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Rhetorical Analysis Of The Poem 'We Are Virginia Tech' By Nikki Giovanni

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Tanner Romig Dr. Chose ENGL 15 17 January 2023 Rhetorical Analysis On April 17, 2007, well-known professor and poet Nikki Giovanni gave an exceptionally memorable and inspiring speech. The exigence in her writing and speaking this poem was a tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, which left 32 dead. She wrote this to address the heartbroken university where she taught at. The text overall has an underlying message that tragedy happens, and no one deserves it, but together they must persevere through the pain and sadness. Through the poem, Giovanni reiterates the phrase, “We are Virginia Tech,” and that is a representation of how if nothing else they all have each other. That phrase brings unity to every single Virginia Tech student and alumni. Nikki Giovanni uses strong rhetorical appeals such as …show more content…

She uses pathos throughout the entire poem in not only the words, but also how she articulated them in the speech. Already at the beginning of the poem, she declares, “We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. We are not moving on; we are embracing our mourning,” in which Giovanni essentially tells the colossus crowd to not run away from the feelings of sadness. This prepares them for the rest of the speech, as the purpose of it was to inspire perseverance from tragedy. The author also uses logos in her speech when she expresses, “and sad enough to know we must laugh again.” There comes a point when the bar cannot go any lower, you cannot possibly be sadder or grief-stricken than you already are. The only logical point to conceivably go from there is up, and that is what Nikki Giovanni is trying to represent. Pathos and logos are essential rhetorical appeals to this speech, as they simultaneously draw on the emotions of the audience while also helping them to see that there are brighter times

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