A Far-Right Revival in Central Europe by Andrea Mommone is an opinion piece detailing the transition of several Central European countries to far-right nationalist governments. This article is written in the midst of the European Migrant Crisis in which hundreds of thousands of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East are fleeing to Europe to seek political or economic refuge.
The author structures his argument, by first stating the recent events that have transpired, discussing the rise of right-wing parties and the end of multiculturalism, and lastly discusses how nationalism works in action. Mr. Mommone uses appeals to Pathos a lot throughout the article. He attempts to make people feel a certain way about these events by using phrases such as "The formation of a right-wing coalition government in Austria was especially revealing of the current state of politics and public opinion in the Western world." and "Are the years of multiculturalism gone?". This leads into the authors tone and his diction. Andrea Mommone uses high diction such as "xenophobia", "nationalist", and "authoritarian" to convey a worrying feeling about the state of Central Europe. These words are used to remind people of times during the 20th century when leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler ruled powerful countries. It is used to show resentment against the choices made by these countries and to resist it. The authors claims and evidence he uses to back them up are fairly weak overall. A main problem with the authors argument is that there is no statistics to show how bad these right-wing parties are, or any professionals to describe the state of right-wing parties and their danger to European Democracy. Mr. Mommone's argument lacks any appeals to Ethos or Logos at all. The authors purpose is to inform and warn people about the politics going in Central Europe currently. He wants to inform people about the possible rise of fascism once more due to current global events going on. His audience is mostly towards liberals due to their firm stance against fascism and authoritarianism. He wants to see people reject these new uprisings going on in places such as Poland, Czechia, and Austria, and reinforce a pro-EU pro-refugee stance. In the end these political changes are just the tip of iceberg, for a political shift to happen in Europe soon. As tensions rise and more and more refugees come in, more nationalist sentiments will start to arise in Europe. What Andrea Mommone fails to understand through this article, is that these changes will bring about change; change that will bring about a new wave of nationalism in Europe and the revival Traditionalism throughout Europe.
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The Article "Trump Delivers Politically Divisive, Nationalist Speech", written by William Roberts is about the Annual State of the Union Address that President Trump delivered earlier this night. He addressed this in a midst of governmental chaos. Just a week before there was a government shutdown that occurred. within Congress due to differing view point and not being able to get anything done.
Roberts divides his article into 4 separate parts: Introduction, How Trump Rates Countries, What to Trump’s words mean for Foreign Policy, and ‘America is Divided’. It was readily apparent throughout the article that Mr. Roberts arguement was that Trump delivered a very nationalist and emotional speech seeking to incite the will of the American people to come together and put “America First”. Most of this article appeals to Pathos as it uses many of Trump’s strong quotes that he delivered at his speech yesterday. Especially during the Introduction, Pathos appeals are plentiful. Mr. Roberts cites two examples pertaining to North Korea that incite emotion. These two are Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died at the hands of North Korea, and Ji-Seong ho, a North Korean defector who now lives in South Korea helping other North Koreans who defect across the border. The author also made sure to keep it readily apparent the Trump as pushing his “America First” agenda in the address. Mr. Roberts notes Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the sole capital of Israel. It is explained that 128 members of the U.N. voted against this decision. Afterwards Trump claims that he is to pass legislation to ensure the “American Foreign Assistsnce, serves American Interest”. William Roberts also notes Trump’s position in America’s political division. Me. Roberts explains that Trump’s speech mostly appeal the right-wing conservatives of the room, also seemed to consolidate this by attempting to please both sides of the room. He interviews people who have knowledge of Trump’s view pertaining to America’s political division. A Palestinian professor at the University of Maryland Shibley Telhami told Mr. Roberts, “Not only is America divided based on party, but they are divided even on their core identities. There is a deep divide in America.” What this quote summarizes is what Trump thinks about the America as well. Both of these people believe that America is not only divided on political parties, but even their core social and cultural values each has, and its up to everybody to come together and further America as a united people. Through reading this article it is clear that the author had watched the entire State of the Union Address and the vibe that Mr. Roberts got from the speech. It is present that William Roberts seems to be very “on the fence” about what Trump said in the speech. While he applauds Trumps efforts for attempting to unite the American people under one country with different values and beliefs, Mr. Roberts also believes that a lot of the things Mr. Trump said were somewhat vague and left up to interpretation. As said earlier Mr. Roberts believes that Mr. Trump did a good job at using emotion to incite the American people, but also that little was accomplished during the first year of Trump's Presidency. The main purpose of this article is to dissect and analyze the words that Trump said during his speech. What they mean, how they relate to America's problems, how they can fix America's problems. The main audience of this would mostly be people who were confused by what Trump was saying, as well as seasoned political advisers to better understand the messages that Trump was sending. This State of the Union Address was the first for a new president and puts and impression on many American people of the years to come with President Trump. Many people are watching him and if he follows his word he may be deemed a success, but in the end the will of the American People will eventually judge him. The Article "Bitcoin Price Soars: Will the Bubble Burst?" mainly desribes the rise of Bitcoin and how big it has become in the last month and the possibility of the price plummeting. This article was created during a time in which Bitcoin has been surging recently. The Author notes that within one hour on December 7th, Bitcoin's value increased by over $3,000. Although the Author seems to very happy and positive about the sudden rise of Bitcoin he is also shown to be wary and cautious as he details several concerns about Bitcoin that could affect his future.
