Forms of appeal

The dominant forms of appeal in Robinson Meyer's article are ethos and pathos.

Ethos

Meyer also appeals to trust and authority in the article. We notice that he wants to come across as knowledgeable and caring and he portrays Parkland teen survivors the same way.

The writer comes across as knowledgeable on the topic by describing the reference frames of modern teenagers: “The televised political culture of Crossfire and Meet the Press is basically Deep History for many of today’s high schoolers, who would likely cite the election of Barack Obama as one of their earliest historical memories” (ll. 32-33). This suggests Meyer has done his research and understands today’s teens and what influences them. They are not influenced by past and present political shows, but rather by recent events.

At the same time, Meyer also comes across as caring by using phrases like “calamity” (l. 6) or “tragedy” (l. 65) to refer to the mass shooting. Furthermore, he openly expresses his care and concern in the first-person: “This is what ...