Going Out Strong

Conclusions, among the Greeks called epiligoi, are tripartite, consisting of the Summing Up, Amplification and Appeal to Pity.

– Rhetorica ad Herennium (Lanham 173)

Sarah Burns, no doubt accepting the greek origins of the word “Epilogue” chose to construct hers in a way that allowed her true to the classical model.

At the end of chapter 6, she asks a very poignant question:

Those struggles continue as the idea that these teenagers could have been wrongly convicted is met with skepticism and denial, and still more racism. Though New York and the country have changed – in many ways for the better – since 1989, who is to say that a rush to judgement like this could not happen again? (Burns 206)

After posing such an emotionally provocative and loaded question to her readers, she moves on to the “Summing Up” section of her conclusion in the epilogue, telling the story, following Reyes’ confession, of Trisha Meili. She followed that up with the lives of the titular characters of her book and their civil case.

This summing up seemingly has nothing to do with the question posed but Burns’ use of Parecbasis is effective here when she comes to the “Amplification” part of her conclusion and talks of Michael Bloomberg’s use of the term “wilding” in 2010. She then answers her question having used digression to illustrate her point:

Though most of the articles did not specify the race or ethnicity of the “gang members” arrested by the police, the mayor’s use of the word wilding and its reprinting in many newspapers tell us everything we need to know about their skin colour and about how little progress we’ve made since 1989. The Central Park Jogger case and the fear of crime from the 1980s still haunts the memories of many New Yorkers, and the use of animal terms to describe disorderly minority teenagers continues without reflection or remorse.

This is where Sarah Burns leaves her reader, with the realization that despite this huge case that has attracted public attention, things have not changed. Rhetorically, a very effective move.

 

 

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