Rhetorical Analysis Of No Firemen At Ground Zero This 9/11

September 11, 2001 is a day that shook the United States to its core. Millions of Americans felt the pain, the loss, and the anger that came with the attack on their nation. It was a day of mourning, and when it comes to days of mourning it is difficult putting one’s pain into words. However, Leonard Pitts Jr. was able to move past the emotion. He put into his words, not only his own feelings, but the feelings of an entire nation. Pitts conveys the emotion felt after the terror attacks in his essay “Sept. 12, 2001: We’ll go forward from this moment” through his mournful, angry, and righteous tone.

One of the most controversial events ever to occur is still being talked about to this day. September 11th, 2001 will forever go down in history as one of the most tragic disasters to hit the United States of America. It was heartbreak for all of us to see those towers fall and thousands upon thousands of American lives destroyed. One might ask themselves; didn’t everything get explained a little too quickly? Why did everyone so quickly forget the details to this tragedy? The events of September 11th, 2001 are surely going to be remembered for its brutal truth and will always remind us of the hate that we as humans can create. The events of September 11th happened so fast that lots of details were overlooked but now, six years later one

Without falling into jingoism or being over-sentimental, Robert Pinsky's poem "9/11" generates a commendable ode to the spirit that drives this country, in addition to revealing the American culture for what it truly is – enthusiastic and frivolous, courageous and fallible, petty and resilient. For most Americans, September 10th is Before, and everything since is After.

The first article, “The Real New York Giants” by Rick Reilly is writing to readers that are worrying about the Giants’ next season. Only being six months after the 9/11 catastrophe, Reilley uses pathos to convey his message. He plays heavily on the reader’s emotions, his entire article about the lost heroes in the collapse of the twin towers with a tone of remorse and melancholy. First, he starts off with establishing the determination of the firemen. “We'll have a team if we only have 10 guys. We're playing,” was a quote from Mike Heffernan who had lost his brother on 9/11. Then he goes into vivid detail, describing the men who “ have a nasty case of the WTC cough” from “ inhaling dust, smoke, glass particles, asbestos and, indeed, microscopic remains of their fallen comrades.” He is referring to the many firemen that had to clean up the 9/11 wreckage, which took a lot longer than a couple of days.

September 11th, 2001 left a huge impact on people’s lives all over the country. Michael Burke, a wall street journalist, discusses 9/11 in the article, “No Firemen at Ground Zero This 9/11?”. He expresses the bravery the first responders showed on the tragedy of 9/11. On the 10th anniversary, the firemen were not invited to ground zero to watch the remembrance ceremony. The committee that puts on the ceremony sent invitations to politicians, but not the firefighters who put their lives on the line to save others. They were told they could watch on TV instead. Burke is trying to show the businessmen of New York about how wrong not inviting the first responders was, he does this with his descriptive narrative and organizational structure.

September 11, 2001 was a very tragic day but at the same time a very heart shaping experience. The men and women who ran into burning building trying to help the helpless had great courage and personal honor. Every person that had been hurt or killed during this horrific ordeal were rescued and treated as needed. The fallen rescuers did not even think of their own lives, just the people who needed the help. The personal honor that drives a man to search for up to 18 hours straight, looking for any sign of life, honors those lost, and honors his country.

On September 11th, 2001, a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. captured the world’s attention. Almost three thousand innocent lives were lost, leaving the event a tragic and eternal piece of U.S. history. Leaders from all reaches of the world offered their sympathies. George W. Bush, the president of the United States at the time, delivered a strong, defiant response to the terrorist attacks, appealing to the patriotic masses of his country. England’s Prime Minister Tony Blair offered a more subdued, mournful response. While Bush championed for revenge, Blair focused on hope and morality. Both leaders utilized different rhetorical devices to make their respected points.

