Adam Gopnik’s article “Shootings” is very well written and he shows passion in his writing. He gives his opinion of what happened the day of the Virginia Tech shootings, and then he begins to discuss a personal view that he holds.
Adam Gopnik wrote this article after the Virginia Tech shootings because he was concerned with the accessibility of guns in America and the lack of help for mentally ill people. Gopnik wrote this article in response to the shootings, with the purpose of trying to have new legislation passed making gun laws stricter and also to allow Universities to intervene with mentally ill students. He wants the people to know about these two issues so that they will support new legislation, which would prevent this, if it were to be proposed. He also wants legislators to know that there need to be changes in the government to prevent anyone from owning any kind of gun for whatever reason that they choose. This article can also be viewed as Gopnik trying to tell the parents of the victims that it is not their fault that the shootings occurred but rather it is the fault of our legislature.
After reading this article, I learned that Gopnik is a fairly opinionated person who is not afraid to challenge the government. Gopnik seems very liberal because of his belief in making gun control stricter. The main constraint that influenced Gopnik is that he might have known someone who was directly affected by the shootings. He might have been directly affected by the shootings, or he might have been a victim of a shooting that occurred because gun control laws are too lenient. Since this or any shooting has not directly affected me, I do not really feel a very strong connection to this issue although it is important. I am a fairly conservative person, and gun control is not a very big issue of my concern, I do not feel that I know enough about the subject to have common ground with the author. However, I can understand where Gopnik is coming from because this was a terrible event that should never have happened. After reading his article, I could be easily convinced to support stricter gun control laws. He supports his thoughts with good evidence about gun violence and it is very convincing.
3 comments:
Ross, i thought that your focus on the "E" or exigence in your response was very effective. You didn't dwell on the deatils of events that happened during the shooting or how the media was everything but proactive about resolving the issue. By focusing on what the real problem was you emphasized the solution.
i did the same one, good job!
You did a sound job of analyzing his essay without showing partiality. I would urge you to be more skeptical of the evidence he provides. All are anecdotal, and all simply state that stricter gun control reduces gun violence, not any other type.
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