Morgan Allen

Kelly Slivka
English 250
28 February 2017

Textual Rhetorical Analysis

Anna Sauerbrey is a German opinion writer, making her credible to write Germany,

Caught Between Two Violent Extremes, an article discussing the terror her nation faces and

what should be done to create positive change. As an opinion writer, the author uses emotionally

evocative vocabulary, as well as other techniques to persuade her audience to believe what could

be a new concept. Sauerbrey expresses narratives of the attacks on Germany with a story element

portraying her view of German politics to create a fluency and understanding of the harmful

dilemma in Germany and what could become of it.

Throughout the article Sauerbreys vocabulary establishes the emotions she wants the

audience to feel towards the attacks in Germany. In her third paragraph the author uses the term

reeling as a compelling device to explain how impaired Germany is after these attacks. She

continues to indicate distress as she notes anxiety and fear of terrorism as growing emotions

for the nation. There is another issue Sauerbrey notes as a concern for Germany. Her metaphor,

a shedding of a childs illusion of being inviolable pulls heart strings of her readers, and the

Germans especially, who realize the safety they once thought they had is being challenged. This

adds to the overall emotion of fear the author wants her audience to feel.

Sauerbrey uses strong vocabulary such as xenophobia to not only stimulate fear, but to

tell the truth. The fact that one of the four attackers described in the article mimicked a far-right

extremist in his assaults broadened viewpoints of many Germans. The current statistic that 73

percent of Germans fear terrorism, which Sauerbrey includes in her article, can now be viewed

several different ways. Terrorism can be thought as an act from an outsider from a different
country, yet the statistics from the German far-right have altered this belief of terrorism. This

belief has now changed to the consciousness that terrorists can and will threaten their own nation

if their opinions diff enough. The growth of German far-right supporters has made it more

difficult for centrist parties to promote their ideas for policy changes of the open-door act.

Sauerbrey repeatedly voices these concerns to pronounce the issue, as her purpose for the article

is to persuade her readers in to wanting, and possibly acting upon, positive change.

The German far-right is not the only fear Sauerbrey wants her readers to be aware of, as

she uses a story of understanding to balance out the harsh statistics and still evoke emotions and

critical thinking in her audience. She ties in the fact that Germany has seemed to build from their

past to become a welcoming country, free of danger. Sauerbrey alerts her readers that this soon

may not be the case anymore; fear that the attacks will change the character of Germany

itself, destroying the tolerant, cosmopolitan identity that we have assiduously built over

decades This story element foreshadowing a tragedy in the eyes of many persuades the public

to want change. It creates a fearful image of Germany sinking back to the state it was once

defined as.

The panic Anna Sauerbrey creates is an empowering tactic used to engage her readers

enough to warn them of what may be in their future, but she does not use it excessively enough

to drive them out of their beloved country. The fluid combination of understanding and statistics,

as well as powerful word choice, allows the author to source awareness to her audience in hopes

to stand resilient to negative change.

 Works Cited

Sauerbrey, Anna. Germany, Caught Between Two Violent Extremes. The New York Times, 28

July 2016, www.nytimes.com.