In 1998, a man named James Byrd was drugged into a van in Texas and dismembered. Ashraf Rushdy wrote an essay examining the moral authority of photography and the effect it has on people's view of tragedy. Rushdy's argument is that in 1955, when Emmett Till was murdered, his mother allowed photographs of her son's mutilated corpse to be shown across the country. These photographs had a significant effect on the course of the civil rights movement. Rushdy wonders why James Byrd's photographs have never been shown to the public and provides a convincing answer to this question. It provides the answer through the use of persuasive appeals, diction, and visual effects provided by the use of photographs throughout the essay. When first looking at the essay, there is one very noticeable aspect on the first page; it would be the image of the deformed body of Emmett Till, bloated and lynched in his coffin. The image creates an unforgettable image in the reader's head, intended to pose the question of how exactly someone could do this to another human being, albeit a 14 year old teenager. The visual evokes strong feelings that most people cannot ignore or suppress; these feelings include disgust, anger, fear and sadness. These feelings are evident in the image due to the graphic nature of the image and the memories it evokes in readers of past situations they have endured. Being part of the first page of the essay is what makes this rhetorical device so effective, it creates a picture in the reader's mind of what African American descent had to endure during this time period and continued to endure for years to come. The image itself had a huge impact on the civil rights community......the newspaper community......within the headquarters of journalism trying to keep the world from seeing the cruelties that he has to offer by censoring the newspaper and television making the story seem less than it really is. All Rushdy is trying to prove in this article and by using these anecdotes is that by showing the world what is really happening, it will spark an outcry from the people, which will eventually lead to change. Overall, Rushdy's essay is loaded with a multitude of arguments. rhetorical devices that make his essay very effective because it leaves the reader with a lot of emotion. Doing this is the best way in itself, as it will leave an impact on the reader, usually positive, because of how they feel about the topic being discussed. This essay was very effective in achieving its goal, thanks to the many different rhetorical devices..