9600-mile roller coaster for the casual risk-taker?

Being from Sarasota, FL, I had to stop and ponder the title “Busch Gardens unveils New 9,600-Mile-Long Endurance Coaster”. Busch Gardens was the destination for me and my friends when we wanted to go to an amusement park, but even some of their older rides are arguably too scary. The park claims that “The Staminator” will be a 14-day ride and spanning all across (4 time zones) the country with speeds of 90mph for 17 hours at a time, a 1500 mile straightaway, 5,000 consecutive vertical loops, and a 1400 story drop. The article is aimed towards those amusement-park-goers who want to feel an extreme rush of adrenaline spanned over a half a month. Aside from those dare-devils, it is also possible that it could attract the attention of Americans who want to be able to see the whole country and take in its sights, as the coaster covers mostly every state. The draw of pathos is derived from the thrill and joy that some feel when they go to amusement parks and get that adrenaline rush. Since the announcement of the ride’s building comes with no concrete evidence, logos is hard to detect in this particular article. However, the numbers and statistics provide a form of evidence along with the use of quotations throughout the article. Funny quotations from actual riders such as, “This time, I’ll definitely be going to the bathroom beforehand,” make the reader feel comfortable and able to relate to the text. Finally, the author’s ethos is hard to detect because a 9600-mile roller coaster can hardly be considered ethical, but ethics in terms of believability is shown through the quotations and by being posted in what appears to be Travel magazine. I’m not sure that I could brave this roller-coaster or that the story is even a realistic enough one for anyone to believe, but the writing of it has its convincing pieces.

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One Response to 9600-mile roller coaster for the casual risk-taker?

  1. Lindsey Grubbs says:

    Great choice, Lauri! I, too, took some trips to Busch Gardens as a kid, and I’m not sure I would have stood in line for this particular ride… Nice work incorporating the quote and some of the facts about the coaster.
    One way you could take this farther would be to push harder on the genre of satire–does the author of the piece actually want people to believe the coaster exists? Probably not. So how did this humor writer play with their reader’s assumptions in order to produce humor?

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