Imagining the Hansen Family and Birmingham Bomb Kills Four

Alyssa Prior 2/7/13 English 3rd period Mr. Haydon ?“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go” (Unknown Author). As a nation, the people will be faced with adversity but with every step we accept, learn, cherish and let go. Anna Quiden, writer for Newsweek magazine, describes the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11. She writes this for the friends and family of te victims and all the concerned Americans across the country. Her article is filled with hope, so that the people can stand together and unite as one.

Another hardship that has shaped America was written in the New York Times in 1963, by Claude Sittton called “Birmingham Bomb kills 4. ” This article was written about the riots and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights movement in thedeep south. He writes to inform the people of the events happening and to describe that there was no such thing as “separate but equal” in the radically divided town of Birmingham. In the articles “Imagining the Hansen Family” and “Birmingham Bomb Kills 4,” both authors use tragic imagery to passionately portray the devastation, destruction and death caused by hate. The article by Anna Quiden, “Imagining the Hansen Family,” she uses dramatic imagery to portray the feeling ofdevastation and destruction of the horrific event that changed America. In this article by Quiden, she relies back to the hard past. “They left behind not so much monumental mass of rubble, but tricycles, sweater drawers, love letters, flower beds, books, video cameras, unpaid bills, untidy kitchens, mothers, fathers,uncles, brothers, sons, daughters, friends from Maine to California. 9/11 didn’t just affect the people who died, it affected a whole nation, whether you knew people that wereinvolved or not. So much was left behind, houses, families, a life. The author uses this form of polysyndeton to show that they didn’t take down buildings when they crashed those two planes, but they took people’s lives. “But what they were doing was blowing families to bits. ” It really sets a somber tone, seeing all was lost in this one day, in these few hours. It makes it feel more real, having all the factors of, the daily routine of life.

This uses logos, pathos, and ethos in just this one quote. The emotion pours out of the article, the logic in all that was lost, and the reputation of Americans. Hardships happen every day, all throughout American history, there will be some in the future, some in the present, and some in the past that have shaped us a nation. ?We often look back to our past to see where we have come. In the “Birmingham Bomb Kills 4” by Claude Sitton, he uses vivid imagery to describe the scenes of the tragic bombing on the dangerous streets of Birmingham.

In the article, Sitton reports, “The blast blew gaping holes through the walls… Floors of offices in the rear of the sanctuary appeared near collapse… splintered window frames, glass and timbers. ” Four little girls were subject t the bomb in the church. Sitton explains that three of children’s parents are teachers. He shows the true tragedy of death of innocent children in the church, a holy place of God. The article sets a sympathetic and knowledgeable tone. It has all the facts from the incident, how they found the girls “huddled under debris. ” This quote paints a picture for the reader, bringing the scene to the eyes.

The imagery is clear and realistic. Sitton probably entered these type of details through imagery to appeal to your emotional senses of pathos. This tragic imagery puts a feeling of sadness into the article, not only touching the reader’s heart but putting the author’s emotion into the article too. America has experienced tragedies every day, but these events are what make this nation, The UNITED States of America. In conclusion, both Quindlen and Sitton show both sides of tragic events. The imagery used in the articles sets a realistic tone, emphasizing the great emotion that came with both of these tragedies.

Innocent lives were taken, four little girls and other countless blacks in the civil rights era and innocent lives in the collapse of the twin towers of 2011. Both changing a nation, shaping it and bringing the people together. Unbelievable events of sorrow still impact America to this day, as the nation honor the lives to the people that sacrificed for all we have, for America. In the articles, both authors use vivid imagery of American disasters and the loss of innocent lives to emphasize its effect on the people that rise as nation through the debris of hate. ?