TOW # 7 "2D Ebola Case Raises Urgency" - Article

In the October 16, 2014 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an article named 2D Ebola Case Raises Urgency addresses the Ebola virus that has been brought to the United States. Written by three successful authors at the Washington Post, Mark Berman, Lena H. Sun, and Joel Achenbach, the article discusses the outbreak and the reactions of American citizens. Their audience being Americans specifically in the Philadelphia area, the authors attempt to inform their readers of new developments regarding Ebola and the feelings of the American public. Ethos, logos and diction are three forms of rhetoric the authors use to achieve their purpose. Throughout the article, the use of credible sources, such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Thomas Frieden and David Daigle, as well as President Obama, allows the authors to appear trustworthy and establish their credibility. These professional testimonies also allow the authors to provide the reader with factual information. They write, “Frontier Airlines and the CDC scrambled to contact the 132 passengers aboard flight 1143”. This enables the reader to comprehend the reality of the situation and understand the actions being taken to prevent further outbreak. Also, when quoting President Obama, they write about Obama’s experience at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he hugged, kissed, and shook hands with the doctors and nurses who took care of the Ebola patient. By providing this fact, the authors are trying to evoke a sense of calmness in the reader, while furthering President Obama’s message to Americans that Ebola will not become an epidemic in the U.S. Certain diction that the authors use allow them to establish the feelings of the American public with words like “Lied To”, which is the title for the third section of the article. Those two words alone portray the feelings of all Americans; they feel lied to. They feel they have been misled regarding the preparation of hospitals and prevention of the disease, when they allowed the second nurse, Amber Vinson, to board a plan. I believe Berman, Sun and Achenbach achieve their purpose throughout this piece. They effectively informed their readers on the newest developments of the disease and social reactions.