A Wounded Boy's Silence And The Gentlemen Analysis

Journalist, Peggy Noonan, in her article, “A Wounded Boy’s Silence, and the Candidates,”’ argues and questions the current presidential election and their stances on the idea of war. Noonan’s purpose is to explain the current state in Syria and what the presidents have and have not said. Noonan uses a sympathetic tone in order to appeal to the idea of questioning what the nominees really say to the voters.

One strategy she uses is pathos, the appeal to emotion. The way she evokes emotion from the reader is by bringing up the photo of the boy in the ambulance in Allepo, Syria. This image is disturbing and goes into detail of the photo. Noonan also writes more about this boy’s past, whose name is Omran. Noonan writes with detail and explains what happened to most of his family members. Noonan provokes more emotion by stating the fact that he is not crying, considering what just happened to him, and points us to the fact that “ by age 3 or 4, crying becomes more of a decision,” and that “ if circumstances were harsh enough that you couldn’t rely on help or comfort, then you might not cry”. This made me think. Has the boy even been asked if he was okay? Or were the reporters and photographers too busy getting pictures and the story out? …show more content…
Roosevelt, and his famous quote, “ I hate war” over and over again. She uses FDR as her prime example of what the presidential nominees are not saying. None of the nominees have actually described what their plan is to stop the war, but have made the general statement saying that they are going to stop it. Is this all bark and no bite? Noonan also repeats a similar phrase: “War is terrible,” many times throughout her article. This rhetorical strategy is known as an alliteration and/or parallel