Analyzing Message in "How legalizing pot could save America's economy"

In this post, I will look further into my text's message and purpose by answering the provided questions based on pages 180-181 in A Student's Guide.

downing, jenny, "morse code." 6/28/2008 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

1. Out of all the bullet points listed for "Message and Purpose" on page 181, which two or three seem most relevant to the goals of your text's author/s? Why?

• Most of the bullets on page 181 are relevant to the goals of the text's author, however some seem more important than others:
• Inform the reader about a topic that is often misunderstood
• Analyze, synthesize, interpret
• Move the readers to feel a certain way

The author strives to inform her readers that marijuana is typically a misunderstood entity in or society. She feels that it is treated with a far too negative stigma, especially in comparison to alcohol and tobacco which are legal. S.E. Smith also made a strong effort to analyze the many ways in which marijuana could help the U.S. from an economic standpoint, and synthesize and interpret those reasons in convincing and effective way for readers. She used reasoning and examples that would attract the attention of people from all sectors of our society. Lastly, the author had the goal of making readers feel a certain way. Smith wanted he readers to feel as though apposing marijuana legalization simply does not make sense, because of the plethora of financial benefits that it offers to America.

2. Which bullet points do NOT seem relevant to the goals of your text's author/s? Why not?

• The only bullet point that seems a tad bit less relevant to the goals of the author of this text is:
• Reflect on a topic

Although the author does in fact reflect on the topic of prohibition, specifically pertaining to alcohol. The overall goals of the text do not pertain to reflection, because the benefits of marijuana aren't really presented from an economic viewpoint frequently. Instead, the author is providing reasoning and justifications of her beliefs by providing the readers with new support that she feels would be most convincing to her audience.

3. Are there nuances and layers to the message the author(s)/speaker(s) is/are trying to get across? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

The author of this text seems quite direct about her beliefs. The only nuance within the text is that the author feels that marijuana should be legalized across all of America. The entire text is composed of support for this underlying message, despite the fact that the author never blatantly proclaims her thoughts that marijuana must be legalized in the U.S., it is very apparent in the way that she writes.