Rhetorical Analysis Of Zeitoun

Award winning author, Dave Eggers, in his fifth novel, Zeitoun, reveals the struggles of a Muslim American during hurricane Katrina in a post 9/11 era. Eggers’ purpose is to expose the social and racial injustices experienced by Muslim Americans during the Katrina catastrophe. He adopts an emotional connection with his readers through his use of imagery, a critical yet sympathetic tone, and rhetorical appeals in order to unveil the government’s failure in response to the devastation.

Individual rhetorical analysis of the selected readings by Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe are necessary to arrive at a collective analysis of the most effective strategies.

Within Twenge’s argument she consistently uses pathos, ethos, and logos. When talking to Athena, a 13-year-old girl who lives in Houston, Texas, about how smartphones have affected her life directly Twenge consistently employs pathos. They discuss her favorite songs, TV shows, and what activities she enjoys with her friends. Relating back to emotion, Twenge remembers from her own days where she would “enjoy a few parents- free hours shopping with her [my] her friends.” Athena admits “ It kind of hurts” when she is with her friends “and they don’t actually look at my [her] face.” Even with no parental supervision, technology still takes away from interactions of friends. Twenge’s research on the iGeneration has shown that this generation is

On page 147 of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, there is a passage that I think describes a solution to the problem of sympathy versus empathy. The passage basically states that if we see the value in ourselves, we will be able to discriminate, to love, and to remain indifferent toward others. However, if we do not come to this realization, we will hate those who cannot give to us and will only help others to improve our own image. I agree with the idea that we must come to some realization of who we are in order to reach out and help others for the sake of the good in it. I agree with this because if we do not understand who we are or how we fit into the world, then we will be insecure. This will cause us to seek ways to sure ourselves up and

In his documentative account, Zeitoun, altruistic author Dave Eggers illustrates the experiences of one muslim man, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, and his struggle to respond to and cope with the trials facing society and nature following Hurricane Katrina. By describing the destructive flooding of his home and his neighborhood, Eggers establishes a desperate tone, as a race against time ensues to save what is left. As the physical landscape drastically changes, so do the very morals and establishments that hold society together. Eggers utilizes several rhetorical strategies to highlight the cruel and destructive stigmatization of Muslim Americans in a post 9-11 society, and that in times of calm or chaos, the common man is the same despite the labels

David Eggers, in Zeitoun, shows a story of a Muslim American family living through many challenges. After 9/11 Muslim families, like the Zeitouns, face many problems living in America. Eggers wants to inform other Americans on the situation of Muslim living in the United States, present day. People who are uneducated about the Muslim religion need to be informed on how similar lives are of other people all around the United States. These people throw out stereotypes and aim judgments wrongly at the Zeitoun family. Unjust treatment of the Zeitoun family is a cause of assuming and stereotypes. In this biography, Eggers helps inform his readers about

Using the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller effectively uses ethos, logos, and pathos in his argument to prove societal pressures have an astonishing amount of power over people’s emotions and actions to such an outrageous extent as to eradicate all reason

The unjust execution of 19 innocent people. This was the result of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. The play The Crucible depicts this incident as it closely happened in real life. One character in this play, Judge Danforth, was the judge of the trials who believed that these accusations of witchcraft were true, and order the executions of those 19 innocent people. Throughout his presence in the play, he convinces the people of Salem that what he believes in is correct, and that justice should be delivered to those who have sinned with the Devil. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Judge Danforth employs assertive diction, an aggressive tone, and utilization of ethos to

LGBT representation is a touchy subject, and Amy is one of the few brave enough to explore the topic. However, she left more than a few holes in her argument, biting off more than she could chew. Her position on the misrepresentation of bisexuals in TV was ineffective at persuading her audience, because of her lack of concrete evidence, misdirection of audiences, and contradictory statements.

John Fire Lame Deer was a Sioux Indian tribal leader, medicine man, rodeo clown, and storyteller amongst other things. A selection from his autobiography Seeker Of Visions: The Life Of A Sioux Medicine Man titled “Talking to the Owls and Butterflies” is a short piece regarding nature and man’s relationship with it. The piece was intended to make an impression on white people in order to help salvage what is remaining in the environment. Lame Deer reprimands the “white world” for its negative outlook towards nature and the treatment of animals, he converses how man has changed and reshaped nature in order to make it more profitable. Stating that Caucasians have gone and altered animals in order to create

America, a land that prides itself on being “the great melting pot”, and “the land of opportunity”, oftentimes exemplifies everything but that. Over the years, a vast majority of immigrants have migrated to America and assimilated themselves to American culture. In Moustafa Bayoumi’s novel, “Rasha”, he describes the turmoil some families face when trying to immigrate into America. In the novel, Rasha was arrested, thrown in jail and detained for three months just because she was a Muslim. While immigration is portrayed as a way to a “better life”, the truth is that families just like Rasha’s still encounter discrimination that challenges American ideals such as freedom of religion and equality.

In the airports, Muslim people became “the usual suspects”, were thoroughly searched and often interrogated. In her article, O’Connor claims that the lives of American Muslims changed forever, and the statement is hard to disagree with (“How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Those who had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, their children and grandchildren were sentenced to face racism, hate and violence.

“An awful lot of people come to college with this strange idea that there's no longer segregation in America's schools, that our schools are basically equal; neither of these things is true.”- Jonathan Kozol. The author of the script “Eye of the Beholder”, Rod Serling, puts his point out there about how segregation is going on all around us and it will never stop. The audience he is trying to portray his message to is everyone. He wants to make them aware of the segregation that is still going on today. Through the use of diction and experience, the author uses pathos, logos, and ethos to show that segregation still goes on today and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

After September 11, 2001 I’ve had trouble finding what makes me more angry; the way the authorities handled the hurricane of Katrina or the way the Arabs were treated. I have herd countless stories related to the 9/11 attack and until today I see the way that has affected the lives of many. Through Eggers story, I was able to comprehend more about the tragedy in New Orleans and even though I thought I already knew about the aftermath that Katrina brought, Eggers grabbed my attention by introducing me to the story of a Syrian-American middle aged man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun. He was a father of four, married to an American wife Kathy and owned a