"Katie's Marriage Torture." National Enquirer 14 Mar. 2011. Print.
The National Enquirer’s audience is not really defined, but it is made available to anyone who is willing to take out the time to read it. Most of the readers probably only steal quick reads or glances while checking out in grocery stores; I hardly ever see anyone actually purchase the National Enquirer. So the articles have to be short, sweet, and very entertaining in order for readers to take out the time to read the articles.
The article argues that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s marriage is a disaster that is negatively affecting them and their careers. The authors seem to focus on all of Holmes’ supposed negative emotions towards her marriage. They use pathos in order to make the reader feel for Holmes and her terrible situation. Nothing positive is said about the marriage, and the article’s entire tone is depressing. The photographs are even more depressing; the article includes photographs of Holmes dressed very homely, with very bleak facial expressions. This article utilizes kairos in order to grab the reader’s attention. Lately, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise have not been in the media, and everyone is no longer always talking about their highly publicized marriage. So if the reader sees this article focusing on their current marriage status, the reader will be excited and interested in finding out what their marriage is currently like.
The article is titled “Katie’s Marriage Torture”, which amplifies the article’s already negative tone. The word “torture” is printed in different color ink, in order to emphasize the word to the reader. This effect really works because before you even read the article the word “torture” is embedded into your mind, and as you read the word continues to pop up in your mind. The authors’ diction really affects the overall tone of the article. The author says a source refers to their marriage as “rocky”, and the source also says Katie is “mortified” of her current situation. When describing Katie’s last three films, the author says all three of the films “bombed”. The article screams, “torture”.
The sources used in this article do not seem very credible to me. The sources include “pals” and “friends”. I would love to know whom this so-called “pals” and “friends” are, and I would also love to know if Katie and Tom consider these sources to be “pals” or “friends”. Because of these sources, this article does not really have an effect on Katie Holmes or Tom Cruise’s persona to me. To others though, this may make these two celebrities seem like walking disasters.
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