Sharon Grigsby Rhetorical Strategies

Until recently I was an uninformed individual who did not take the time out to delve into reading articles from news columnists. That was until I was given the task to select a columnist and carefully analyze their rhetorical strategy methods used to convey their column’s central argument. As a result of this, my task began of pragmatically analyzing six consecutive articles written by, The Dallas Morning News (DMN) Columnist, Sharon Grigsby began. Grigsby is well-known among the DMN circuit as the journalist dubbed “dog reporter,” and as the director of the “Bridging Dallas” and “North-South Gap” projects- which she earned of Pulitzer Prize for in 2010 for her selection of work. Since the start of her career at the DMN Grigsby has devoted
Since much of Grigsby’s work is filled with opinionated fervor for the topics that she discusses, she regularly relies on the rhetorical appeal pathos to signify the tone and theme used in her columns. Furthermore, Grigsby also employs the use of adequate diction to aid the central focus of her columns, and she also sufficiently acknowledges the opposition’s counter argument and rebuffs their claim. With the use of these rhetorical strategies, Grigsby presents a strong unyielding reason as to why she stands firm by the assertions she makes in her
In the column, “University of Oklahoma Frat Boys and Girls Need to Own Up to Their Racist Behavior,” Grigsby calls out the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) members that were caught on camera reciting a racist chant against black people. Grigsby described it as soul-crushing verbal abuse, and she likened the singing of the chant on the party bus to Ku Klux Klan (KKK) gatherings that were held to plan horrific wrongdoings against blacks. Grigsby used pathos by playing on our morals and emotions to explain why what those frat boys was wrong; she used history to back up her claim, and she mentioned the KKK to evoke a feeling of disgust and outrage over what transpired on the SAE party bus. The use of pathos throughout Grigsby’s columns aided her in conveying the tone and theme she intended for the reader to have. Grigsby elicits your moral conscience and calls upon you to acknowledge that what occurred was