Rick Bragg's Essay: Down Here By Rick Rick Bragg

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The United States, as known today, is a melting pot of various different beliefs, backgrounds, and lifestyles. Some of those who reside here have roots planted as deep as the states history goes, though many come to the United States for a new beginning. Despite the vastly different background that each individual has experience, each one can call this country home. Just as the people are, traditions casted themselves onto society and deep into the history of the United States. Particularly in the south, one of the countries greatest traditions belongs to the great sport of football. Although many discuss the topic, none describe the deep pride southerners have for football quiet as that of Rick Bragg. Throughout his article, Down Here, Rick …show more content…
Bragg starts out his article with very strong pathos, telling fabled old wife tales that are told to the young and questioned by the growing. One such tale he mentions his grandmother in, even adding in, “God rest her soul”, a somewhat push to the reader to feel heavier. To continue his use of pathos, Bragg relays to his readers a story about southern pride, when The University of Alabama was to face off in one of the biggest games the south had ever witnessed. Bragg quotes Wayne Flynt in his article scribing, “…Southerns knew there was too much at stake to lose. ‘Even the president of Auburn sent a telegram’ says Flynt, “tell them, You are defending the honor of the South’”. Across all boundaries of human life, there is rivalry, it is one of the most human experiences that anyone could ever experience. By showing that even the University of Alabama’s biggest rival, Auburn University, Bragg put in perspective to the reader just how important it was for the south to prove themselves worthy. The fact that the south felt it detrimental that football game was to be won besides being casted away as an underdog by the rest of the country, shows the south was not always the powerhouse it is today, a logical fallacy often over looked when facing today’s

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