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Rhetorical Analysis Of Adnan Syed

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Obsidian Mekediak Tyler Bonnette RD 117 19 Dec 2022 Rhetorical Analysis of Sarah Koenig’s ‘Serial’ Adnan Syed was convicted for the murder of Hae Min Lee February 25, 2000. Syed has claimed his innocence since he was arrested. Syed’s conviction was based on Jay Wilds’ testimony. Wilds claimed Syed had strangled Hae Min Lee, and convinced Wilds to help bury her body. Sarah Koenig’s initial purpose of creating the podcast ‘Serial’ and investigating the conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of Hae Min Lee was to conclude if the state's case against Syed was flawed and in doing that, Koenig was successful. The series starts out with Koenig investigating a potential alibi for Syed, a girl named Asia McClain. When Syed was originally arrested, …show more content…

Many people who were brought to trial in defense of Syed were character witnesses; witnesses who would usually say something along the lines of, “The Adnan I knew wouldn’t do such a thing.” Aisha Pittman, Hae Min Lee’s best friend, talked with Koenig for the podcast. Pittman stated that although he ‘generally annoyed’ her, she was not ‘freaked out’ by his behavior during Syed and Lee’s relationship. Throughout the podcast, Koenig paints a picture of Adnan Syed and who he is. She uses character witnesses, including herself, to indicate that Syed is a good person. This is an example of pathos; Koenig is appealing to the audience’s emotions, always trying to display Syed’s character so the audience feels that he is a good person and isn’t capable of murder. Although expressing whether the character of a person is good or bad is generally more of an opinionated standpoint, the state’s case does use the suggestion that Syed is a ‘bad person’ to prove their …show more content…

Deirdre Enright, one professional who is helping investigate Syed’s case, says right off the bat that the state’s case against Adnan is ‘very thin.’ Deirdre Enright is the director of the University of Virginia School of Law's Project for Informed Reform and Center for Criminal Justice. Enright has worked with many cases to find if the convicted are truly guilty. Enright has come to the conclusion, if someone who is convicted is not guilty, they are the worst person to help prove their innocence. She explains this to Koenig; Koenig worries though that Syed might just be this charming sociopath, to which Enright replies, “The odds of you getting the charming sociopath, you’re just not that lucky.” The act of Koenig bringing criminal justice professionals is an example of ethos. These professionals have the credibility and authority to agree with Koenig on the flaws of the state’s case against Syed, which they

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Sarah Koening is the host of the podcast Serial, a story that follows the murder of teenage Hae Min Lee and her alleged murderer Adnan Syed. Koening put herself out into the world with the serial podcast in 2014, and once the podcast was finished it ended up being worth twenty-five million dollars. Even though Sarah deliberately says throughout the podcast that she is pursuing this case for her own curious reasons, she really wants us to listen for her own personal gain. She demonstrates this want for fame, money, and views by effectively making the case a narrative rather than an expositive story, through her author's craft and use of rhetorical devices, and her constant use of cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

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The most difficult thing an author can do when telling a story, is attracting an audience, and maintaining the audience’s engagement. In Serial, while telling the story of Adnan Syed, Sarah Koenigs attracts the audience with her purpose which is proving that Adnan Syed was wrongfully convicted and isn't completely guilty. Sarah maintains the attention of her audience by using emotional, and logical appeal, while also establishing credibility. In other words she uses the rhetoric made up of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.

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Serial is a podcast created by Sarah Koenig. Serial is based on the court case of a Adnan Syed, this podcast discusses important information on whether or not Adnan is guilty or innocent of committing murder. The case against Adnan is very murky. People believe that Adnan should not have been tried for the tiny amount of evidence they had against him, which was a friends story, and cell phone records.

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The plot: a good ol’ case of “who dun it” . As Koenig 's 12-episode podcast unfolds we learn that Syed 's case is greatly fumbled at every step of the

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As a reporter, she should be giving her audience clear, unbiased facts, however anyone can tell that she has a clear bias about the case. Koenig is only human, and therefore it is understandable that she has her opinions as to who is guilty and who is innocent. However, as a journalist reporting on a murder, her bias should not be apparent because it could sway her audience into having the same opinion as her instead of having them form their own opinions. An example of Koenig showing her bias is when she believes that Adnan is not a psychopath because he has shown genuine empathy to her. She says that “I don’t think Adnan is a psychopath...

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