On January 20, 2011, there was an article published in the Op-Ed section of The Denver Post about the dome on the capitol building in Denver. The dome has been in major disrepair for many years (“A 10-pound chunk of cast iron fell off in 2007”) and there is discussion about whether the estimated twelve million dollars is worth spending to keep up the historical prevalence of this building. The author argues that it is a lot of money but it is a necessary action. Four million of the dollars are to be taken from the State Historical Fund but the rest has to be privately raised. This money should be raised in a timely matter and if all of the state pitches in the other eight million dollars will not be too hard of a task. Some preservationists have argued that the money should not all come from the Historical Fund because it should be used on other projects but the author argues that “the dome project is exactly the kind of work the fund is supposed to support”.
The author uses kairos to show the urgency because this is such a current issue in our area. If money isn’t raised in a relevant time span then the building will fall farther into disrepair and it will only cost the state more to fix the building. Money needs to be raised soon and so not only does this article help to raise awareness about the building but it also can be used as an advertisement to help raise the money. The Denver Post is a widely read publication and so the author chose the newspaper to help broadcast the fact that the city needs help to raise money to help save this historical monument. On the same topic of a relevant time span, the author states, “the project cannot be allowed to languish for years if the private money fails to materialize”. This statement not only talks about the fact that people should donate but also that if the money does not appear then the Historical Fund should pitch in because as previously stated this is exactly the situations that the fund should be used for because it is a monument in the city of Denver.
In the first sentence of the article, the author states, “As icons go, it has few rivals in Colorado. So saving the state’s crumbling Capitol dome is a must”. Starting the article this way really points out the urgency of this issue and also has the possibility to touch a heart string of those who are Denver locals and do not want to see the city lose this monumental building. He uses different phrases to invoke pride out of the citizens of Denver. The first line of the article really shows how the citizens should feel about the dome because it shows that this dome is a big deal in not only the city but also the state. He gains sympathy from his audience by using guilt. For example, he makes two statements about the economy. The first is, “But with another gaping state budget shortfall, there is no extra money to save the dome”. The other is, “In this down economy, that's a tall order, but it's necessary”. These two statements help to show the reader the difficulty of the fundraising efforts and why they should help the efforts to raise the money quickly.
That same sense of urgency and showing the city of Denver just how bad the situation is also shows how the author forms his pathos in this article. This issue is obviously much more apparent in the city of Denver then it would be in any other city. This issue appeals completely to the emotions of the readers of The Denver Post. The citizens of Denver should want the building to be fixed and reconstructed because it is an icon in their city. The author uses this article to persuade the readers to take part in the fundraising efforts. He states that this campaign should involve “donations from foundations, corporations, and citizens” and it “could be a good community service project”. This community believes this is an icon in the city so they should all want to take part in the reconstruction process.
Overall, this piece about the capitol dome in downtown Denver has two main purposes. Its first purpose is to make the city of Denver aware of the situation with the crumbling capitol dome and show the urgency of the fundraising. The second purpose is an underlying theme that also has to deal with the fundraising. A newspaper is highly circulated and highly read so it was an opportune moment to advertise the efforts for the dome.
Works Cited
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_17140350
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