Rhetorical Analysis Three different articles take several approaches to discussing the government shutdown.

Each passage takes a different view and appeals to slightly different audiences. I have attempted to keep my personal opinion from persuading my views on each article. In addition they respectively appeal to pathos, logos, and ethos while attempting to sway ones opinion one way or another. In the article 47 Fun Things You MUST Do During A Government Shutdown by Funny or Die the author explains the fun things a person could do during the government shutdown. It uses a sarcastic tone to convey its message about how the government shutdown is not as big a deal as people are making it out to be. Throughout the article, the author uses simple sentence structure and words that are easily understood to convey its message. Such as Reason if the police are open, then perhaps the parks are open again. Kindly request the cops bring you to a national park. This is done so that more people, or people with lower education, could easily understand the article. This article appeals more to a persons emotional side because it informs while entertaining and mocking the issue. It is consistently going back to the point that if this part of the government is open, such as the police station or the postal service, then the national parks or museums must be open. The article by Clint Henderson takes a different approach to the government shutdown. It simply states facts and quotes about the shutdown appealing to ones logical side, facts such as Already some 800,000 workers are being furloughed. It also used quotes to display the opinions of each side of the argument. It word choice continued to stay neutral throughout the article. No progress in ending the government shutdown. The House wasnt able to pass several

spending measures last night that would have funded smaller bits of the government. Now there ares fears that the shutdown could drag on for weeks as both sides di g in their heels. Notice that it says both sides and states sentences in a more matter of fact tone than anything else. The whole article is easy enough to understand causing one to conclude that this article is all for the more common person possibly with some education or more interest in politics. Taking a different view and opinion on the government shutdown, Charles P. Pierce in his article This is What They Want, takes a side and explains the impact of the shutdown on America. Based on the diction, the author would appear to be Democratic or at least antiRepublican. In the following statement Pierce emphasizes the words those republicans with negative connotation, or, at least, those Republicans who are currently driving the strategy no. In the next paragraph the author goes on to say that the corporations are the reason behind the shutdown. To accomplish this, says pierce, the corporate money not only had to disable the institutions of self-government that are the peoples only real protection, it had to do so in such a way that the people expect less and less of the government and, therefore, less and less of each other, acting in the interest of the political commonwealth. The discourse used in this article is sculpted around the better educated class. It is written to appeal more to their ethical side by pointing out what the corporations are attempting to do. Out of all three articles, the one by Funny or Die appeals most to me because it appeals to my emotional side. It sways me to realize that the government shutdown is a not as big of a deal as people make it seem to be. All three articles appeal to different sides; the ethos, pathos or logos. In my opinion the one that appeals to the emotional side of me has more of an impact. Works Cited

Funny or Die. "47 Fun Things You MUST Do during a Government Shutdown." Funny or Die. N.p., 01 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. Henderson, Clint. "Happening Now - Shutdown Showdown Day 2; Obamacare Exchanges Open for Business Glitches and All." Happening Now Blog. N.p., 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. Pierce, Charles P. "This Is What They Want." Esquire. N.p., 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Sept. 2013.