Ashley Jameson English 101 Professor Emily Chappell October 30, 2024 Final Analysis of the Serial Podcast Life changes in the blink of an eye, one minute you could be a regular 17 year old and the next minute you are getting arrested for murder. This is the case of 17 year old Adnan Syed who was arrested on February 28, 1999 for supposedly murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. While Syed?s case was still active, a podcast called?Serial?came out and each episode is an update in this case since the timelines match up. Sarah Koenig established the podcast and figured Adnan?s case was worthy of attention and needed to be heard. In season 1 of the Serial podcast, Koenig uses rhetorical appeals such as kairos, pathos, and logos but her use of …show more content…
It all started when Hae Min Lee, Adnan?s ex-girlfriend, went missing on January 13, 1999. Her body was found about a month later, around the time Adnan was arrested and pleaded not guilty. The argument against him stated in Season 1 Episode 2 of Serial that his motive for killing Hae was because?the breakup conspired feelings of betrayal and hurt pride.? They relied heavily on Adnan?s friend Jay?s testimony that stated he helped Adnan bury Hae?s body and records that had Adnan?s cell phone pinged nearby cell towers close to where Hae?s body was found. In the podcast, Koenig talks with Jay and sees where she can find the weak spots. She noticed that from each time he told the events, his story was changing little by little. Being that there was no physical evidence to tie Adnan to the murder, Jay?s testimony was really the only thing they had to go on. Koenig uses the logos in the podcast to show that there was no hard core evidence against Adnan and how Jay kept changing his story in order to strengthen the state's case while simultaneously benefiting himself. In Episode 4 of Serial Jay switches his story about where Adnan showed him Hae?s body in the trunk and he states,?I didn?t tell the cops it was in front of my house because I