Analysis Of No Fireman At Ground Zero By Michael Burke

The article “No Fireman at Ground Zero,” by Michael Burke was written about 9/11 and the 10th anniversary. This article was written to persuade the businessmen that the firemen and their families not being invited to ground is not right. On the 10th anniversary, the families of the first responders were not invited to ground zero, but to an alternate location to watch the ceremony on TVs. Their family members were told that there was not enough room for them on ground zero but how they still had enough room for politicians. His targeted audience was the businessmen of Wall Street and other political figures; as they were invited to the 10th anniversary and the family members of the people that died or were in the attack were not. Burke conveys the message that the firefighters should be invited through narrative and pathos. Initially, Burke used a narrative to …show more content…
By appealing to the readers emotions, this allows Burke a platform to argue his position. Since his audience is logically thinking businessmen, Burke must appeal to their emotion before he begins his argument; this gives him a better chance of conveying his point. Burke uses the narrative to paint the picture into his audience's mind to go back to that day and to imagine and re-live what was once something they experienced. This makes the audiences appreciate what the first responders and firefighters voluntarily accomplished that day. So when he states his claim they realize that it was wrong that the families and firefighters were not invited to ground zero. Burke did this so that the audience would apprehend and realize that it was unacceptable that they were not invited. As Burke says “In our darkest hour,” (1) by saying this Burke is illustrating that nothing else in history has ever been darker. As he writes this as his opening sentence the readers and audience are remembering that saying and how dark that day