Leon Neyfakh, an esteemed writer for the Boston Globe, in his article, "9/11: What Else it Taught Us" (2011), argues that the September 11th attacks changed America, claiming that terrorism has altered America's psyche in multiple ways. He supports this proposal by giving statistical evidence for his first supporting argument (that the economic effects of 9/11 were more crippling), and anecdotal evidence for his second supporting argument (that the number of Americans interested in what happened increased substantially). His purpose is to inform readers about the current state of America and its people, even years after the initial attacks in order to illustrate the lasting effects that terrorism in the early 2000s has had on us as a whole. Neyfakh shows solid research in his article and demonstrates his obvious knowledge of the issue, thus making his arguments effective due to making strong appeals to logic and emotion.
In the article, "9/11:What else it taught us", Neyfakh writes "Sept. 11 transformed the world of American ideas in many ways--fueling sharp debates about America's role in world affairs, about the clash of religions, about freedom and security." All throughout the article, he illustrates different ways the 9/11 attacks have shaped present-day America. He mentions the emotional and mental effects that are still taking its tolls on America. Neyfakh uses eight sub-headers that go into more specific detail about how exactly present-day America was shaped because of what happened in September of 2001. He also includes relevant, factual information from credible sources to illustrate the effects in numbers.
The manner in which Neyfakh begins his acknowledgement of those who still had vivid memories of 9/11 establishes the measured use of pathos in the article. In the sub-section titled "Even searing memories change", the author acknowledges the mournful emotions of the audience by writing, "Like the Kennedy assassination, or the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the attacks have stayed fresh and vivid in the memories of anyone who lived through them.
