TOW #9 Six Million Displaced by War in Syria

TOW #9

Six Million Displaced by War in Syria

            Today, the Syrian civil war is currently being fought between the Syrian Government, led by Bashar al-Assad, The Free Syrian Army, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, other minor revolutionary groups and a handful of Jihadist groups with Muslim members from around the world.  This conflict has been going on for almost 3 years now and practically every Syrian is suffering from it, as well as the countries directly surrounding Syria.  Constant chaos and unstoppable violence has forced the Syrian people to leave their jobs and homes.  Being stuck in a rock and a hard place has left them to travel to refugee camps and bordering countries to escape the mayhem in their hometowns and cities. 

             Alan Taylor uses outstanding statistics in his article to force the western world’s eyes open about the real impact of the Syrian civil war.  Taylor opens the article by stating that six million are displaced by the war in Syria.  Six million is a large number in every sense of the word and is a surefire statistics that is sure to catch the reader’s attention.  Taylor later states that six thousand refugees pour into other countries every day which, accompanied by any western reader’s ability to do math, totals more than two million a year!  Currently a third of the six million already displaced.  Statistics such as these are extremely effective in cementing the magnitude of the conflict in the reader’s head as well as strengthening Taylor’s logos in the article.  Not only does Taylor use statistics to influence his audience but he also uses shot anecdotal blurbs under each of his pictures to create an identity for these refugees, ultimately creating an appeal of pathos.  Mohammad, the first identity Taylor synthesizes, is a refugee who has fled from his hometown after being shot in the face.  This identity serves as a pull on the reader’s emotional side identifying these statistics as real people, ultimately making them more likely to do something about the refugees.

            Alan Taylor is a reporter and photographer for The Atlantic who has reported on many topics surrounding Syria.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/09/six-million-displaced-by-war-in-syria/100587/