Nation Shocked By Pre-Natal Shooting

The chief element used in this article, offering much of the humor, is hyperbole. Obviously there was no shooting, but the article is expressed in such a way as to make shootings amongst children seem like everyday occurrences. The layout of the article indicates a practiced, measured method of reporting such incidents. Complete with mock interviews from witnesses, lawyers, police officials and even the mayor, the article satirizes how the media often portrays such events. The article’s message is brought home with the lines “Where did we as a community fail these unborn boys? Could their parents have done a better job of conceiving, carrying, and pre-natally educating them? And how did the fetus get access to firearms?" The article also satirizes the government’s failed attempts to counteract the growing problem of violence among children. President Clinton is quoted as wanting to “require trigger locks on handguns and place metal detectors at the entrance of every womb.” Another small bit of humor is used when describing the trial for the attacker. “Though the assailant is legally recognized as a fetus, he will be tried as an infant,” helps to illustrate the failure of our justice system and provide an alarming

The article’s primary purpose is to draw attention to the problem of juvenile violence, and how we, as a nation, are doing little to help solve it. The use of hyperbole in the article expounds how the problem is continually getting worse and that our attempts to mollify the situation are far from effective.