31. School Shooting

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/magazine/should-it-matter-that-the-shooter-at-oikos-university-was-korean.html?hp&_r=0

           Jay Caspian Kang, the author of the New York Times article "That Other School Shooting," talks about a school shooting that took place in Oikos University in Oakland, California. The 43 year -old shooter was a former nursing student and he killed 6 people and wounded 3 with a .45 caliber gun. He tried to escape with a car but later surrendered to the police. The author went to visit the shooter whose name is One L. Goh. He saw that the shooter was a short, fat Korean who was expecting to see his father. The author then has a personal conversation with the shooter asking him questions about his personal life, his family, his childhood, his past memories, etc. The author also talks about himself and both come to a connection because both are Koreans and apparently the shooter blames his cold father for being the motive behind his shootings. The shooter justifies his shootings and the killings with: "I always tried to find the better way."
           Kang uses several rhetorical devices to enhance his writing. The author's purpose is informative but it does have a persuasive touch to it; the author tries to make the reader rethink the stereotypes and the idea that most people have overreacted to the fact that the shooter was a Korean. The author's tone is somewhat sympathetic yet critical and his writing style is very different: the author's first paragraph is straightforward with facts and the rest of it is a descriptive personal experience and account of going to the Santa Rita prison and personally interviewing the shooter. The author's questions lead the shooter into saying that he had a very mediocre childhood but his relationship with his father was not strong. The shooter says that he feels sorry for the deaths: "I very much regret what happened,' Goh said. 'I wish it hadn’t happened that way. I’m really sorry to society, Korean society and the families of the victims." The author's use of personal pronouns make the article seem much less formal and much more like a descriptive narrative.