Grey Hampikian: A Biology and Criminal Justice Professor (Essay Sample)

Grey Hampikian: A Biology and Criminal Justice Professor
Rhetoric analysis
Grey hampikian is a biology and criminal justice professor at Boise state university. He wrote an article "when may I shoot a student," which was published in the New York Times on February 27, 2014. Grey intended to voice his concerns on what would look like if students were allowed to carry guns to the campus. He is against the proposed legislation that will enable weapons on Idaho University, and the professor sarcastically plotted situations in which he should shoot students. Grey intended audiences are gun owners as well as people in the support of the gun bill (Collier, 2018). The writer was reacting to the idea that people think concealed carry gun is okay and they are for the law. He responds to supporters of the gun bill through the use of Pathos and sarcasm as he tries to shame proponents of the bill into changing their minds and fit his ideologies by creating several situations at school.
Hampikian seeks to present a matter of general concern on allowing guns on campus. He effectively sends the message to the audience by taking them through semi statistical claims and analysis of potential circumstances where undergraduates could intensify problems into ones with life-threatening force. His use of offensive statements is intended to create anger out of the gun owners and students. His choice of the New York Times as a platform to pass the intended message was a good idea. The reason being, information will spread very fast and reach a large number of people (Critical Reading of Greg Hampikian "When May I Shoot a Student?" - Open Collection of Student Writing (OCSW), 2019). The writer puts his message to the state legislature in the New York Times in an attempt to get to those who are against the gun bill that would allow the student to carry a firearm to school. Presenting the information by creating scenarios in which students would use the gun unlawfully help drive the message to parents, government, gun owners, and everyone else in support of the gun bill? For example, Hampikian points two extraordinary situations, one is when students get into a disagreement with a fellow student, the reaction can be fatal. Similarly, if his professor presents the wrong equation and students try to collect using sight lasers, is he allowed to fire a warning shot? The situation can be absurd when guns are allowed on campus.