Analyse af 'The Righteous Anger of the Parkland Shooting’s Teen Survivors'

Guns and gun control in America are and have been, for many years a very controversial subject. It seems to have divided the nation into gun-haters, or gun-lovers. People standing up to protect the second amendment, or people calling for regulations. The article The Righteous Anger of the Parkland Shooting’s Teen Survivors “ written by Robinson Meyer and published in 2018 at “The Atlantic Website”, shortly after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, speaks of how the survivors use the social media to take a stand and create a statement in the debate. This paper will analyze, how Robinson Meyer conveys his stance in this debate and discusses the high school students’ political activism on social media.

From the start, does the reader gets a grasp of Robinson Meyer’s attitude towards the issue explored, since the title leaves no doubt that it, after his opinion, is a righteous anger the students are feeling. By introducing the anger of the students with the loaded adjective “righteous” Meyer consequently legitimizes the students actions in relation to political activism on social media and sets, by the very title, the angle from which the subject is to be viewed upon. He feels sorry for the teens that were forced to take on such a heavy burden of responsibility at such an early age. Throughout the article, Meyer relies on pathos and ethos to convey his sympathy and, in particular, he uses pathos by including tweets from the young people from Parkland, to awaken the readers’ empathy. Furthermore, does the article’s specific choice of words, used when talking about the teen victims and survivors of mass shootings, clearly indicate Meyer’s attitude towards the issue. By describing the incident in terms like “calamity”, “tragedy” and “catastrophe” he tries to focus the reader’s attention at the gravity of the situation by appealing to her emotions and empathy. Moreover, it’s evident, that part of Meyer’s intention is to praise the political activism of the teen survivors at the Parkland shooting and their demonstrations on social media. “Teenagers knew the contours of the gun debate so well that they were rebutting NRA talking points just after emerging from their safe zones.” (ll. 58-59).” Here he’s achieving the intention, by using ethos and presenting the teens as credible, knowledgeable young adults. Robinson Meyer also mentions the young student journalist “Hogg”, and describes him as “keen” and “the voice of the tragedy”, and he emphasizes the students’ bravery while having the benefit of strengthening his own credibility in the eyes of the reader, as he makes use of ethos with sponsorship effect.