Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Model Essay
Question - What is the biased message or opinion being expressed in this text
and how has the author promoted this message?
Three years after the massacre at Columbine High School, left-wing political
filmmaker Michael Moore released his award-winning documentary ‘Bowling
for Columbine,’ which persuasively conveyed his negative view on the
ownership and retail of guns and ammunition in America. Commented [BD1]: Orientation sentence.
Juxtaposing clips with music in this way creates irony, because the war
montage illustrates this to be anything but a ‘wonderful world’. Additionally,
the fact that ‘What a Wonderful World’ was written to bring hope to those
suffering the effects of war, further reinforces this irony. Commented [BD6]: Elaboration and synthesis of the
evidence.
Therefore, it can be concluded that by combining this graphic war footage with Commented [BD7]: A cohesive tie.
a classic peace song, Moore strengthens his argument by creating irony
through disparity. Furthermore, the true meaning of Armstrong’s song
promotes the montage’s irony, and thus, Moore’s negative bias against
Commented [BD8]: Linking sentences that reinforce the
America’s violent gun culture. thesis statement.
Additionally, Moore strengthens his bias by including a cartoon segment from Commented [BD9]: A cohesive tie.
The inclusion of this cartoon section spurs doubts about the legitimacy of the
NRA. In fact, the National Rifle Association was founded in New York by Union
soldiers, the faction in the civil war that was opposed to racism and slavery.
Moore relies on the audience’s ignorance of this fact to strengthen his
argument. This illustrates the effectiveness of Moore’s utilization of a cartoon Commented [BD12]: Fallacy – Appeal to ignorance.
segment, which serves to humorously satirise the opposing point of view. Commented [BD13]: Synthesis and elaboration of the
evidence.
It also furthers his bias against America’s arms fixated culture since it implies
that the NRA and the KKK are linked in their goals, when in fact, they are not. Commented [BD14]: Linking sentence to the thesis
statement.
Furthermore, the presence of indirect interviews which include hard hitting Commented [BD15]: A cohesive tie.
perception of the subject. In this case, portraying Nichols as the weaker pro-
gun arguing side, and surprising him with hard hitting questions to make both
Nichols and his argument appear illogical. In addition, for the majority of this
interview, Nichols is looking at the camera and is the only person in frame
further adding to Nichol’s apparently irrational persona. Commented [BD18]: Synthesis and elaboration of
evidence.
Therefore, it can be said that Moore promotes his bias against America’s
violent arms culture by asking carefully chosen hard hitting questions in
interviews in an attempt to catch the subject off guard. This combined with
the camera angle portrays Nichols to be crazier and more eccentric than he
already is. Commented [BD19]: Linking sentence back to the thesis
statement.