Mike Royko passage: “A Faceless Man’s Plea”

Your assignment is to:

1) analyze Royko’s purpose

audience=his readers, daily column in the Chicago Tribune, purpose=persuade his readers that Bailey has been cruelly misserved, create rage for the wrongs done to Bailey

· In his article “A Faceless Man’s Plea,” Royko’s purpose is to persuade his readers that . . .

2) analyze how he so effectively persuades you

· Use Royko (or the author’s name) in the first sentence of each body paragraph

· Royko begins his article with a distant, matter of fact tone. He gives his readers the basic facts of Bailey’s injury . . .

· Instead of “The basement is really important because it shows how Bailey want to hide away.”

· Aim for: “Royko’s precise diction subtly reveals Bailey’s shame: he hides in the “basement” because . . .

· Instead of “At the end, the story gets repetitive in order to be more emotional.”

· Aim for: “In the second half of the article, Royko shifts his tone, beginning to play off our emotions. He repeats the phrase “now he has none,” three times in order to hammer home the reality that Bailey has been brutally destroyed by his wartime injury. The reader cannot ignore this great wrong.”