AOW due 9/11

Article:  

9/11 Psychology: Just How Resilient Were We?

By Ruth Davis Konigsberg 

Thursday, Sept. 08, 2011

     Kinogsberg reflected on the psychological aftermath of 9/11. In 2001, psychologists didn’t know how to help survivors; terrorist attacks of that magnitude had never occurred before. An international committee of psychologists was organized to form a comprehensive coping plan, but failed without preceding research off which to base their plan. Konigsberg wrote that 9/11 provided valuable data on how to help in a future attack. He concluded that the best method is to provide basic necessities before assessing psychological trauma and need for professional help.

     The context (the 10th anniversary of the attacks) made the story more relevant; this week, 9/11 is at the front of people’s minds more than any other time of the year, and so this context helps the story be more widely read. This piece was written to reflect on how the psychologies community tried to help survivors cope. Another minor aim was to lead readers to other Time articles about 9/11 with links to other Time pages after several of the paragraphs. The author was successful in informing the public of one way the community tried to help victims, but unsuccessful in drawing me to the other pages advertised by the article. Being written for Time Magazine, the audience was the public, perhaps particularly people interested in psychology. 

Rhetorical Elements:

• logos
• facts made the writing logical rather than mournful with personal stories (pathos)
• ethos
• prevented the reader from being critical in the relatively-failed international meeting held after the attacks