Close Reading #2

The name of this article is called “The Other Missing Man” and it’s by Timothy Egan. It’s a political article that talks about the 2^nd presidential debate that took place a few days ago. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/the-other-missing-man/

            There are 2 types of political articles, those that try to stay unbiased and those that completely favor one opponent over the other. In this article, the latter is the case. The title of “The Other Missing Man” is referring to the “missing” men in the first debate. The two missing men, according to Egan, were “forward-looking, crisp-thinking, quick on his feet” Obama and the “petulant, unlikable and bullying corporate” Romney. He says this because Obama clearly didn’t speak as well as he normally does, in the first debate, and Romney shed his “normal” persona in favor of one that appeals to more Americans. Egan shows examples of Romney’s “bullying corporate” persona by showing examples of it in the 2^nd debate where it was present. In doing so, Egan uses multiples methods of rhetoric to get his point across, such as diction, imagery, and syntax.

            Egan chooses specific words with a negative connotation to emphasize his view of Romney. Words such as “squabbling” and “whining” portray an image of an annoying child, and put the readers in that mindset of dealing with an impatient, difficult child. That way, while reading about Romney, the readers feel the same way about him. Other examples of diction with negative connotation are “feigned” and “arrogance,” both of which bring about the idea of a bad person due to lies and superiority.

            As for imagery, Egan makes sure to uses phrases that will paint a picture for the reader about Romney’s supposedly true personality. Sentences and phrases such as “Romney was the very picture of a C.E.O. used to getting his way” and “‘looks like that guy that fires you’” both are used to describe Romney. In painting Romney in this unflattering light, Egan is attempting to persuade Americans to think of Romney in this way as well. Other phrases Egan uses are “Romney went full boss-in-a-snit mode” and  “Insulated, seldom-challenged C.E.O.s who live in a bubble — in this case, the fact-challenged world of Fox News and right-wing radio — also die in that bubble.” In both instances, Egan again compares Romney’s attitude to that of a stuck up, too-powerful boss, because that’s a common type that people in American are familiar with, and in general don’t like. In comparing Romney with this type of image, it appeals to many Americans because many of them have some form of an over-powering boss in their life. His imagery, along with his diction both create a negative image for Romney.

            One of Egan’s sentence structures that caught my eye was the one where he uses a dash. This lets the reader pause for a moment to think about what they just read, and creates more emphasis on what the next part of the sentence is going to be. For instance, in the sentence “Except his business was a very predatory form of venture capital — no way to run a country.” The ending comment of “no way to run a country” sticks out in the reader’s mind because it’s somewhat more separated from the rest of the sentence. This occurs throughout the article and it works well for the Egan.

            In general, Egan makes it very clear that he is on the democratic side of the election, and does so by pointing out flaws in Romney’s debate last Tuesday. In doing so, Egan uses specific words, images, and sentence structure to help get across his point, to great effect.