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Nicole Currence

Mr.Pittman

Eng-114-403

08 March 2021

Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but get rid of guns

In the article, “ Get a knife, a dog, Get a dog, but get rid of guns’’, Molly Ivins uses Pathos, Ethos, and

Logos. The author certainly can make good use of these because of the three writing techniques she has

to persuade the reader, give a credible source of information , use logic, and provoke emotions to

persuade the audience or reader. Molly Ivins is an author that has leaned more toward using Pathos in

her writing, meaning that she writes from her emotions about the subject and the matter. She also

wants to spark emotions towards her audience.

Ivins shows the use of Pathos specifically towards the end of her article when she was saying, “

ban the dam things’’, The uses of this type of language are showing how deep and aggressive the

emotions are getting about gun control and that she is very strongly opinionated about the subject. At

the beginning of the article Ivins has also used humorous sarcasm when she says , ‘’consider the merits

of the knife . In the first place , you need to catch up with someone in order to stab them . A physical

substitution of knives and guns would have promoted physical fitness. ‘’ This obviously was not a

statement to be taken as an actual pro and con list of knives and guns . This is not a realistic comparison

and to just attempt to provoke the emotions from the reader.

Ivins also had used ethos in her writing by taking the expert from the second amendment of the

constitution . This was her attempt to make her writing sound more professional and informative , but

she also does this to make herself seem more credible. When she says , ‘’ a well trained militia being

necessary to the security of the free state , the right of the people to bear arms shall nor be infringed.’’
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which means that younger boy who are at the age of fourteen- years -old will not be regulated in militia

may bear arms . Ivins’ is a comedic writer who is present in almost every point she has made in her

essay . This comedic style of this writing is used to make the side against which she is arguing that the

appeared absurd .This states that we should have licensed guns to restrict use to sane and sober

adults , and keep track of who sells them to who .

Ivins sense of humor is also evident throughout her sentence structure in her essay , Ivins also

has often utilized sentence fragments , when she is invalidating the argument that guns themselves

don’t kill people . Ivins has created a scenario in which the family ends murdering , after she had argued

that ‘’did the gun kill someone ? No but if there had been no gun there no one would have to suffer the

thought of someone they killed had died . Not at least without good foot race.