1. The purpose of an editorial/commentary is to explain, persuade, warn, criticize, entertain, praise or answer. What do you think is the purpose of this editorial? Explain your answer.

2. Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards his subject: the tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, inspiring, solemn, objective, cynical, optimistic, encouraging, critical, enthusiastic… Which word do you think best describes the tone of this editorial? Explain your answer.

3. Read the statements from the editorial. For each, write agree or disagree and explain your answer.

• “The debate now should be about expanding interrogation and surveillance.”
• “The next President should reverse President Obama’s policy and allow terrorists captured on U.S. soil to be declared enemy combatants who can be interrogated at length to prevent future attacks.”
• “If someone pledges allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook, travels to the Syro-Turkish border, buys pressure cookers on Amazon and then pays the toll at the Holland Tunnel, algorithms can integrate this information and flag authorities. This is “profiling” only in the sense of searching for associations and statistical probabilities.”
• “As for privacy, algorithms are less intrusive than searches, wiretaps and undercover operations.”

b) Ask a parent the same question.