Lacy Pankey
Prewriting for Op-Ed
April 6, 2009
1. What are the general tone and assumed audiences in this venue? What is interesting or unique about these pieces?
The assumed audiences in this venue are the residents of Dallas. The audiences will be pulled one way or another and will end with an opinion of the article themselves. A lot of politics were brought up in these Op-Eds but all were linked back to something going on around Dallas. Many of the articles began with “I” which then lead to a clear point on what side of the argument they agreed/disagreed with. Personal experience was added as a big chunk of the Op-Ed and creatively linked back to the topic as a whole. All of these Op-Eds were formed on short paragraphs and single spaced with a bold headline placed above the article including the author’s name. At the end of the article, the authors name and email address are both stated.
2. Identifiable Issue for your focus.
The issue of focus that I am grasping is the topic over cops and athletes in the Dallas area. To me, it seems that if a well-known Dallas athlete gets pulled over one out of two things are going to occur. Either the officer will be extra caring and let the athlete go or the athlete will be punished more by the officer due to the reason of being a “famous” athlete. Therefore, policemen treat athletes differently when pulled over.
3. Tell your readers what should be done about it.
No matter who you are, everyone should be treated the same. If an athlete is speeding, they should get a ticket. If an athlete has an emergency, they should be led to the event and excused for whatever reason just like any other pedestrian would be. For the general Dallas population, I just want readers to know that this is a problem and hopefully the Dallas Police Department will notice this and act to include this in their policy and will be able to take note of this in some way.
4. What rhetorical appeals will be most effective for your audience?
Pathos will take a huge toll in this article. People have emotions when it comes to: Who you are and how you are treated. Some athletes believe they are better than others and believe they should get away with certain things just because of who they are. On the other hand, others emotions flare when they see athletes getting special treatment just because of who they are. Even down to instances of athletes not having to wait in line can burst a person’s bubble that may be waiting in line for hours. Athletes get a lot of free items as well which don’t go down with many individuals as well.
Ethos is also involved for the reasons that both cops and athletes take a role of authority and credibility but their authority is used in different ways and different circumstances.
5. What will best support your points for the rhetorical situation?
For my Op-Ed, hard evidence, statistics, referring to other authorities, and personal experience will best support my article. I need to incorporate these categories evenly in order to make my argument clear and this will back up my argument. My reasoning for my topic will be provided through these rhetorical situations.
6. Is there any research that you need to do?
There is certainly much research I need to do pertaining to cops and the different instances they have experienced with pro-athletes. I am not well educated in this area so with a bit of Google and guy friends this should be taken care of.