The Author structures his article into five different parts: An Introduction, Sponsors of Bitcoin, 24/7 Marketability, The Future of Bitcoin, and Volitaile Trading. His argument that is readily present throughout his last four sections is that while Bitcoin is profitable and it surging, there still is a lot of unknown to it and eventually could come crashing down. Many appeals to Ethos and Logos throughout. For example the author uses the Chicago Stock Exchange as an example of places where Public Trading has begun on Bitcoin. The author also interviews experts on Bitcoin such as Daniel Masters who is the founder of the "Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund" to help support his argument. On top of Ethos the author appeals to logos a lot as well. He cites different instances of hacking that have caused Bitcoin to crumble. One such instance happened in 2014 when the Largest Bitcoin Trader at that time "Mt. Gox" collapsed after hackers stole 650,000 Bitcoins from the website, causing it to collpase, and the Bitcoin price to dramatically fall. A newer instance of this the author cites is when Solevenian crytocurrency mining marketplace also known as "NiceHash", said it lost $64,000,000 worth of Bitcoin after an attack on its servers exposed its payment system. Through reading this article its clear that the author has researched this topic thoroughly and feels a very certain way when discussing Bitcoin. As discussed earlier the author remains optimisitc about the rise of Bitcoin and the potential great future it has in front of it, but continues to stay realistic noting through a video, that "All currencies that experience a surge eventually experience a plummet, thats just how our market works." The main purpose of this article from a readers perspective it to caution those who are thinking about investing into Bitcoin and the uncertainty it presents in the future. The main audience is mostly investors, experts on Bitcoin, and more specifically investors who are thinking about investing their money into Bitcoin. While Bitcoin is surging and prices are reaching an all-time high, remember to invest responsibly, and invest the amount one is willing to lose. After all the market is mostly unpredictable and no one knows if the Bitcoin will continue to surge, or in a darker tone come crashing down... The Article "Detain Mugabe-Era Officials Denied Bail In Zimbabwe" by Tendai Marima is a short article detailing the detention and holding of two different high ranking political officials as determined by the High Court of Zimbabwe. These accusations have just been a short stint of the craze currently happening in Zimbabwe. A military coup led to the resignation of the then President for almost four decades Robert Mugabe who was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday. From reading the text we can easily determine that the author does have a personal connection to this due to her diction while most of the time bland and sometimes be eye-catching or emotional. A little more digging reveals that the author was born in Zimbabwe and writes on African Current Issues and has been following this event since it first began with the Coup. Continuing with the article the two men detained were Former Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ignatius Chombo and the head of the ruling ZANU-PF Youth League, Kudzanai Chipanga. Both men are charged on similar accounts of fraud and corruption against the people. What I think Marima is trying to do is to shed a little bit of light on the situation that is going on Zimbabwe. In the past week the media has been going nuts about and people are constantly getting confused as to what the current situation is like in Zimbabwe. This short piece of information helps clear up what is going and how the government has been functioning lately in Zimbabwe. I also think that based on the her somewhat joyous tone and using quotations marks such as "in the interests of his safety" and "very disappointed" that she seems very pleased in their arrest and detention of these two individuals. This would also mean that she was in support of the military coup and most likely supports the new president of ZImbabwe. Her uses of quotation marks also looks to exaggerate some parts of the article as if what the people are saying are not what they truly mean. For example the quotations "very disappointed" stem from what Mr. Chipanga's lawyer thinks of his clients arrest. This may very well mean that he just doesn't care at all. In conclusion the main audience most likely seems to be the people of Zimbabwe themselves as well as foreigners looking for more information. It all around is just an informational article that only serves the purpose to inform the reader about the current situation and her own opinion on it.
The Article “Protests planned after Pakistani migrants attacked” By: Patrick Strickland details recent attacks against Pakistani migrants in Aspropyrgos, an industrial area just outside of Athens Greece. Patrick Strickland is clearly angry in this article and feels throughout this article that something needs to change to combat these attacks.
