TOW Post #10 (Article): ISIS Terrorists Strike Again

   Over the past few months, the United States has had many encounters with a terrorist group in Syria known as the ISIS. The first occurrence happened in August as this group was able to kidnap an American journalist. After torturing the innocent man, the terrorists went on to behead him on camera and send the video to the United States government. This same instance has happened again with an aid worker and soldier named Peter Kassig. The ISIS group has struck again by beheading yet another innocent man in Syria. In the article, author Mariano Castillo writes about the remembrance of Peter and future actions taken by the government by appealing to pathos and using an informative tone. Towards the beginning of the article, Castillo writes about the heartbreak experienced by Peter's friends and families. He goes on to say how the family has "asked for prayers for the safe return of other captives" (24). By including this quote by the family, Castillo is pulling at the heartstrings of Americans. He is emphasizing the fact that this is occurring over and over again. The goal of this is to get the Americans against the terrorist group as well. Maybe having the public know the extreme measures of this event can cause for some persuasion towards the government in taking action. Another strategy used by Castillo is his use of an informative tone to help explain to the audience what exactly is going on. He states, "ISIL is another term for the group ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which calls itself simply the Islamic State" (50). Including key information such as where this is happening and the group responsible, Castillo is able to provide the public with general information. Obviously, most of the stuff is classified, but Castillo still wants the public to have an overall awareness of what is happening. The reason for this is that this can help build a big enough protest against the ISIS for some military action to occur, and the public knows what international incidents are occurring regarding normal American civilians.