Rhetorical Analysis Of Crack And The Box

A Rhetorical Analysis on Pete Hamill’s “Crack and the Box” For numerous years, the use of drugs has been reprimanded by many and those who do use drugs have been outcast by society. It is also interesting that with the rising use of technology, those who use technology in excess tend to also be outcast by others. Rarely is there a connection made between both drugs and television. In Pete Hamill’s “Crack and the Box”, he draws many similarities between those who use drugs and children who have had the influence of television their entire life. Hamill starts Crack and the Box with a strong appeal to emotion to hook the readers, but unfortunately, there are discontinuities within his argument which discredits the article as whole. Throughout the article, …show more content…
This is the first time Hamill mentions children in the article and this is the start of the buildup to his main point. He parallels the mother’s intense story with the children’s trance towards the television. Using this as a segue into the beginning of his point incites fear within any parent—that their child is addicted to the television. After describing the encounter with the woman, Hamill throws in a statistic to further evoke fear: “Although this country holds only 2 percent of the world’s population, it consumes 65 percent of the world’s supply of hard drugs” (552). This statistic is essential to Hamill’s argument so as not to make it entirely based off of personal experiences or opinions. Not only does it add to the author’s integrity, but it also creates a sense concern for the wellbeing of the nation. He then goes on to write about one of the past presidents of the United States, George Bush, and the former U.S. Secretary of Education, William Bennett and their role, or lack thereof, in this American crisis. He emphasizes the fact that those in power simply “… offer the traditional American excuse: It Is Somebody Else’s Fault” (552), rather than taking responsibility