Author: Abby Goodnough and Bruce Weber
Source: New York Times Website
The article I read was about a girl named Melissa Drexler who has become infamous for the events that occurred during the girl's prom night. Drexler apparently gave birth to a baby in the bathroom stall at the prom, and promptly disposed of the baby in a nearby trash can. Later, her boyfriend John and her family disclosed that Melissa never looked pregnant or acted pregnant. It was a shock to everyone when the story was laid out. The article does not mention whether or not Drexler herself was aware of the pregnancy, and it is still unknown whether or not the baby was a stillborn child or if she had killed it in the restroom. Today she has spent a little over 3 years in prison of her 15 year sentence, and was released on parole.
This happened on June 6 1997, and to this day is still a huge topic known nationally. The purpose the authors had for writing about this event from an objective view was to give the public a chance to make their opinion whether or not this girl killed her baby or did not, or if she knew she was even pregnant. It is a credible article because of the many cited quotes of various people involved with the case. It is interesting to note that even though this happened back in 1997, the story is still notorious today. The band Nickelback even wrote a song about the event titled "Throw Yourself Away" and Drexler also has her own page on wikipedia.
Rhetorical Devices Used:
-There were not that many specifically used rhetorical devices. But the devices I could pick out are as follows:
Direct Quotes: Quotes are used throughout the 5-paged article. Each person interviewed was either a family member, a friend, prosecutor or other official related to the case. These quotes helped show the reader what the article was about and the significance pertaining to each part. Direct quotes from the actual prom night also showed the exact order of events that happened that night as well which led to an effective story.
Anecdotes: Little anecdotes that relate to the prom night, and events leading to the prom night were used in this case to convey the whole of the story. The anecdotes created a really dramatic article that made it interesting yet informational.
Imagery: The article was very descriptive, with the events, the exact story of the prom night, and some details were so descriptive that I will probably have nightmares about this story for a while now. But if that is what the author intended it has worked... the imagery gives you chills down your spine and creates the creepy tone this true article possesses.
The authors achieved their purpose because it was very informational, and since it is still on the NYTimes website over 10 years later... I'm assuming the popularity of it is still rising.
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