Everybody's coach of the year
Rick Reilly is a columnist for ESPN who has had
very strong opinions about the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. He has
been very critical of the way the university has handled the whole situation,
but in this article he explains how the new football coach has turned the
program around and deserves to win coach of the year. Rick Riley uses diction,
syntax, and details to help explain why Bill O’Brien is the obvious choice for
coach of the year.
Reilly first sets describes what a horrible
situation Penn State was in when O’Brien arrives by using pejorative
diction. Using words with strong
negative connotations like “radioactive”, “tsunami” and “flames”, Reilly really
emphasizes the troubles O’Brien was facing when the season started. When Reilly describes O’Brien he uses
honorific diction like “saint” and “unforgettable” when describing this years
football team. By using such
powerful words to describe the situation he had to deal with and O’Brien
Himself, Reilly is able to emphasize why O’Brien needs to be coach of the
year.
Syntax is used by Reilly to help support his claim that O'Brien was the best coach in collage football this year. Reilly uses very short paragraphs that are often just one sentence to emphasize them and make them stand out. The eleventh and twelfth paragraphs are examples of two one sentence paragraphs. The eleventh paragraph is, "Meanwhile, across town, the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse trial was festering." and the twelfth is, "Welcome to Happy Valley!" These two very short paragraphs really emphasize how hopeless this season seemed before it started. These short paragraphs also help keep the reader engaged and makes the reader read each sentence closely because they are separated by white space on the page. Reilly also puts almost all the quotes in the piece on their own line which helps emphasize them as well. By putting such a focus on the quotes, it allows for Reilly's claim about O'Brien being the coach of the year and his evidence supporting it to become much stronger.
Reilly also uses details to support his feelings about O'Brien. He tells the story about how O'Brien is embarrassed when the fans chant his name and portrays him as a very unselfish person when he quotes him saying, "I hate it. I wish they'd chant a player's name." Many college coaches are very egotistical and selfish, but Reilly goes out of his way to praise him for his selflessness which makes him stand out. Reilly also uses a detail to describe how nobody thought Penn State was going to be good this year stating Penn State was "a team The New York Times said in July wouldn't be competitive again for a decade." This detail shows what a remarkable job O'Brien has done this last year, further supporting the claim that he should be coach of the year.
Reilly's goal is to educate readers about interesting sports stories that are often heartwarming, but always important. Using diction, syntax, and details Reilly makes his articles entertaining and enjoyable for readers while educating them about the world of sports.
Reilly also uses details to support his feelings about O'Brien. He tells the story about how O'Brien is embarrassed when the fans chant his name and portrays him as a very unselfish person when he quotes him saying, "I hate it. I wish they'd chant a player's name." Many college coaches are very egotistical and selfish, but Reilly goes out of his way to praise him for his selflessness which makes him stand out. Reilly also uses a detail to describe how nobody thought Penn State was going to be good this year stating Penn State was "a team The New York Times said in July wouldn't be competitive again for a decade." This detail shows what a remarkable job O'Brien has done this last year, further supporting the claim that he should be coach of the year.
Reilly's goal is to educate readers about interesting sports stories that are often heartwarming, but always important. Using diction, syntax, and details Reilly makes his articles entertaining and enjoyable for readers while educating them about the world of sports.
Nathan,
ReplyDeleteYou supported each part of the rhetoric very well with direct quotes and explanations. I liked how in your syntax paragraph you talked about how a visual element in the column added to Reilly's point. Overall, good job!
You supported your argument with examples of word choice, details, and syntax. Syntax can sometimes be hard to talk about ,but you thoroughly and analytically looked at sentence length and positioning and then explained what that meant. So, good job! I know this is a prompt exercise ,but the next level would be to introduce the topics of the body paragraphs ( diction, syntax, and details ) without explicitly saying that.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really strong piece--I haven't seen the details part of DIDLS used often for this assignment, but you used it quite gracefully, where I have stumbled trying to use the "details" evidence to support my argument. I particularly liked your syntax paragraph where you described the "white space" around each of the single sentence paragraphs. It was lovely and explicit, and really solidified your point in my head as I was reading. The only real concern I have is easily fixed: you say in your opening sentence that O'Brien feels strongly about the Sandusky case, but you don't really specify how he feels. Later, of course, you clarify, but I think you should make it absolutely clear from the get-go.
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