Throughout the article, Burke emphasizes that he was related to service members, and is utterly astonished that they are being neglected. Because of this, the tone Burke conveys is abashed. One demonstration, in paragraph 17, is where Burke states: “The firemen, being who they are, would never complain or bring attention to themselves. I, however, am not a fireman. Just the son of one and the brother of another. To deny the firefighters and our first responders-these most humble and dedicated servants of New York- the opportunity to honor, at Ground Zero on 9/11, their lost brothers and sisters is atrocious”. With this, Burke ultimately wraps up the fact that these men and women are being ignored, and also gives off the feeling of being abashed at New York's decision to not honor them. Hence, Burke establishes himself throughout the piece as ashamed that such decisions could be made involving such honorable

Throughout the novel, “102 Minutes” by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, a common tone is produced about the severity of the destruction of the World Trade Center. A neutral attitude is used when describing the events on the morning of September 11th. When narrating over the tragedies that took place, the authors use specific word choice and real-life examples to display the twin towers collapsing and the stress, fear, and panic being felt throughout Lower Manhattan. For example, Dwyer and Flynn write, “As easily as the roaring jet had knifed through the steel face of the tower, smoke now relentlessly, swiftly, seeped into the top of the building, finding paths around the concrete floors, emerging in billowing, ghastly clouds” (Dwyer and Flynn 37).

The son of a fireman and the brother of a hero, Michael Burke, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, exposed his feelings about the firemen and first responders that were not invited to the ten year anniversary of the September 11 disaster in his persuasive article: “No Firemen at Ground Zero This 9/11?” To assist him in persuading his audience, Burke used various techniques to prove that Mayor Bloomberg was unjust for not allowing the firemen and first responders to participate in honoring their deceased brothers and sisters. Burke utilized pathos, imagery, and organization to prove his point.

In his introduction, Egan uses imagery and rhetorical questions to sway the opinion of his audience. "What did they die for?" he

Undoubtedly, first responders and firefighters were the heroes of the 9/11 attacks. They all risked their lives to save others, which is why it was shocking to find out families of the fallen weren’t even invited to the remembrance ceremony. Michael Burke, the brother of a firefighter who lost his life on 9/11, was so shocked he wrote about the situation in the Wall Street Journal. Burke titled his article, “No Fireman at Ground Zero This 9/11?”, in which he questions Michael Bloomberg’s decision not to invite the families of the first responders that perished. Burke used countless methods to get his point across, but there were three that especially caught my attention. The three most critical methods Burke uses are pathos, irony, and description.

In the article, “No Firemen at Ground Zero This 9/11” Michael Burke writes to the politicians of Wall Street, that the families of the first responders of 9/11 must be invited to the ceremony. He puts this article in the Wall Street Journal on September 7, 2011 because this is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack. The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, believes that there is not enough room at Ground Zero for all of the families to come and honor their loved ones. Michael Burke believes that if he can persuade the politicians, that they will have a greater influence on Bloomberg than he would. Michael Burke uses a narrative, an allusion and syntax to allow the reader to see his point of view.

Initially, Burke incorporated narrative in the first portion of the piece in an attempt to persuade the businessmen. In his narrative, he utilizes other sub-techniques as well, such as: visuals and pathos. The narrative was used as the hook, what connected the reader to the piece. Through the visuals and emotional connectivity, the businessmen remember what 9/11 was like. “... The fireman was still there, standing his ground in case others needed help. And there

September 7, 2011- Michael Burke, a Wall Street Journalist writes“No Firemen at Ground Zero This 9/11?” Informing strong politicians that first responders didn’t get enough credit; since their families weren’t invited to ground zero for the memorial. Politicians have a lot of influence in New York; therefore, Burke appeals to them within this piece. He uses a narrative to paint an image of what had happened when there were only first responders and firefighters to try and save these helpless people in the towers. Remorseful flashbacks let the audience grasp what had really happened when everyone was evacuated. By doing all of these things, Burke uses: repetition, allusion, and distinct description to develop his message about the memorial invite they didn’t get.