Evil Spirits

Brittany Liebenow

Mr. Glenn

AP Language

27 July 2009

5th Response

“Evil Spirits” is a compelling article by op-ed contributor James Abourezk challenging a major problem in our nation. This problem is alcohol abuse. In “Evil Spirits,” Abourezk specifically attacks President Roosevelt’s decision to abolish the buffer zone on the Great Sioux Reservation. Alcohol industries and politicians Abourezk tried to contact in the past say that the lack of a buffer zone does no harm to the community. Abourezk wittily shows that unless providing alcoholics and bootleggers with what they crave is harmless, these politicians and alcohol industries clearly do not see what is in the best interest of the reserve. Once Abourezk gives the alcohol facts in numbers, however, the readers faithfully believe in his side of the story. Four liquor stores in the small area of Whiteclay to support a whopping 24 people. Abourezk also notes that nothing good has come of removing the buffer zone besides monetary gain for the alcohol companies. In fact, the only things that continue to rise are family abuse and crimes.

This article is short, but, as Mr. Glenn once said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Abourezk definitely tries his best to prove Mr. Glenn right; each sentence has an obvious purpose, and no fluffy words appear to try to coax the reader. Abourezk gets straight to the point with every argument using past experiences and valuable data to support his arguments. He also does an excellent job of mixing tear-jerking evidence of abuse with indisputable and number-based evidence. Creating an even feeling throughout his article, Abourezk writes his paragraphs all at about the same length. He also uses differing sentence structures but never uses any sort of long, overdone sentences. His vocabulary matches his paragraphs and sentences; he uses an educated but not showy selection of words. Abourezk’s literary style compliments his structured ideas creating a strong and convincing article, “Evil Spirits.”