Francine Wheeler, Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Delivers President Obama’s Weekly Address, April 13, 2013

Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Delivers President Obama’s Weekly Address, April 13, 2013

Francine Wheeler 

Francine Wheeler and her husband David lost their six-year-old son Ben to twenty-year-old gunman Adam Lanza, who shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Earlier that day, Lanza killed his mother; he then went to the elementary school, where he murdered twenty children and six adults at the school, and later himself, using a semi-automatic rifle and pistols. On April 13, 2013, four months after the killings, Francine Wheeler replaced President Obama during this weekly address to the nation to call on voters to pressure Congress to enact gun-control legislation.

Source: “Weekly Address: Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Calls for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms.” The White House, President Barack Obama. Whitehouse.gov, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 2 May 2013. www.whitehouse.gov/WeeklyAddress/2013/041313-DXBMPC/041313_WeeklyAddress.mp4

Reading for Meaning

Question 4.1

Watch Francine Wheeler deliver President Obama’s Weekly Address, and write a few sentences briefly explaining the occasion that prompted her reflection and what she wants viewers to do in response.
Below is an example summary of this selection: Francine Wheeler shares her personal experience of losing her first-grade son, who was shot during the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, and asks viewers to join her in persuading the U.S. Senate to pass reforms to existing gun-control laws. She argues that such reforms will prevent tragedies like the one she and her family experienced. Your summary will differ from this one in the way it is written, but it should include roughly the same information.

Reading Like a Writer: Presenting the Occasion

Writers of reflections usually try to grab audience members’ interest from the outset with a hook and to keep the audience engaged with their voice or persona. Writers may use the first person (I, me, my) to make the reflection personal or capture the reader’s attention with a shocking opener (“My first victim was a woman”).

Write a paragraph or two analyzing how Francine Wheeler’s address grabs and keeps audience members’ attention:

1

How does the camera work — close-ups of Francine Wheeler, pans to show both parents and the setting (a book-lined study in the White House) — help gain the audience’s attention? How does the text of Francine Wheeler’s address grab and keep audience members’ attention?

2

Question 4.2

How effective would Francine Wheeler’s reflections be if they had been delivered in writing, rather than in person? What engages you or draws you into the address? What would you add or change to make the address more effective for you?