Rhetorical Analysis 2

Taylor Bregenzer

Professor Foss

College Writing 1

9 October 2015

Public Shaming Analysis

The Problem with Public Shaming is an article written by Cole Stryker. Stryker has written many essays about the internet and knows a lot of information on the subject. In this article he writes about the problems that are caused by public shaming and how it can have negative and even damaging effects on people. This essay first appeared in the Nation and goes on to tell people why they should not publicly shame people on the internet.

(Thesis needs to be on the Rhetoric not a summary of what the essay is about)

First off, Stryker chooses to publish this essay in the Nation. The Nation is a very liberal publication that appeals to left-sided individuals mainly young college students. Stryker chooses the perfect audience for this essay and here are the reasons why. One reason is that the essays is targeting people that use the internet more specifically social media, and college students probably are on social media the most out of all age groups. Secondly, he chooses an audience that will listen and take action because most liberal thinkers tend to be very compassionate and seeing the negatives of public shaming might cause them to feel sorry for the victims of public shaming. The third reason is that the audience he is trying to reach are the people that are most likely to publicly shame someone. Very liberal college students are more likely to express their opinions on the internet and are more likely to defend their views and might even insult others that do not agree with them. These three reasons illustrate that Stryker is pinpointing liberal college students as his primary target audience and his trying to convince them not to publicly shame people.

Stryker’s use of facts and reason paired with a calm and intellectual demeanor makes this essay extremely effective. (is it effective or ineffective? You say both in the essay) Stryker brings up many points and supports them with facts, which are usually events that happened that have to do with public shaming that causes the reader think more deeply into the subject. Some of the points he brings up are that public shaming does not fix the problem and that sometimes shaming someone for doing something wrong actually motivates that person to continue doing that particular behavior. For example, people who know that they are racist are not going to change their views just because someone else shames them on the internet. In fact the racists are getting the attention they want and it just motivates them to continue being racist. Another point he brings up is the unintentional consequences that can damage the person being shamed. Some of these consequences being getting fired from a job, accidently blaming and shaming the wrong person for a crime, and getting ridiculed and punished for a statement that a person posted on the internet when they were younger and did not know any better. These are all great points that Stryker mentions and supports with evidence. These points also work well with the intended audience. Liberal college students usually want the world to be fair and understanding, and they are also willing to forgive others under certain circumstances. His audience does not want to see people lose their jobs or pay for something they did a long time ago when they were young and stupid. So, the audience he chose and the arguments he made match up very well. Stryker did an excellent job using facts to support his points, and he also chose facts that would make his particular audience think about what he wrote.

This essay is full of logical facts and reason but lacks any type of emotion. This hurts the essay because it does not motivate the readers to do anything about public shaming. The essay tells the reader that it is wrong and gives countless reasons why not to publicly shame but it does not provoke action. The essay basically makes the readers think about the subject and that is it. This is when a little bit of pathos would have boosted the essay to the next level. Stryker could have included more emotional stories of how much stress victims of public shaming go through, or better yet elaborated on how much pain was caused to the multiple “Ryan Lanzas” that were falsely accused of the Sandy Hook shooting. Instead Stryker just mentions that this happens and then moves on to his next point. The essay could have had so much more impact if the reader could sympathize with some of these victims instead of just simply knowing about it and that is it. Especially since many people have probably never been publicly shamed before and therefore have no idea about the troubles it can cause. If Stryker would have added this pathos to his article he would have a strong logical argument that also provokes action that might decrease the amount of public shaming that goes on in today’s world. (I like that you mention how pathos could have made this essay better and use examples as to where pathos could have been used and don't just leave pathos out of your analysis even though there is none in the essay) Another downfall is that this essay can get boring because of the lack of emotion and energy. The article is great for people who prefer just analyzing facts and using reason, but is not so great for people who like to feel for others and are emotional. This also opposes Stryker’s intended audience because Liberal college students have a stereotype for being idealistic when it comes to helping others and are known to be very caring and compassionate. So, Stryker should have took advantage of this but decided to leave out emotion completely and went with a more logical and intellectual type of tone.

In conclusion, Cole Stryker wrote a very well thought out essay that does cause readers to think about public shaming and even convince them that it is wrong and even pointless. However, his essay falls short when it comes to producing change. This is because the lack of emotion does not inspire readers to do anything about public shaming at all. That article simply states the problem and then tells them why it is wrong and how it can negatively affect someone’s life. It is effective at provoking thought, but not at inspiring change.

I think this is a very good essay.  There are just some things you can touch up and expand on.  I like your paragraph on the pathos of the essay and how you think the writer can include more.  I think you need to be more concrete on whether you think this essay is effective or ineffective or say right off the bat that you think it is both effective and ineffective. Also you just need to fix your thesis to be on the rhetoric of the essay and not just on what it is about.