Rhetorical Analysis: Hunting Wolves, and Men
In 2009 Idaho legalized hunting for the grey wolf, but the new law didn't come without controversy. Heated comments by one Republican candidate were used by the New York Times to show the attitude of some of the people who support the slaughter. The NYT's purpose was to paint the law as a representation of everything that is wrong with Idaho.
The article starts out by quoting a Republican candidate for the governorship for the state. At a political barbeque, Rex Rammell was quoted as saying "Obama tags? We'd buy some of those." His statement was in response to a conversation about the wolf tags which were recently put on the market for hunters. Tags allow the hunter to be able to shoot and kill the animal legally. When asked about his comments, Rex Rammell said he was joking and that "Everyone knows that Idaho has no jurisdiction to issue tags in Washington D.C." The purpose of exploiting this quote is to show readers that supporters of the law are radical, and are even okay with jokes about assassinating the president. This is clearly a gross generalization by the New York Times, but it does resonate with people who already agree with the position of the article.
The article even goes on to attack Rammell as a "nature-phobe" because he was an elk rancher. Again, this characterization of Rammell as a liberal-hating-anti-environmentalist will not have any influence on people who already support the hunting of wolves. The most effective thing the article does in influencing people not to hunt wolves is paint the wolves as harmless and natural to the west. This approach goes a lot further than the sarcastic rhetoric used by the author.
Hunting Wolves, and Men is an entertaining but unpersuasive piece. It is interesting to here the attitude of a supporter of the law, but it only represents one persons views, and hopefully not the most intelligent views out there. Rex Rammell is admittedly a fringe candidate, and his comments are not likely to sway people to jump ship and save the wolves.
In 2009 Idaho legalized hunting for the grey wolf, but the new law didn't come without controversy. Heated comments by one Republican candidate were used by the New York Times to show the attitude of some of the people who support the slaughter. The NYT's purpose was to paint the law as a representation of everything that is wrong with Idaho.
The article starts out by quoting a Republican candidate for the governorship for the state. At a political barbeque, Rex Rammell was quoted as saying "Obama tags? We'd buy some of those." His statement was in response to a conversation about the wolf tags which were recently put on the market for hunters. Tags allow the hunter to be able to shoot and kill the animal legally. When asked about his comments, Rex Rammell said he was joking and that "Everyone knows that Idaho has no jurisdiction to issue tags in Washington D.C." The purpose of exploiting this quote is to show readers that supporters of the law are radical, and are even okay with jokes about assassinating the president. This is clearly a gross generalization by the New York Times, but it does resonate with people who already agree with the position of the article.
The article even goes on to attack Rammell as a "nature-phobe" because he was an elk rancher. Again, this characterization of Rammell as a liberal-hating-anti-environmentalist will not have any influence on people who already support the hunting of wolves. The most effective thing the article does in influencing people not to hunt wolves is paint the wolves as harmless and natural to the west. This approach goes a lot further than the sarcastic rhetoric used by the author.
Hunting Wolves, and Men is an entertaining but unpersuasive piece. It is interesting to here the attitude of a supporter of the law, but it only represents one persons views, and hopefully not the most intelligent views out there. Rex Rammell is admittedly a fringe candidate, and his comments are not likely to sway people to jump ship and save the wolves.
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