Last Christmas Rhetorical Analysis
My definition of rhetoric before the readings was simply: successful written or oral communication with a clear purpose & audience in mind. After completing the readings, I have decided that is not specific enough and does not encompass what rhetoric really is. The readings by Crusus, Channell, and Drucker helped establish a clear relationship between argument, “mature reasoning”, and communication as a mode used to communicate. Both of the readings provided a clearer understanding of argument and communication, key components to rhetoric, but did not change my definition until I read “The Rhetorical Situation” by Bitzer. The idea of a rhetorical situation, provided a clear application of the question: “What is rhetoric?”
Family reunions are often used to dwell upon the past and reflect upon one’s life. Richard Rodriguez, in is his passage, goes to extreme lengths to explain to the reader his carefully taken observation of his family’s life. Looking deeper into the words and feelings of the passage, Rodriguez portrays a sense of strong family values. It is apparent (by his selective use of diction and narrative structure found throughout the passage) that Rodriguez is writing to a more mature, experienced audience. As a mature writer, Rodriguez knows that the best way to connect with his audience is through the one day responsible for some of their greatest childhood memories -- Christmas.
In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, the author uses diction like abstract diction and details by explaining what he exactly wants in life to demonstrate Walter and his dream. To begin, Hansberry uses diction to demonstrate Walter and his dream by using abstract diction. She does this by explaining how he will give Travis anything for his seventeenth birthday and that he will “hand you the world!” (2.2). This shows that he wants to make his sons life as good as possible.
1. Irony as we talked about in class is considered to be intellectual or a sort of dry humor. It also has a double meaning, where you say one thing but the opposite meaning is implied. For example, in the reading “SantaLand Diaries” David and another elf realized that Santa is an anagram of Satan. So they would substitute the word for Santa by using Satan in front of customers.
A twelve year old boy a world away from his parents once wrote in a letter to his parents: “And I have nothing to comfort me, nor is there nothing to be gotten here but sickness and death.” This child was Richard Frethorne, and in “Letter to Father and Mother,” he communicates his desperation caused by the new world’s merciless environment to his parents to persuade them to send food and pay off his accumulated debts from the journey. He accomplishes this with deliberate word choice and allusions to the bible to appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos. Frethorne uses diction, imagery, and facts to create a letter to his parents which aims to garner sympathy for his state of life and to persuade them to send food and pay off his debts.
Swift includes examples of parallelism such as, “I could show you incredible things/ Magic, madness, heaven, sin” in order to make her lover aware that she can be all of those things for him, all she has to do is “find out what [he] [wants],[and] be that girl for a month.” Another thing “Magic, madness, heaven, sin” does is emphasize the unpredictable personality of Taylor Swift, and also serves as a fair warning that they are going to have a difficult relationship.
Past leaders such as Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Marc Antony are evidence that society does not reward morality and good character in leadership. Society is drawn to leaders that have good rhetoric, propaganda, and charismatic personalities, and society supports them despite their immorality. Society is concerned about stability more than the morality of their leaders and will support immoral leaders in times of crisis to provide stability. In history there have been multiple leaders that have used rhetoric, propaganda and charismatic personalities to gain power, despite their morals.
Feelings and Emotion Different feelings and emotion are not known in the community within the people. The Giver and Jonas are the only true people that know how to feel the different emotions. Every night at the conclusion of their evening meal one of the rituals is the evening telling of feelings. In the very first Chapter Jonas talks about how it was almost December and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. But then thought that was the wrong word to use.
An important aspect of both music and communication is making your thoughts relatable. Making something relatable will allow your audience to connect and care about it more knowing that they have felt similar things. Everyone has regrets and think about the past, lost loves, and reminisce about the good ole days of our past. Nostalgia is a powerful tool utilized by artist typically to provide listeners with memories and allow them to empathize with the work. This song makes me reflect on a time where I once made a mistake with someone I was romantically interested.
Richard Louv, a novelist, in Last Child in the Woods (2008) illustrates the separation between humans and nature. His purpose to the general audience involves exposing how the separation of man from nature is consequential. Louv adopts a sentimental tone throughout the rhetorical piece to elaborate on the growing separation in modern times. Louv utilizes pathos, ethos and logos to argue that the separation between man and nature is detrimental.
Rhetorical Analysis: Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” Taylor Swift is an American songwriter who is well known for her music that focuses mostly on love stories. She writes pop music about heartbreak, and making up. In the song “You belong to me” Taylor Swift sings a song about a typical teenage drama that a lot high school females may experience.
Often known as the Father of American Literature to many educated individuals, Ralph Waldo Emerson in his oration “The American Scholar” brilliantly provides a sublime example of how Emerson earned his title through the appliance of diction, syntax, allusions, and many other rhetorical devices and strategies. Indicated towards his highly educated audience, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Emerson introduces the idea that the common class and common concepts of everyday life are becoming the future of art and literature through purpose, credibility, and tone. As many great writers, Emerson does not simply tell about his idea, but instead uses rhetorical strategies to help show his central point, one such strategy being purpose. Being focused on informing his audience of the coming days, the use of purpose can be
Award winning writer, George Orwell, in his dystopian novel, 1984, Winston and O’Brien debate the nature of reality. Winston and O’Brien’s purpose is to persuade each other to believe their own beliefs of truth and reality. They adopt an aggressive tone in order to convey their beliefs about what is real is true. In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston and O’Brien use a variety of different rhetorical strategies and appeals such as parallel structure, pathos, and logos in order to persuade each other about the validity of memories and doublethink; however, each character’s argument contains flaw in logic. Winston debates with O’Brien that truth and reality are individual and connected to our memories.
“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life.” A friend of Leigh Anne’s exclaimed. Leigh Anne grinned and said, “No, he’s changing mine.” This exchange of words comes from the film trailer of an award-winning film, The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, released on November 20th, 2009. This film puts emphasis on a homeless, black teen, Michael Oher, who has had no stability or support in his life thus far.
Growing up in a society obsessed with the concept of sappy love stories, it is easy to find flaws with the unrealisticness of such accounts of love. Songwriter Taylor Swift contributes to the popular trend of mainstream love stories in her own composition, “Love Story.” Throughout her song, Swift effectively incorporates the use of various figurative devices to relate her own love story with that of the famous Shakespearean lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Swift conveys the strength of her forbidden love, in similarity with that of Romeo and Juliet’s, through the use of metaphors, hyperboles, and allusions. First and foremost, Swift uses clear examples of metaphors throughout her song to maintain the resemblance of Romeo and Juliet’s love story with her own love story.
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