In John McMurtry’s “Kill ‘Em! Crush ‘Em! Eat ‘Em Raw!” the author explains the hardships of playing football and what it does to your body. Written through his own experiences and experiences of others, he appeals to an audience of those who don’t completely understand how demanding football is on a player’s body. His serious tone is seen through his explanations of injuries and how people perceive football as a fun game. The author includes many rhetorical devices, including anecdotes, and a serious tone. In describing his injuries, his anecdotes enliven the story and also provide ethos by showing what he’s been through. He also shows pathos to make spectators feel bad for encouraging such violence. The author’s analogies throughout a good part of the story are seen when describing playing football as being in a war. This not only helps readers better understand the point he is trying to get across, but once again establishes pathos. The author also applies an allusion as he talks about how both Richard Nixon and General George Patton have talked about war as a football game. “Patton wanted to make his Second World War tank men look like football players. And Nixon, as we know, was fond of comparing attacks on Viet-nam to football plays and drawing coachly diagrams on a blackboard for TV war fans.” Allusions help create connections and draws people in. Logos is seen in the article when the author presents the fact that “(In the United States, for example, the game results in 15 to 20 deaths a year and about 30,000 major operations on knees alone.)” Applying these logical facts, the author not only strengthens his argument but creates ethos as well with these sources.
I liked this article, but I believe there were a few points that could be improved on. I think football is a really interesting sport. While none of my close family or friends has played the game, I always believed it was very hard. The author does a great job of getting the point across, especially with his analogy to war. This article can really relate to today, with reports of NFL players experiencing post traumatic injuries in their brains and also with many young players dying. However, the article was very long and the author almost seemed to repeat himself at some points. That fact aside, the article was still very good.
McMurtry, John. "Kill 'Em! Crush 'Em! Eat 'Em Raw!" Maclean’s 1 Oct. 1971. Print.
Here is a compilation of hard hits seen in the NFL to see just how dangerous the sport is.
I liked this article, but I believe there were a few points that could be improved on. I think football is a really interesting sport. While none of my close family or friends has played the game, I always believed it was very hard. The author does a great job of getting the point across, especially with his analogy to war. This article can really relate to today, with reports of NFL players experiencing post traumatic injuries in their brains and also with many young players dying. However, the article was very long and the author almost seemed to repeat himself at some points. That fact aside, the article was still very good.
McMurtry, John. "Kill 'Em! Crush 'Em! Eat 'Em Raw!" Maclean’s 1 Oct. 1971. Print.
Here is a compilation of hard hits seen in the NFL to see just how dangerous the sport is.