Zero Draft Notes: Rhetorical Analysis Project, ENG 2100, Fall 2014
Lisa Blankenship, October 6, 2014
Topic: Same-Sex Marriage
Source 1: CNN
Source 2: Fox News
Fantz, Ashley and Bill Mears. "High Court
Refuses to Rule—and Gives Tacit Victory—
on Same Sex Marriage." CNN. 6 Oct. 2014.
Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/06/politics/
scotus-same-sexmarriage/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
"Supreme Court Paves Way for Gay Marriage in
Several States, Leaves Issues Unresolved
Nationally." Fox News. 6 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct.
2014.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/06/su
preme-court-denies-gay-marriageappeals/?intcmp=latestnews
Notes:
Notes:
Audience: broad audience more in the
middle of the political spectrum [get
numbers on viewers and political
persuasion if possible]
Audience: conservative, traditionally Republican
audience [get numbers on how many viewers and
how they poll politically if possible]
Purpose of piece: to inform audience of US
Supreme Court’s decision to not hear cases
regarding same-same marriage that also
had been rejected by district appeals
courts. These cases had originated in the
states of Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia,
and Wisconsin where same-sex couples
sued the state for the right to marry.
Positive rhetorical construction of gay
rights / same-sex marriage so purpose also
is to reinforce the momentum on gay rights
issues building over the past several years.
Purpose of piece: Also to inform audience of US
Supreme Court’s decision to not hear cases
regarding same-same marriage that also had been
rejected by district appeals courts. Much more
sparse and negative coverage, logos-based, no
pathos in terms of photos or interviews with
same-sex couples. Buried low on site and not
much time spent by reporter on story; mostly
culled from AP reports; very much a “here’s what
happened” piece, even using bullet points at the
end.
Title: “victory” positive tone
Title: “leaves issue unresolved” more negative
and resigned
Images: Uses photos of same-sex couples
(3 gay couples) and twitter screen captures,
as well as interviews with 2 gay couples to
“humanize” the issue
Images: No photos; very sparse, like a report
Language used: [first paragraph] “The US
Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for
Language used: other states where gay marriage
has been challenged would be “bound by” this
Just the bare bones reporting taken from AP
sources [uses bullets at the end]
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legal same-sex marriages in five more
states.” [much more positive: “cleared”]
ruling
“traditional” marriage in scare quotes, as
“gay marriage” often is in conservative
stories/rhetoric
First paragraph [only thing some people will read]
Disappointed tone: “rejected appeals”; “the
court’s order immediately ends delays on gay
marriage in those states”
Interviews: Those interviewed for the story
or whose voices are heard/featured:
Interviews: Those interviewed for the story or
whose voices are heard/featured:





2 gay couples
CO attorney general, progressive
Family Research Council Pres, Tony
Perkins [conservative, anti-gay]
**Utah Gov. Gary Hubert [lower
down toward end, conservative,
anti-gay quote used in Fox Story
but a more positive quote used
here from press conference]**
Evan Wolfson, Freedom to Marry,
gay rights organization, longer and
more positive quote than that used
in the Fox Story
Conservative Utah Gov. Gary Hubert is first and
therefore most prominent interview/quoted:
“said he was ‘surprised’ and ‘disappointed’ by
Monday’s development.” [CNN quotes him as
saying “that he felt ‘surprised’ and ‘disappointed’
that there was no ‘finality’ on the issue of samesex marriage. ‘Regardless of your personal
beliefs,’ he urged, ‘…please treat each other with
respect and with kindness as we transition
through this new law.’” [much more positive
quotes and view of the situation from the same
press conference]
Approximately 3 times as long as the Fox
story and in a prominent place on CNN.com
(second story under “Latest News”
[whereas story buried on FoxNews.com
beneath the scroll in small type]
Possible approach for project:
Could do brief summary of topic, main
argument stating that rhetoric has
consequences [what are they in this case?]
and here’s an example; 2 pages on CNN
then 2 pages on Fox story, then 1-2 pages
on the significance of the comparisons and
the stark differences and repercussions of
how these 2 prominent sites construct gay
people
Main insights so far and significance of these 2
very different rhetorical approaches to the same
story on the same day: who gets to speak, who is
“humanized”? who gets a voice? And also
interesting the choice of quotes the writers (and
news outlets) chose to use from the same press
conference given by Utah Governor (Republican)
Gary Hubert **pursue this more for your
argument in this paper
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