1.         Why did The New Republic include the first paragraph? Do you think the essay would be more or less effective if it began simply with the sentence "On July 27, 1995, my sixteen-year -old nephew was shot and paralyzed"? Dickerson had her first paragraph as it was to show us her background before she talks about the issued at hand. She wants to show us that she is well-educated and that she has worked her way through …showed first 75 words of 367 total…

…showed last 75 words of 367 total…does this composite characterization work? How does it answer the question "Who shot Johnny?"                   Dickerson uses the term brother to refer to those individuals which she considers to be plaguing our communities. The composite or fused characterization of these people is brought about by referring to them as "he" or "brother". This helps to answer the question "Who shot Johnny?" The answer is: everyone who Dickerson considers to plague society; she holds no individual responsible.