Adam Lanza was the man committing the Sandy Hook shooting. It was the biggest shooting ever in Connecticut. 20 children and six adults were killed. However there was a 27th person, Nancy Lanza, the mother was killed before. Something must have happened in Adam’s life.
Journalist and author, Dave Cullen, in his book, Columbine, redefines how his readers understand the Columbine tragedy. His purpose is to illustrate the misconceptions Americans have of the shooting by explaining how these misconceptions came about and became rooted in Americans’ minds, although they were so unbelievably wrong. Cullen creates a blunt tone in order to get straight to the facts to show who Eric really was. Through his use of rhetorical devices in this passage, Cullen unravels that Eric was not a bullied outcast like so many believe, but a psychopath.
As stated prior, during the time of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, President Barack Obama was also fighting to make more strict gun control in America. President Obama wanted it to be more difficult to possess such lethal weapons, in hopes that it would lower the risk of crimes such as the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Because of these two events happening at the same time, many people believed that the Sandy Hook shooting was an inside job. People believed that President Obama set up the shooting in order to demonstrate why we needed more strict gun control. Society believed that the Sandy Hook shooting gave Obama evidence as to why we needed gun control.
On April 20, 1999, the unimaginable occurred at Columbine High School in the small town of Littleton, Colorado. A school shooting, carried out by, then senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took the entire community by storm. With 15 deaths, including the perpetrators, and 24 non-fatal injuries, the memories of this horrific massacre will forever resonate in the minds of all. With a meticulously thought out plan, the two shooters prepared guns and bombs in order to perform the sickening act. Families, the FBI, local officials, psychologists, and more spent a multitude of time trying to figure out the reasoning as to what motivated the two boys to kill and cause so much pain to others.
Columbine, by Dave Cullen is a non-fiction book documenting the horrific massacre which took place in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999. Not only does the writer give great detail about the shooting itself, he also gives and in depth look into the lives of the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and their victims. The focus of this book is for the author to attempt to bring to light what really happened and hopefully gain better understanding as to why it all took place. Cullen, a journalist, begins an extensive nine year research in order to achieve awareness of the happenings before, during and after this tragic event. Entries from the perpetrators personal journals, stories from the ones who witnessed the shootings first hand, countless interviews from the victim’s families, as well as multiple other pieces of information give the reader an extremely up close and personal surrounding Columbine.
At that time, the media constantly report this shooting with bloody detail, which cause many people feel uncomfortable and unacceptable. Until today, people still remembering this tragedy, and the media have still report this shooting, however, they are now using it as a reference when the similar shooting
As a result, the media that cover these events dictate what and how they are shared. However, it only helps to feed our sense of fear towards terrorism as well as fuel the Muslim stereotype. In fact, according to a study on deconstructing the terrorism- news media relationship, “terrorists use media as a tool to gain increased coverage and communicate their message,” but sometimes the news does it for them (Ross). For example, in the UCLA shooting, where two men were killed in a murder-suicide, the news’ portrayal of the situation led many to believe that there were multiple attackers instead of just the one. While this may not directly convey terrorists’ message, it helps to spread unnecessary fear of terrorism in our communities.
School Shootings: How We All Miss the Point... The aftermath of a school shooting is tragic, depressing, and causes hatred for the lives lost and the person who took them. Everyone, especially the media, tries to interpret why the shooter killed their victims, or why they felt the need to end others’ lives and their own. How We All Miss the Point on School Shootings, by Mark Manson, explains what and why these mass shootings happen. He starts by using examples of shootings and the murderer’s past.
What’s missing from the typical kindergartener’s backpack? A gun. The ultimate solution to gun violence is more guns, isn’t that obvious? We are in need of guns everywhere to the point where our nation needs armed guards in every school. They say the more guns we have, the more gun violence there is, but in fact it does the complete opposite and solves gun violence.
Through reading “Columbine: Whose Fault is It?” by Marilyn Manson we can identify that the media had a great influence in the aftermath of the shooting, and who was the scapegoat for it, in other words who is to blame for what happened to those poor 13 innocent teenage kids. The Columbine High School massacre was an infamous event that went down as one of the worst shootings to happen to a high school in America. In 1999, a pair of two students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold decided to assault a school in Colorado named Columbine High School. Their intent was unknown, and because of that, many people started speculating as to why the duo decided to shoot up the school.
Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink with a unique flavor made in Waco, Texas in 1885. Along with Dr Pepper, Waco, Texas is also the home of the snickers bar. All good things are happening in Texas, except for the Waco Texas Massacre. The Waco, Texas Massacre occurred on April 19, 1993, but was a long term fight before actually occurring. The massacre all started in February of 1993, when exiled Davidians were reporting their leader to the FBI, for raping their children and having a stockpile of illegal weapons.
Often times a lone assailant carries out these attacks as opposed to other countries where terror groups often orchestrate these attacks to send a message to the world. It appears the shootings we are concerned with center around the attackers proving something to the victims themselves, rather than to the world. For example, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold targeted the “white hats” or jocks of the school, although it was apparent they had hatred for virtually all students due the pair’s indiscriminant
Newtown, Connecticut, is a city full of parks and fields for thousands of residents. It is a tranquil place with maintained public peace and order. (children laughing sound) However, just 5 years ago, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members. Before driving to the school, he shot his mother twice in the head when she was in her bed.
These two historical examples give evidence of how conspirators can misinterpret information, and unknowingly use the conjunction fallacy to support their conspiracy. Since there is evidence of conspiratorial thinkers being victim to this, it is probable that Herndon may have been subject to this idea as well. This would explain in part, why an educated scientist would believe a conspiracy that doesn’t agree with science. Herndon’s appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos also prove how readers of his article are enticed and more likely to believe his article.
Single Sided Reporting How did the false story of the Kitty Genovese murder go viral? Twenty-eight year old African American Winston Moseley murdered and raped Catherine Genovese in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. She was twenty-eight years old and was called Kitty by everyone in the neighborhood. The Kitty murder was one of the most famous crimes in New York history because of the newspaper article “37 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” presented by the New York Times (NYT) written by Martin Gansberg. In the article, Gansberg laid out a terrifying scenario in which he claims 38 of the witnesses watched Moseley murder and rape Genovese in three separate attacks.