Soapstone
Speaker: The speaker is Nicholas Kristof. He often writes about global humanity issues. Climate change happens to be one of the topics (not necessarily humanity, but you get the point).
Occasion: Kristof gave his readers the opportunity to select a "neglected topic" for him to write about. His readers overwhelmingly selected climate change as the neglected topic. Recently. there has been a spark in the interest of global warming- no longer by just the tree-hugging activists. This could have triggered the audiences interest in the topic as well.
Audience: Kristof writes for the people who selected the climate change topic. However, he is also writing for for those who are ignorant to the fact that the human race is murdering their home. In the article, Kristof is careful to mention the split in party views on the matter. He opens his article up to all political parties. This is a global issue, not just an issue based on party affiliation.
Purpose: Not only did Kristof intend to please his audience by writing about climate change, but Kristof wants his audience to snap out of their unsustainable life styles and start caring about the planet. This article makes appeals to pathos and ethos. Kristof uses many credible sources and even instills fear in his audience. He questions the reader about what will happen if climate change is not "fixed" or attended to.
Subject: As mentioned previously, Kristof is speaking on climate change. He argues that people refuse to believe that our unsustainable lifestyle is causing the global climate change because politics have brainwashed us to believe that way. Most of Kristof's audience is educated or an older teenager to adult, so it is assumed that the reader has knowledge on the topic. He does provide the reader with sufficient evidence to back up his argument. Someone who was completely clueless on the matter would catch up easily. Kristof starts his article with hard hitting evidence. He says that Americans are more likely to believe in alien invasions than believe that humans are contributing to climate change. He then guarantees his credibility for the article. Kristof gives personal anecdotes from his audience to make the article relatable. Kristof provides statistics, references credible books and quotes esteemed professors. For example, he quotes professor Nordhaus's book who has been "cited by climate deniers"; he gives statistics from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is evident that Kristof personally connects with the topic, which shows how important climate change is to him. Towards the end of the article, Kristof questions the readers judgement on actions taken to impede climate change. He says, "... we routinely deal with uncertainty. We'er not sure that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, but we still invest in technologies and policies to reduce the risks. We can't be sure that someone is going to hijack a plane, but we still screen passengers." He then challenges the reader to take initiative and "nudge our political system out of paralysis" and protect the environment. This topic must also be important to the audience because they selected it.
Tone: Kristof has an excited tone. All of the facts and figures provided show his eagerness about the topic. His closing remark is, "We need to focus more on climate change, and perhaps that can help nudge our political system out of paralysis to take protective action to reduce the threat to the only planet we have". Kirstof even uses a few exclamation points for emphasis. He also never fails to sound educated. Kristof is also assertive in the article' climate change is no joking matter. He doesn't write too formally or complex so the reader can understand his message.
Occasion: Kristof gave his readers the opportunity to select a "neglected topic" for him to write about. His readers overwhelmingly selected climate change as the neglected topic. Recently. there has been a spark in the interest of global warming- no longer by just the tree-hugging activists. This could have triggered the audiences interest in the topic as well.
Audience: Kristof writes for the people who selected the climate change topic. However, he is also writing for for those who are ignorant to the fact that the human race is murdering their home. In the article, Kristof is careful to mention the split in party views on the matter. He opens his article up to all political parties. This is a global issue, not just an issue based on party affiliation.
Purpose: Not only did Kristof intend to please his audience by writing about climate change, but Kristof wants his audience to snap out of their unsustainable life styles and start caring about the planet. This article makes appeals to pathos and ethos. Kristof uses many credible sources and even instills fear in his audience. He questions the reader about what will happen if climate change is not "fixed" or attended to.
Subject: As mentioned previously, Kristof is speaking on climate change. He argues that people refuse to believe that our unsustainable lifestyle is causing the global climate change because politics have brainwashed us to believe that way. Most of Kristof's audience is educated or an older teenager to adult, so it is assumed that the reader has knowledge on the topic. He does provide the reader with sufficient evidence to back up his argument. Someone who was completely clueless on the matter would catch up easily. Kristof starts his article with hard hitting evidence. He says that Americans are more likely to believe in alien invasions than believe that humans are contributing to climate change. He then guarantees his credibility for the article. Kristof gives personal anecdotes from his audience to make the article relatable. Kristof provides statistics, references credible books and quotes esteemed professors. For example, he quotes professor Nordhaus's book who has been "cited by climate deniers"; he gives statistics from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is evident that Kristof personally connects with the topic, which shows how important climate change is to him. Towards the end of the article, Kristof questions the readers judgement on actions taken to impede climate change. He says, "... we routinely deal with uncertainty. We'er not sure that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, but we still invest in technologies and policies to reduce the risks. We can't be sure that someone is going to hijack a plane, but we still screen passengers." He then challenges the reader to take initiative and "nudge our political system out of paralysis" and protect the environment. This topic must also be important to the audience because they selected it.
Tone: Kristof has an excited tone. All of the facts and figures provided show his eagerness about the topic. His closing remark is, "We need to focus more on climate change, and perhaps that can help nudge our political system out of paralysis to take protective action to reduce the threat to the only planet we have". Kirstof even uses a few exclamation points for emphasis. He also never fails to sound educated. Kristof is also assertive in the article' climate change is no joking matter. He doesn't write too formally or complex so the reader can understand his message.