the rest of the world. Kim’s freedom to become what she wanted was taken from her. While telling her story, she does a very good job using these rhetorical pathos to make the reader feel sorry for her and take her side. In the story, “Untold Stories of Kindness”, an American soldier tells about the brutal reality of war. He explains that even though you may not agree with the reason for the fight or even know the truth behind the war, if you are a soldier, you have to do your job and continue fighting. He hits on the point that people want to help each other even in times of war and despair. He says that if everyone will just accept people who are different, the world will be a more peaceful place. His idea that people always want to help each other is supported by an example of a time he remembers people helping each other during his campaign in the Iraq war. After one particular fire fight that lasted nearly eight hours, Iraqi civilians helped the American soldiers clear the streets of wounded men and try to aid their injuries. People would also care for children, rebuild hospitals and schools, and feed the poor. The author of this essay uses strong imagery to make the reader have emotion towards his story. He tells about the time when insurgents detonated several car bombs killing over a hundred people. The number of people killed in this incident helps to emphasize the reality of all the people who dying in this war. He says “Cars were covered in blood as if they’d been hit with a paint sprayer.” This makes the reader try to imagine what he had to see and tries to make the reader feel the same emotions he has toward the situation. The rhetorical pathos used here are very similar to the pathos used by Kim in her story. Both of these essays made good points support the logic behind the statements and opinions in their stories. They also used good details and imagery so the audience could picture some of the things they had to see. The imagery in these stories tried to make the readers feel emotional and take the authors’ sides.
English 103
10/4/12
Rhetorical Analysis- The Long Road to Forgiveness vs. Untold Stories of Kindness
In “The Long Road to Forgiveness” the reason Kim started to hate her life and the people around her is because her freedom of will was taken from her and she was now told what she had to do with her life. This would make anyone angry and I don’t blame her for the hate she had. She was jealous of the other people who were normal because it wasn’t fair that she was the one to get hit by the napalm. Everyone else got to decide what would become of their lives, while she was now going to have everything decided for her. While Kim tells her story, she makes several statements that key on the readers’ emotions and get
us to take her side. Kim uses good imagery when she tells about her village being burned down and her clothes scorched off. She says “I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down. I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by the fire.” Anyone who could imagine this happening to a nine year old wouldn’t be able to help feeling sorry for this person. To make matters for the little girl worse, she was then forced to become a poster child for the Vietnamese government to show the rest of the world. Kim’s freedom to become what she wanted was taken from her. While telling her story, she does a very good job using these rhetorical pathos to make the reader feel sorry for her and take her side. In the story, “Untold Stories of Kindness”, an American soldier tells about the brutal reality of war. He explains that even though you may not agree with the reason for the fight or even know the truth behind the war, if you are a soldier, you have to do your job and continue fighting. He hits on the point that people want to help each other even in times of war and despair. He says that if everyone will just accept people who are different, the world will be a more peaceful place. His idea that people always want to help each other is supported by an example of a time he remembers people helping each other during his campaign in the Iraq war. After one particular fire fight that lasted nearly eight hours, Iraqi civilians helped the American soldiers clear the streets of wounded men and try to aid their injuries. People would also care for children, rebuild hospitals and schools, and feed the poor. The author of this essay uses strong imagery to make the reader have emotion towards his story. He tells about the time when insurgents detonated several car bombs killing over a hundred people. The number of people killed in this incident helps to emphasize the reality of all the people who dying in this war. He says “Cars were covered in blood as if they’d been hit with a paint sprayer.” This makes the reader try to imagine what he had to see and tries to make the reader feel the same emotions he has toward the situation. The rhetorical pathos used here are very similar to the pathos used by Kim in her story. Both of these essays made good points support the logic behind the statements and opinions in their stories. They also used good details and imagery so the audience could picture some of the things they had to see. The imagery in these stories tried to make the readers feel emotional and take the authors’ sides.