Comparison Of Articles About The Terrorist Attacks - Assignment Example

Homework Thompson, Nicholas. Hero inflation. 2002. Web. 23 July < http newamerica.net/node/6949> The in this article seeks to challenge the common definition of hero after the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks in America. The article clearly defines the different types of heroes in America. It also gives the history of the heroes. The author claims that the reference of the victims of the attacks, firefighters, and rescue workers of the attacks as heroes is a misplaced. The article is authoritative as it features on a global platform namely the Boston Globe.

Berman, Nina. Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done. 2003. Web. 23 July 2013. < http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2004/03/returning-iraq-damage-done/01> The article seeks to explain the use of the word “hero” in America. It also explains how the word has lost its value especially after 9/11 terrorist attacks. Additionally, the article highlights the popularity of the word hero and shows how the popularity has led to its insignificance. The information contained in the article is relevant and reliable in academics.

The article, “Returning from Iraq, the Damage done,” is a website article while the article, “Hero inflation” is a newspaper article. Indeed, the medium of each text may influence my response to the content because the medium significantly affects the relevance, reliability, and the authority of the information contained therein. Additionally, Nicholas Thompson is renowned author of various literatures and currently an editor at The New Yorker, at Bloomberg Television, and at CNN International.

As such, he derives respect and authority in literature. On the other hand, Nina Berman has won numerous awards in American documentary photography. Notably, both writers use anecdotal evidence to lay their arguments and claims. Both texts are of the view that the true definition of the word hero lacks it initial significance. Nevertheless, the two articles agree that there are heroes in America and that the true meaning of American heroes only changed after the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks where there was a general notion to refer to the victims, firefighters, and rescue workers as heroes.

They find that the word has become so popular, cultural, and psychologically common that nobody reserves any pride in it in the modern times. Nicholas Thompson claims that the victims the terrorist attacks deserve tremendous sympathy and referring to them as heroes will be a misplacement. He further reckons that the firefighters and rescue workers who suffered in the attacks do not amount to becoming heroes because they were doing their job. In fact, he claims that referring to them as such is demeaning the meaning and significance of the word hero.

On the other hand, Nina Berman asserts that the wounded soldiers who suffered in the Iraq war deserve the address of heroes. Nevertheless, Nina Berman claims that the wounded soldiers would not appreciate such reference because the word hero is now contemporary hollow and bankrupt in America. The two articles meet at the point where the meaning of the word, “hero” is demeaned and seemingly insignificant in modern America especially after the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks. Notably, the relationship between the two articles helps me to formulate my own stance of the subject as they address heroism in America in a critical manner.

Works Cited Berman, Nina. Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done. 2003. Web. 23 July 2013. < http://www.motherjones.com/photoessays/2004/03/returning-iraq-damage-done/01> Thompson, Nicholas. Hero inflation. 2002. Web. 23 July 2013. < http://newamerica.net/node/6949>