Benedict Carey Analysis

The article, “Young hurricane Katrina survivors share mental trauma inflicted by storm”, by Benedict Carey seeks to address its readers on the effects that a natural disaster can have on one’s mental health. On September 12 2017 Benedict Carey wrote a newspaper editorial interviewing those who have survived hurricane Katrina and how it has impacted them in the past 10 years. With this editorial, he was able to advocate and emphasize the reality of one’s mental health. It is clear from the evidence shown in this article that the author was able to persuade his readers to continue to read and to take an interest in the content he was presenting them with. The author starts off by introducing his topic with a very clear thesis, making his piece …show more content…
With his writing style, he was able to express his attitude towards the topic. Benedicts tone was expressed through syntax, and the level of formality. He was able to perceive as being cautionary, raising awareness to the readers of the effects of natural disasters can inflict on one’s mental health. For instance, during his interview with John, it was said that the young survivor, was walking around with anxiety that consumed him. He was recommended to be put on Xanax, although he did not want that. And so, he moved away for a time and his anxiety subsided (The Global and Mail, 2017). Furthermore, Benedict was also able to demonstrate his tone as being informative; giving factual and educational information to his readers. Therefore, this was presented with a research from a pair of sociologist, Alice Fothergill and Lori Peek. During the years after Katrina the two sociologists made regular trips to New Orleans, interviewing the hundreds of people who were affected majorly by the storm. During the course of seven years, they discovered that some children had not yet recovered, losing years of schooling, to later become unemployed. While others adapted and thrived throughout their lives (The Global and Mail, 2017). In addition, Benedict was also able to show his purpose with the selection of words used to captivate the audience and to share the validity of the information. Amongst the purpose of this article he was able to effectively set a mood in which the readers were able to connect with the words used by the author, in this case Benedict used the mood melancholy, in which he was able to describe as thoughtful and sad. The mood was developed through the setting the author provided his readers. Describing how the hurricane had its effects on their lives the older they got, and how things never seemed the same even when they returned to the town in which they grew up in; everything