Jason Maselli 10/27/19
For my rhetorical analysis I chose to do short scary stories on reddit. The title of this story is called “Snowman Family” written by GorillaOfUndeath.
The story is about a divorced man. It takes place after a long and heavy snowfall. It was near midnight when the man, Chris decided to shovel peoples driveways to get ahead of the competition and to help aid in the creation of snowmen. His first stop was his ex-wifes house, after he is done Chris goes back to his own house to then make a Snowwoman. After he is done with this he comments on how is daughter would love it when she sees it. Chris then goes to Randy’s house who is the person his ex-wife cheated with. When Randy answered the door he is visibly mad due to how late it is and after some type of exchange Chris stabs him with a syringe filled with a paralyzing toxin. Chris left him on the floor while he went to shovel his driveway, once done he comes back to get Randy who is still laying on the floor then drags him to the backyard where the Snowwoman was. During the process Chris comments on a problem he didn’t have when making the snowwomen making it clear he did the same thing with his ex-wife. After he is done he goes back to Randy’s house again and finds a photo of Randy smiling next to his then pregnant wife. After he is completely done with the snowman he goes to get his daughter. His daughter says the Snowcouple should have a child, Chris agrees and stabs her with another syringe saying he sees a resemblance to Randy. The story ends with him saying he needs to go shovel and once he’s done we’ll will make the kid snowman.
I found it very clear that the author was using pathos to get the feel of horror to the reader. The writer used very common mishap in life even started off with a descriptive description of the setting to make the reader get more involved. Learning the person the reader is seeing these events though is divorced makes them feel a bad for him even more so by saying he’d shovel there driveways as a type of therapy and peace offering having the audience believe that Chris is doing the right thing. The addition that he’s building snowmen for his daughter makes it seem sweet. The fact that this fact is mentioned after he finishes the snowwomen makes the reader feel like he is just the average divorced man who is trying to make their kid happy. The writer adds a little line about the lipstick Chris puts on the snowwomen it says that it ends up being a smeared mess adding to a little homemade feel but then compares it to a split lip in winter foreshadowing the horror behind the kind gesture. In the altercation with Randy the writer make sure the audience notes where Chris’ hand is(his pocket) with an even less friendlier tone at this point the reader knows something is about to happen.
The writer makes Chris strike Randy when he is about to mention why she cheated on him possibly to make the reader not totally shocked but still a fear factor is growing. When it is time for Randy to be brought to the other creation it is noted that no one is even aware of whats happening while he is dragging Randy by his feet it build more fear since this is completely possible. Chris uses a metal pole to make then snowmen stay straight by making the people inside lean on the pole it is here where it is said that this part of making the snowwomen was easier making the reader a little shocked. Snow is then packed over the person and during this process the writer makes Randy’s despair clearer even saying at one point this would be easier then if Chris was to let Randy go since frostbite has no doubt set in. Once finished and he finds the picture of Randy with his pregnant ex-wife it is dismissed making the reader think he still loves his daughter this is further proved by how he treats his daughter with love as any father would. When he agrees to the making of the kid snowman the reader would think they’d be building it together but this is quickly dismayed and she is stabbed immediately this would shock the reader and make the reader feel worse when it is said that Chris would leaver her there for a bit in the cold morning weather.
Works cited
This story is no longer on the reddit it self so I will post the link to the video of the narration- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt8na6Nec8E
