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She establishes credibility with the people who believe in the supernatural by providing locations to visit which are supposed to be haunted. Dabbs writes about spending two nights at a haunted hotel in Savannah, Georgia,
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Because of the name of this title, a person could automatically assume the article was primarily about ghosts. The audience for this article is probably military buffs or anyone with an interest in ghost stories. In fact the opening few lines of the article basically establishes a false thesis. Vernon describes a spooky event that occurred to a classmate while attending the prestigious school. He writes, “…on the third floor of Pershing Barracks, a classmate standing at the window in his daily academic uniform. Beside Eric at the window stood a figure Bruce couldn’t identify, decked out in a cadet’s full-dross uniform with cross belts, shined brass breastplate, plumed tar bucket, the works. Knowing we did not have a parade that day, Bruce went straight to the room, where he found Eric at his desk, alone, Bruce asked, and Eric answered: There wasn’t anybody else here.” (p. 1, 2002) This sample is the only evidence the author provides to prove West Point is haunted. He fails to establish common ground with anyone with an interest in ghosts because the story he provides does not even send a single shiver up a person’s spine. This is the only story about ghosts he provided in the whole article. Vernon attempted to use his prior West Point status, “In my four years at West Point….” (p.1, 2002), to establish credibility, but once the entire article is read, the reader finds that the majority of the article has nothing to do about ghost stories. Vernon writes primarily about the history of West Point. The author seems to start writing about ghost stories, but became bored with his subject and wrote about his experiences and how the school changed him throughout his
Because of the name of this title, a person could automatically assume the article was primarily about ghosts. The audience for this article is probably military buffs or anyone with an interest in ghost stories. In fact the opening few lines of the article basically establishes a false thesis. Vernon describes a spooky event that occurred to a classmate while attending the prestigious school. He writes, “…on the third floor of Pershing Barracks, a classmate standing at the window in his daily academic uniform. Beside Eric at the window stood a figure Bruce couldn’t identify, decked out in a cadet’s full-dross uniform with cross belts, shined brass breastplate, plumed tar bucket, the works. Knowing we did not have a parade that day, Bruce went straight to the room, where he found Eric at his desk, alone, Bruce asked, and Eric answered: There wasn’t anybody else here.” (p. 1, 2002) This sample is the only evidence the author provides to prove West Point is haunted. He fails to establish common ground with anyone with an interest in ghosts because the story he provides does not even send a single shiver up a person’s spine. This is the only story about ghosts he provided in the whole article. Vernon attempted to use his prior West Point status, “In my four years at West Point….” (p.1, 2002), to establish credibility, but once the entire article is read, the reader finds that the majority of the article has nothing to do about ghost stories. Vernon writes primarily about the history of West Point. The author seems to start writing about ghost stories, but became bored with his subject and wrote about his experiences and how the school changed him throughout his