A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Horrible Teens By Elizabeth Korbert

In 2014, sixty-two Teaneck High School, New Jersey students were arrested for vandalizing their school as their senior prank. The vandalizing included urinating all over the school’s hallways. When questioned, the students’ excuse was, “It’s just a senior class prank.” This is an example of acting without thinking about consequences. In her essay, “The Terrible Teens”, author Elizabeth Kolbert uses anecdotes to magnify the many questionable activities in which teenagers take part, and rhetorical devices to simplify what neurologists say regarding teenage brains. This method of development, as well as these rhetorical devices, help to prove the thesis of the essay (neurology can help people understand why teens do irresponsible things, but not how to prevent them from doing these things), by making it easier to understand and more enjoyable to read. …show more content…
Elizabeth Kolbert employs stories about her teenaged children to exemplify the unthoughtful activities in which teenagers take part. She explains a drinking game her sons play, called “case race”, wherein “[p]articipants form teams of two and compete to see which pair can drink its way through a case of beer the fastest” (Kolbert 1). This seemingly innocent beer-drinking game can result in serious consequences, including alcohol poisoning or death; especially since ‘to get the most out of the experience […] it’s best to use a “thirty rack [of beer]’ (1). This anecdote is an example of one of many things teenagers do without critically thinking of the repercussions, and enhances the author’s point that teenagers do foolish