修辞学论文

The Fact

The article, The Fact, describes a story about a journalist, who was sent to Africa to find some detailed information about a president ‟s palace, which was requested by the editor. However, he broke the regulations. Finally, he was arrested by the police. The author wrote this article with some intended audiences. People who are interested in the news and the journalists may choose to read this article. Also, there exist some people who have similar experiences to the journalist. They may also pay close attention to these kinds of articles. And people who work in this area may also pay attention t such articles, such as the editors.

According to Kenneth Burke ‟s identification theory, the journalists ‟ sufferings deserve some sympathy. People who have similar experiences to journalist may show their sympathy for him. And the author wrote this article to attract people‟s attention to the journalists and he hoped that this phenomenon will not happen again. We do have to care about them. But at the same time, we have to find out the causes for his sufferings. It is due to the media power. As we all know, the editor abused his power to chase some economic interests so that this tragedy happened. As a matter of fact, „the media is just the message.‟ We all have to recognize this point. What the media brings to us is just some information. And there is no need pursuing some so-called exact information with much cost.

In terms of historical-cultural context, the editors ‟ behavior had some

historical reasons. Since they were from America, their readers may mostly be the white people. However, they still wanted the supports from African people. The editor sent the journalist to collect such detailed information, with the intention that they can amuse the African people. Only in this way can they become stronger and stronger and make profits enough. It is the economic profits that lead such things happen. And this really deserves our attention. Economic profits are important, but the editors cannot only pursue them.

The “fact ” in the title refers to the information in the news which the journalists had to figure out, while the „fact ‟ has other meanings. The author wanted to use this example to tell people the journalists ‟ situation and appeal people to keep a watchful eye on them. Meantime, the author told us that the media power has great effects on the society. On one hand, people who work in this area are affected by it. They have to do a lot of things to finish their task asked by their boss whether they want or not. On the other hand, the editors themselves are affected by media power. How to use it appropriately is a big question for them. If they use it correctly, they can have more audiences and achieve what they want. Otherwise, they will lose their reputation and something else. The author used such wonderful techniques to express his opinions indirectly.

Based on what I mentioned above, the author may be the journalist‟s

colleague or someone who has similar experience to him. And his real purpose is to appeal people to give more attention to them so that they can live and work more freely and happily. What‟s more, we all have to know that information is not so important that journalists have to collect them with much cost. With the development of technology, media has great effects on human life. Because of the advanced technology, people are access to more and more information. And media became a new way which can be reached fast and conveniently. As a result, people‟ subjectivity was affected a lot.