"Katie's Marriage Torture"

The National Enquirer article "Katie's Marriage Torture" argues that Katie Holmes' marriage to Tom Cruise is going very badly. It says that Katie Holmes has even thought of getting out of the marriage. According to the article, issues like both their careers, pressure to have another child, and a scandal with the Church of Scientology are causing her to be at "the end of her rope."

The specific emotions that are targeted by the article are pity for Holmes. The article goes on and on about how hard life is for Holmes and how the issues in her marriage are affecting her appearance because she is losing a lot of weight. The article only talks about how bad the marriage is for her and never mentions what Tom Cruise might think or feel about what is going on. This only gives her point of view and this could really resonate with some women and make them feel sorry for Holmes. It makes it seem that Tom Cruise is the only one at fault.

The text of this article is all very negative, talking about divorce and strained relationships, and how stressed out Katie Holmes is. The article comes with a picture of a somber-looking Holmes holding a coffee cup. She is wearing sweats and has no make-up on. She does not look glamourous at all and their is no smile on her face. This picture is intended to reiterate what is being said in the text and to provide the readers with an image to give them a sense of what kind of life Katie Holmes is living.

The words in the headline are "Katie's Marriage Torture," all of which are in capital letters and the word torture is darkened, different than the others, so the readers can focus more on that word. This word is very dramatic and powerful and making it a different color maximizes the effect of getting that word into the mind of the reader. Once torture is introduced, it gets reinforced by the negativity of what the article is saying.

The sources used in this text are not credible at all. None of the sources mentioned ever include their names. The article gets all the information from "an insider" or a pal close to Holmes. It seems that just because a tabloid includes that they got their information from insiders or close sources to the celebrities, they are okay to publish any reports about them.

"Katie's Marriage Torture." National Enquirer 14 Mar. 2011. Print.