Reader Mail: Dear Mr. Navarrette, I am a junior in high school and, as an assignment, my teacher had each student follow a columnist. As a result, I have been following your articles on CNN since the beginning of August. You in particular caught my eye because your writing style is like none other’s. A majority of your articles over the summer were about illegal immigration, which I thought was an interesting topic especially since it is so controversial, but as my school year went along, the topics began to change. They would vary from illegal immigrants, to spanking, to common core, and no matter the subject, you always had a firm belief in the situation. In addition, as the subjects changed, you also used different forms of reasoning to support them, whether it is a logical argument with statistics or an emotional and moral argument with questions about human nature. Unlike a significant portion of columnists, your works are constantly entertaining yet still have powerful meaning. An incredible combination. However, the most prominent features are your tone and syntax. You would write as a person would speak, and you would speak as though the reader and author were on equal grounds. This style definitely formed a sense of equality and ethos. All of your writing makes it clear that you invest a great portion of self and emotion into your works. Also, with each article comes a definitive position and an understandable support for it. Though I agree with every one of your columns thus far, I do expect to see counter agreements or at least an acknowledgement towards an opposing view. Unfortunately, I have seen little or none of this in your articles. You do support your claims with great evidence and it is very clear as to what and why you believe, but I sometimes feel as though there is a lack of balance and therefore a slight weakness to the argument. The writing is fantastic, but I believe with a little more balance and counter arguments, your position would be completely solid and undeniable. Though I had to read your articles for a grade, they were quite enjoyable and I actually looked forward to each one. I saw how a truly effective writer wrote and learned a lot. I will certainly remember the incredible power of stating such a strong definite claim. Also, I learned the usefulness of informal language, that despite not being strict and high level English, the message came across well if not more so. Even though a few touches such as incorporating opposing views might be necessary, your writing works well, and I hope to reflect some of your style in my own writing as well. Thank you for your time.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:49:28 +0000
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