Outline for Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis of “The Story of a Snitch”

Thesis: In his article “The Story of a Snitch” Jeremy Kahn, an independent journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, and The Atlantic, attempts to discuss how the term snitching has changed and developed in our society, what effect witness intimidation has on a case, and the effects both of these terms have in a community.  To do this Kahn employs a combination of pathos, ethos, and logos.

1.      By using emotional diction and heart wrenching accounts of snitch brutality Kahn attempts to gain the readers empathy, however, this actually distracts the reader from his main point: that until witnesses feel safe to come forward they will continue to remain obscure.

a.       Kahn heavily relies on the experiences of John Dowery Jr., an attacked and threatened witness, to evict an emotional response from his readers. Although the main story that Dowery provides a real life example for Kahn’s argument it can be mistaken for the main point of the paper.

b.      Kahn also briefly focuses on a number of other horror stories related to snitching, but rather than make you feel angry at the criminals behind the attack these stories make you angry at the police for failing in their duty to protect them.

c.       An additional way Kahn tries to evoke emotion from is by his word choice.  Kahn uses emotional diction. 

2.       Kahn does a satisfactory job of providing views from both people on the street and police, but he neglects to acknowledge the other side of the argument.

a.        He provides quotes from people extremely against informing the police as well as attorneys and police detectives, which give the reader a well-rounded evaluation of the situation. 

b.      Although Kahn does give these peoples views he never provides a person who thinks that the laws are fine the way they are.  Kahn states proposed bills that have been shot down in the past but never provides a reason why. 

c.        At the end of his piece Kahn states a way this project can be fixed: by creating harsher laws, which is a possibility but he does not give any other alternatives and he neglects to explain how this change would help the problem.

3.      Kahn’s directed audience was society at large but concentrated his study to impoverished neighborhoods where this problem is a larger issue.

a.       This paper was originally published in the Atlantic, a paper that is primarily aimed at business men and women.  Because his article was published here Kahn needed to include the input of this type of individual.

b.      Kahn never pays attention to areas other than troubled neighborhoods, which narrows his argument to certain regions and lessens the ability to truly impact change.  Another thing that Kahn does which off puts his readers is by stating the price for making it safer for witnesses. 

c.       The title of the paper points the reader’s attention on to Dowery’s story further distracting them from Kahn’s argument.

Conclusion: Kahn does a good job of making his story readable however he does a poor job of making it relevant to everyone.  The reader is able to keep their attention because they are following a narrative, and although that is an effective way of keeping one’s audience it limits the impact of Kahn’s message.  Kahn’s main focus was on Dowery’s story, which let the focal point underdeveloped and poorly delivered. Overall Kahn’s paper was easy to read, simple to understand, but of little impact.