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Rhetorical Analysis Of Small Change By Malcolm Gladwell

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In “Small Change: Revolution Not be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell , Gladwell explains his own thoughts on why even in the age of technology social media will never be the strongest way to display activism. Throughout the article the author highlights what he feels makes activism work and what he feels may not work. He thoroughly explains his reasoning for his opinions by using rhetorical strategies. For example, he notes that for a cause to be effective the people pursuing it must have a strong tie or a strong connection to it. This can tie/connection can come from experiencing the problem first hand or having multiple friends or family already involved in the cause. Gladwell then goes on to explain that because social media is such a broad …show more content…

The audience of The New yorker are middle class citizens with upper class ambitions. Based on this intended audience of this article and the rhetorical strategies used this article is mostly effective in persuading the audience because the audience is assumed to be educated and ambitious. To sway his audience the Author uses rhetorical strategies like Allusion, anecdotes, and assertion. He also uses rhetorical appeals like ethos and pathos to convey his opinion on social media as an activist …show more content…

The first few paragraphs of his article were almost entirely a story about four college students who started a sit in strike at a local restaurant in segregated Greensboro North Carolina, 1960. By telling this story the author reiterates his point about strong ties being a major key in successful activism but also creates some pathos. All four of these boys were close friends, lived in the same dorm building, and were roommates. This gave them a strong tie to each other so when one of them suggest the sit in, the rest jumped in line too. This story also produces a sense of pathos between the characters and the audience. The audience is interested in the story and also feels empathy for what these men went through and for the progress they made, thus making this strategy effective in persuading the

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In every novel around the globe you can find carefully constructed paragraphs, written by the author to send a specific message to the readers. In The catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, one particular section overflows with symbolism, metaphors, and hidden messages. By analyzing the passage’s diction, setting, and selection of detail it is possible discern the less overt statements hidden in the text and reveal the turbulent nature of the main character, Holden Caulfield. The diction of this passage appears to be the key in unraveling Holden’s mood swings.

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In a future totalitarian society, all books have been outlawed by the government, fearing an independent-thinking public. Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic novel, telling the story of a time where books and independent thinking are outlawed. In a time so unenlightened, where those who want to better themselves by thinking, are outlawed and killed. Guy Montag is a senior firefighter who is much respected by his superiors and is in line for a promotion. He does not question what he does or why he does it until he meets Clarisse.

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In The Outrage Industry, Berry and Sobieraj argue that the topic of media outrage is very multidimensional. Outrage is defined as avstrong reaction with anger, shock, or rage. In the political context, this could be how citizens react to a speech a politician has made, commentary between politicians aired on television, and or commentary between political journalists. America loves sensationalism. When the media broadcasts negatively charged reactions between political journalists or politicians, their ratings go up.

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In her article “I Tweet, Therefore I am”, Peggy Orenstein states that people using social media live in a performance culture that erodes the very relationships it tries to create, and alienates them from the real world. When users post without conscious thought, the world goes from a stage to a reality television show where every move you make is broadcast. Studies have shown that living like this will result in a loss of empathy. People can not put themselves in other 's shoes because they already know every detail of the person 's life already. Orenstein also states that people form their identities based off of their social media persona.

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Author Darryl Lorenzo Wellington, wrote “The Power of Black Lives Matter,” published in 2015 in The Crisis, and he emphasizes the importance of Black Lives Matter and argues that is the only way to correct the issue of class. Wellington builds his credibility with reputable facts, statistics, citing sources, and successfully employing rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos. He adopts a didactic tone of voice in order to sound like a high scholar to create a sense of superiority, while addressing the issues of class and race to white Americans’ and other races in the United States. In his article, Wellington first introduces his argument by making an inference of a cultural shift by saying, “Something indeed is happening here and now in America,” and that “class exists” and

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Referring to specialists not always gives articles strong evidences. She refers to a book called “The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change”(Gladwell, 2010, paragraph 17), to make a counter argument. He explains how in this case a child with leukemia found a transplant thank to social media. This argument makes her thesis less credible. She refers to Al Qaeda (Gladwell, 2010, paragraph 26) explaining that since it became a network it is less

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Gladwell illustrates his argument that social media is not an effective tool for change or revolution by giving examples from the present where social media has claimed to be helpful although it was not, and examples from the past where although social media did not yet exist activist were more successful. When presenting his argument, Gladwell’s diction and writing style allow his article to be so successful and convincing. He starts with a story, and then explains why the example supports his reasoning. This approach makes him seem extremely educated, reinforcing the strengths of his argument. Throughout his article, Gladwell also demonstrates numerous dependable qualities such as self-confidence, experience, and persuasiveness.

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In his article, “Thresholds of violence” by Malcolm Gladwell, has effectively proven that the school shootings changed and they’ve became ritualized. From an incident, a group of three officers had arrived to the unit’s door step, and a young man stood in the center. The man became extremely defensive when one of the officers had to pat LaDue down. The officer had over heard that LaDue was making bombs in the storage locker, then had found a SKS assault rifle with sixty rounds of ammunition, a Beretta 9-mm, hand gun, including three ready-made explosive devices hidden in his bedroom. “There are far more things out in that unit than meet the eye” (Gladwell 2), exampling how there’s not only going to be a specific amount of bombs that would have

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