Speaker: Leonard Pitts Jr. appears overly confident about the anti-gay right legislation. He is a gay-rights activist and strongly believes that the gay right activist population strongly outweighs the anti-gay population. Also, he seems overly confident in believing that same sex marriage will inevitably occur with or without the cooperation of today’s state legislators.
Occasion: The immediate occasion is the boycott in Phoenix, Arizona in which the author calls the readers to action and to participate in the boycott. The boycott is part of the larger occasion which the Arizona legislators debate the anti-gay rights bill. This is not the first anti-gay right legislation to be proposed among the U.S. state legislators and is becoming a larger issue nationally.
Audience: Leonard Pitts Jr. directs the article to the gay rights activists and legislators. It is aimed at the gay rights activist population which can levy the legislation by boycotting and opposing the legislation. Also, he desires to persuade the Arizona state legislators in order to oppose the anti-gay rights bill.
Purpose: Although stated many times, the purpose is to call to action the gay rights activists. In the long run, he wants the Arizona legislation to overturn the anti-gay rights bill. By calling the reader to boycott the bill, the Arizona legislators may recognize the claimed gay right majority and, therefore, overturn the bill.
Subject: The topic is obviously gay-rights. Obviously the author calls the reader to action and the gay-rights pertains to anti-gay right legislation, but the overall topic is gay-rights.
Tone: The tone is often judgmental. I do not mean judgmental by today’s slang term but rather an authoritative tone pertaining to a critical opinion. His opinion obviously is controversial in today’s society; therefore, I refer to it as a critical opinion. The tone is also somewhat scornful towards Leonard Pitts Jr.’s opposing argument. To Leonard Pitts Jr., the anti-gay right bill is discrimination and a bill not deserving any consideration.
Many states recently passed or are in the process of passing anti-gay legislation. Among a public outcry, people in Phoenix recently started to boycott the anti-gay bill in the senate. Leonard Pitts Jr. calls the reader to action, asking the reader to boycott the legislation in Phoenix. Leonard Pitts Jr.’s tone appears confident and he believes that there are more gay-right activists than anti-gay right legislators; therefore, he strengthens his call to action by implying through his tone that it is only an inevitable amount of time before same sex marriage is legalized. However, he would rather more people fight for same sex marriage now rather than later because the anti- gay right legislation is occurring now rather than later. Why wait to legalize gay marriage when it can be enacted now? Therefore, Leonard Pitts Jr. uses this crucial time period to call the reader to action and boycott the Arizona legislation. He brilliantly uses a confident tone and strongly appeals to ethos, often making the religious readers feel guilty. Consequently, Leonard Pitts Jr. uses rhetorical devices to emphasize the occasion’s call to action: boycott anti-gay legislation sooner than later.
Occasion: The immediate occasion is the boycott in Phoenix, Arizona in which the author calls the readers to action and to participate in the boycott. The boycott is part of the larger occasion which the Arizona legislators debate the anti-gay rights bill. This is not the first anti-gay right legislation to be proposed among the U.S. state legislators and is becoming a larger issue nationally.
Audience: Leonard Pitts Jr. directs the article to the gay rights activists and legislators. It is aimed at the gay rights activist population which can levy the legislation by boycotting and opposing the legislation. Also, he desires to persuade the Arizona state legislators in order to oppose the anti-gay rights bill.
Purpose: Although stated many times, the purpose is to call to action the gay rights activists. In the long run, he wants the Arizona legislation to overturn the anti-gay rights bill. By calling the reader to boycott the bill, the Arizona legislators may recognize the claimed gay right majority and, therefore, overturn the bill.
Subject: The topic is obviously gay-rights. Obviously the author calls the reader to action and the gay-rights pertains to anti-gay right legislation, but the overall topic is gay-rights.
Tone: The tone is often judgmental. I do not mean judgmental by today’s slang term but rather an authoritative tone pertaining to a critical opinion. His opinion obviously is controversial in today’s society; therefore, I refer to it as a critical opinion. The tone is also somewhat scornful towards Leonard Pitts Jr.’s opposing argument. To Leonard Pitts Jr., the anti-gay right bill is discrimination and a bill not deserving any consideration.
Many states recently passed or are in the process of passing anti-gay legislation. Among a public outcry, people in Phoenix recently started to boycott the anti-gay bill in the senate. Leonard Pitts Jr. calls the reader to action, asking the reader to boycott the legislation in Phoenix. Leonard Pitts Jr.’s tone appears confident and he believes that there are more gay-right activists than anti-gay right legislators; therefore, he strengthens his call to action by implying through his tone that it is only an inevitable amount of time before same sex marriage is legalized. However, he would rather more people fight for same sex marriage now rather than later because the anti- gay right legislation is occurring now rather than later. Why wait to legalize gay marriage when it can be enacted now? Therefore, Leonard Pitts Jr. uses this crucial time period to call the reader to action and boycott the Arizona legislation. He brilliantly uses a confident tone and strongly appeals to ethos, often making the religious readers feel guilty. Consequently, Leonard Pitts Jr. uses rhetorical devices to emphasize the occasion’s call to action: boycott anti-gay legislation sooner than later.