Rhetoric of Gun Control
by Hannah Park
1. Rhetoric of pro-gun control
1.1. Tragic incidents are persistently happening so gun possession should be strictly banned
1.2. Guns for the purpose of self-defense have proven to be ineffective
1.3. Gun is so easily attainable - even to people with mental illnesses
2. Rhetoric of anti-gun control
2.1. People's freedom should be unrestricted and respected
2.2. Gun could be used as a means of self-defense
2.3. Banning gun now will not essentially solve the problem since so many people already possess guns and it's difficult to actually retrieve all of them
3. Government's rhetoric of gun control
3.1. How does the U.S. government use different rhetorical methods to inform/discuss gun issues?
3.2. In what ways the government do well or poorly on dealing with this problem?
4. Gun control movements
4.1. How has gun control movements evolved in the recent decade?
4.2. How did gun control movements affect the government's actions?
5. Media's portrayal of gun incidents
5.1. Condemning the government/law
5.2. How does the media make use of pathos when addressing gun incidents
5.3. In what ways does the media obscure the main focus of the issue? Or how does it mislead the audience?
6. Victim Characterization
6.1. Racism
6.1.1. Are people of certain race specifically targeted?
6.1.2. How is racism directly related to gun violence?
6.1.3. How does the media/audience react to gun violence targeting different races?
6.2. Economic status
6.2.1. Is gun violence more rampant in particular neighborhoods across the nation?
6.3. Age/gender
6.3.1. How does media portray gun deaths of younger age? What about school shootings?