3_7 informal writing assignment
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School
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville *
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Course
102
Subject
Communications
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
2
Uploaded by BaronKookabura3666
1. What is the main purpose of this article?
This article describes the controversy regarding Mr. Kyle’s claims of heroics in his book
American Sniper and discusses the discrepancies between the Navy’s account of Mr.
Kyle’s awards and his claims.
2. What assumptions does the author make about his readers (their values,
beliefs, interests, educational level, etc.)?
1)
The author assumes that readers have a knowledge of military honors because he
mentioned the “silver and bronze stars with valor” without explaining what they
are or why Mr. Kyle was awarded them.
2) The author assumes that readers care about honor in the military because he
writes with diction that conveys that readers should be upset if Mr. Kyle is lying
or exaggerating his story.
3) The author assumes that readers value honesty or are interested in humility and
honesty because the article is potentially exposing Mr. Kyle for lying.
3. Is the tone of the article objective, or do you detect bias? Is the
language-neutral, or does it contain emotionally charged words or phrases?
Quote at least three examples of words or phrases from the article and
discuss them in your answer.
The article is mostly informative and neutral, although there are a few
sentences/evidence that might be seen as biased. Overall, the author is pretty objective,
but there are a few small details that indicate the author sees Kyle as dishonest.
- “Even so, the revelation is another blow to the Navy SEALs, who had been challenged
for stories of heroics in the ranks that turned out to be conflated or fabricated.”
This sentence uses “another blow” instead of just “a blow” or “a problem,” which, in my
opinion, is a negatively charged word
-Using words such as “lucrative” and “exaggerated” to describe Chris Kyle’s actions,
which are painted in a negative light, and using that terminology shows that the author
is unimpressed that Kyle profited off of exaggerating.
-The author includes evidence of Mr. Kyle losing a defamation lawsuit, which is bringing
in extra evidence of Mr. Kyle being dishonest.
4. Does this article contain evidence of actions that some readers might
consider heroic? Identify them and explain.
The part where the article describes how Mr. Kyle’s actions directly prevented casualties
to the US and Iraqi forces on more than 30 occasions would likely be seen as heroic to
people because our country has very patriotic values, and preventing casualties to our
army is a very patriotic thing to do. Some people may also think it’s heroic that he killed
many enemies in war.
5. Does this article contain evidence of actions that some readers might
consider unheroic? Identify them and explain.
Yes, the article mainly focuses on the fact that Mr. Kyle might’ve lied about his actions
and achievements and profited from it. I think many would find this unheroic because
we value humility and honesty. It may also be seen as unheroic to kill people who were
looting during Hurricane Katrina because it’s not a crime we usually kill for.
6. If a reader claimed that this article portrays Chris Kyle as a hero, would
that be a fair representation of the content of the article? If a reader
claimed that the article suggests Chris Kyle should not be considered a
hero, would that be a fair representation of the content? Explain your
responses.
I think after reading this article, many readers would claim that Chris Kyle should not be
considered a hero. There were more negative statements about Kyle’s actions in this
article than positive ones. Although the author incorporates some statements of praise,
the overall message seems more negative to me.
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