Article Review Example on Notes from Under the Dome: Pro-Life Stance by George McKenna

In the article “Notes from Under the Dome,” by George McKenna uses logical appeal to express his stance on abortion. His terse responses and bold statements set the stage for an exciting read as he sets out to keep the voice of the pro-life movement heard. He also points out many of the “politically correct” statements that are the preferred language, not to help clarify a situation, but to prevent hurt feelings.

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Mr. McKenna proceeds to move through his explanation of his support for Donald Trump before the 2016 election at a family dinner. He was asked whether he would prefer voting for Donald Trump by a member of catholic who was a republican activist. His response was the surprising shocking reason because he believed that “Democrats want to support and pay for abortions, the killing of children in Utero which the Republicans are opposed (Mckenna, 2017), thus leaving the inquiring guest shocked into silence. The inquiring guest continued with questions, “What about Trump’s opponent? Is she better than Trump? (Mckenna, 2017). Despite Mr. McKenna having a long list of negative reviews toward Hillary Clinton, which are: document distortion, lying, embezzlement of State funds by rewarding donors in the Clinton Foundation using access of State Department, and many more, he responded by a stunned silence. His article points out that people are quick to ask questions, yet hesitant to speak up after a frank opinion is given. They were leading him to delve into the topic of politically correct terminology, not only for abortions but a slew of current hot-button topics.

As he digs deeper into political correctness, he uses the book Under the Dome by Steven King to describe the invisible dome that we as humankind use as a guide to help us understand and follow the social norms of society. He uses pathos as he breaks down the concept of “words that wound.” He states that we are not supposed to say “drug abuse”; use “substance use disorder” instead. To say that an addict's urine sample is “clean” is to use “words that wound”; better to say he had a “negative drug test.” . . . Bizarrely, “attempted suicide” is deemed unacceptable ((Mckenna, 2017); we need to call it an “unsuccessful suicide.”. He feels like society prefers this language to ensure that the “sharp edges are removed so that no one suffers ‘wounds.’

Moving into the conclusion of the essay, McKenna states that the socially approved words don’t help anyone understand the topic at hand; they do more harm by keeping the content of the issue vague. He shifts gears and discusses Charles Murray’s book The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, using ethos to point out that as a society, we know the limits of political correctness, and they have long been instilled in us. He states, “ We can use the word ‘fuck’ in polite society now, but a warning light will blink the moment we start talking about ‘race’ and ‘IQ’ in the same sentence” (Mckenna, 2017). He mentions this is the same reason we hesitate to say abortion or describe the procedure publicly. Towards the end, McKenna questions the concept of language management started. He states, “In Stephen King’s book, the dome was the work of sadistic space aliens, but humans built our dome.

You could argue that the language regulations come from academia, the popularizers from Hollywood and the news media, the enforcers from progressive-minded lawmakers and prosecutors.”. He then shifts back to pathos to point out that as a society, we reinforce the “dome” for fear of being shamed.

Reference

Mckenna, G. (2017). Notes from under the dome. The Human Life Review. https://humanlifereview.com/notes-from-under-the-dome/