Monday, April 14, 2014

Krista Ramsey

Krista- The very poor case for arming teachers

  • http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/22/krista-the-very-poor-case-for-arming-teachers/5744065/

In this entry, Krista discusses the controversial issue of arming school teachers for protection against school shootings. This however brings upon many new risks and responsibilities, causing many citizens to go against the proposal. 

A powerful and well constructed line from her column is, "But sending weapons into schools – the vast majority of which have not been and will not be the scene of violence – is the most unwise of solutions." This line takes a clear stand on the issue, persuading the audience of her own beliefs. She makes her point by first addressing her opposing side, then by backing it up with information to support her claim, and lastly by taking a side. By writing her sentence in the opposite order of how we would normally state a claim. She is able to draw readers in and catch there attention, without immediately turning them away to not read on by bluntly stating her opinion at the beginning. Hyphens are used in this sentence to separate her closely related thoughts. 

Ramsey's writing style is professional and includes voice, while incorporating elevated diction and syntax.  She uses varied sent ace structure, placing telegraphic sentences following medium ones. This draws the readers attention to certain lines and topics of importance, as well as keeps the readers interested. Several rhetorical questions are found in this column and help to support her argument. "Does an armed teacher leave his class to respond elsewhere? Will she make the correct split-second call in a situation that would be daunting to the most experienced police officer?" Voice in this piece is presented as interruptions, surrounded by hyphens. "You are clearly about to be lobbied – probably heavily – to vote to give the Protecting Our Students and Teachers plan a six-month trial." 

Questions to ask Ramsey:
1) Do you believe laws will be passed forcing school teachers to be armed? 
2) What topics that you do column writings on are you most interested in? 
3) When writing columns, do you often incorporate your opinions on the topic as you did in this column? 

2 comments:

  1. I read a different column written by Krista Ramsey so it was cool to see the diffrences and similarities that are in her columns.

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  2. We are reaading columns by Krista Ramsey too. It is very interesting to see all of the different topics she writes about and the questions that people want to ask her.

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