He uses high diction to emphasize the message he is trying to convey throughout his article. Strickland uses similes and metaphors as he tries to dehumanize the attackers and groups they are associated with referring to them as “gangs” and vicious dogs”. Issues like these have been going on for a couple of years now. Ever since the Syrian Civil War and Arab Spring threw the entire Middle East off balance and refugees have been fleeing to Europe attacks like these have been constant across Europe. Refugees attacking inside of Europe as well has fueled this anger and resentment against migrants as well. This attack is just apart of a larger issue. Strickland even though he acknowledges this still seems dissatisfied with the Justice System in Greece as they haven’t found the culpirt but rather just blantantly branded several organizations that could be the causes of these attacks. He is fed up and wants justice for those who come here and want to work hard to create a new life in Greece. He uses strong words to describe the attackers such as “fascists” and. “xenophobes” to convey what kind of people the attackers are. Patrick Strickland organized his article into three distinct parts. First he describes the attack: Who did it and where did it happen. Next he discusses planned protests against the attack by various left-wing civil groups such as “The Pakistani Community in Greece”. Lastly Strickland talks about Syriza, the part that controls the government and actions it is going to take in order to maintain peace and decrease these sort of attacks. Evidence in this article is minimal. The only real evidence that Strickland employs in his article is police report stating that 75 hate-crimes happened within the first half of the year alone. His argument lacking evidence though still seems solid through its appeal to Pathos trying to get readers angry at the attackers and feeling sympathetic for the victims. The only weakness the article has as a whole is a lack of evidence. Through this article we can get an idea of who Patrick Strickland is Strickland just like the author of my last article values equality and equal opportunity for all. He views seemed generally left using this article as a faucet to dump his thoughts on this issue. His writing style involves many uses of high diction to further emphasize and the meaning he is trying to get across to readers in this article. Strickland also seems to be pro-refugee and accepts them for who they are. The overall audience seems to be those that are unaware of this issue and want to know more as well leftistd around the world, especially left-wing Greek activists trying to get them to take action against these “gangs” and “xenophobes”. All in all I think the entire purpose of the article is to show to the world what’s really going on Europe and to try to get people to combat these attacks. Whether it be peaceful of violent it is clear in Patrick Strickland’s article that something needs to change not only in Greece, but for all of Europe Zena Tahhan in her article "Austria Face Veil Ban 'Criminalizes Muslim Women'" condemns the Austrian Government for their law which enforces all a $180 dollar fine for those who wear face veils. In this article Tahhan notes that this is an ongoing trend with countries who have a large refugee population. Countries such as France, Belgium, and The Netherlands have already enforced laws similar to Austria enacted as of today on Oct. 1st 2017.
Tahhan uses phrases and words such as "counter productive" and "Islamophobic" to show her displeasure with the the law. This presents a worrisome tone as she states that other countries in Europe have enacted laws similar to this and that the Freedom Party or the far-right party in Austria who suggested this law have been gaining seats in the Austrian Government and look set to gain majority during primary elections on Oct. 15. Tahhan also exaggerates many of her statements and quotes to make this situation seem more troubling than it is. The last sentence, "It feels as though it is a general threat against society to be a Muslim." exaggerates on the fact that there is a rise of Anti-Islamic peoples in Europe and that you may be criminalized simply because you are of Islamic origin. She repeats the same quote on her Twitter profile (which is linked at the end) to get that seemingly as the main message of the article. Tahhan structures her article by first stating the issue (Austria's "Burqa Ban"), who is behind the ban (The Freedom Party), and describes the effects of the ban on the country and Europe as a whole (Rise in Islamophobia and Xenophobia). Tahhan's argument against the "Burqa Ban" lacks any real appeal to Logos other than "Only 100 or so women wear the face veil". She provides no real statistics on the effect of the Austrian Population by this or statistics that counter the idea of the "Burqa Ban". Tehhans purpose is to direct her message to Liberals and Leftists in order to get them to protest this decision. The entire ban goes against her value of equality and love for one another which is more associated with the left movement then it is the right. She wants them to know what is going on in Austria and the detrimental effects they may have on society. That said her main audience in this article are those of leftist values and Muslims. Whether or not the reader of this article supports her argument it sure is an interesting development coming outside of Austria that may have other European countries following suit. |
AuthorIlias Clark B. 10-27-2001 in Atlanta, Georgia is a 15 year old student currently enrolled in North Cobb High School's Magnet Program. His hobbies include playing video games, swimming, and learning History. Archives
February 2018
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