Parham 1

Justin Parham
English 103
Analyzing an Opinion Essay
Steeping In Emotion
In Kathleen Parkers article Tea party has steeped too long for nation's good she conveys her
point in a forceful and insightful manner. The author presents her message in a way that
effectively communicates her point as well as venting her frustrations. The manner of writing is
effective in communicating the point, but it may be written in a way that is too emotional and
inflammatory.
The article is written from a position of frustration. The author is extremely frustrated
with the actions of the members of the tea party. Her article is written in a very accusatory and
almost angry manner. The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves tea party
conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided "patriots" we've seen in
recent memory. The type of inflammatory language used in this quote is indicative of the anger
and frustration the author was feeling as they wrote. The authors intent was to convey their
frustrations to the reader, and to persuade the reader to identify with their purpose.
The author uses inflammatory and accusatory language in a way that seems to place the
blame entirely on one group. The article is written solely from one point of view, there are no
counterarguments presented and discredited. This slightly diminishes the ability of the article to
persuade. While is it written in an intelligent manner, the emotional motivation of the author
causes omissions in the presentation of the persuasive argument. It would not be difficult for a

Parham 2
person with a dissenting opinion to dismiss this article as an angry, emotional venting of
frustration that lacks factual backing.
The intended audience in this case would be the American voter. The author hopes to
inform the voter about the shortcomings of the tea party. The author writes from a point of
severe frustration with the events that have transpired. The frustration of the author comes
through in the tone and language used here These people wouldn't recognize a hot fudge sundae
if the cherry started talking to them. The subject of politics is an extremely inflammatory
subject that brings out very strong emotions in people. The authors own strong emotions are a
detriment to their credibility. Writing from a place of anger is not the most effective persuasive
strategy.
This article is a prime example of dissonance. The political opinions expressed in the
article are especially polarizing. Politics will never be a subject that everyone agrees on, it will
always cause dissonance on a grand scale. The dissonance in this case is the dissonance between
the merit of the tea partys actions, as well as the dissonance between the conservative point of
view the article is written in, and people who fall more onto the liberal part of the spectrum.
Kathleen Parkers article written in an angry tone, using inflammatory imagery, designed
to persuade and inform the American public. The emotion behind the article is very evident and
the article is slanted towards the authors own political ideals. A more effective persuasive article
would contain more acknowledgement of dissenting points of view, and that is the main flaw in
the article. The author wrote the article in an intelligent, but overly emotional manner.