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Rhetorical Analysis Of The Serial Podcast

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Serial is a Podcast that investigates a true-life story over a series of twelve episodes. The Podcast takes a look at the fifteen year old murder case of Hae Min Lee. Adnan Syed, Hae’s ex-boyfriend was the main suspect and later found guilty of murder for Hae Min Lee’s death and sentenced to life in prison. Serial is hosted by Sarah Koenig an American journalist, public radio personality, and one of the producers of the radio program “This American Life”. The Serial Podcast uses rhetorical devices to appeal to its primary audience by using ethos to establish credibility, pathos to create an emotional response within the audience, and logos to support and poke holes in the murder case. The main purpose/argument for the Serial Podcast is to unfold …show more content…

People who enjoy crime shows will most likely enjoy Serial because it’s formatted the same way. The serialization of the story is what attracted a lot of people in the audience. Serial is also very accessible. It is very easy to listen to the podcast, it’s available for download on iTunes and on the official serial website. The podcast attracted a lot of traffic when it was released. The podcast was the first of its kind to reach five million downloads on iTunes in only one month and 40 million by the end of December. Serial went viral, because the podcast resonates very well with its primary …show more content…

They play audio recorded to help with the context of the murder case. For example, she plays the audio recorded from Jay’s interview. Koenig pokes holes in Jay’s testimony by how his story about what happened “kept changing from telling to telling”. Jay’s testimony was the most vital component of the prosecution’s case against Adnan. That was all they had against Adnad. Koenig is setting the premise that the evidence used to convict Adnan was not sufficient since it was based upon one guy’s story that changed a lot. There was no physical evidence that Adnan committed this crime. Koenig uses logos well in the podcast by exposing how there was a lack of evidence against Adnan and the testimony the state had kept changing and was manipulated by Jay to benefit himself and to help the state have a case against Adnan. Koenig depicts the events from several different points-of-view and by constantly bringing in new information that kept primary audience learning and wanting

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349 Words | 2 Pages

Serial is a podcast that first premiered in 2014 and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. The podcast, produced by Sarah Koenig, is a spin-off of the radio program This American Life and tells the story of a 1999 murder case in Baltimore, Maryland. The story is told through a series of episodes, each one delving deeper into the case and the investigation. The podcast uses a variety of rhetorical devices to create suspense and engage the audience.

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783 Words | 4 Pages

When the cops first bring Jay in on February 28th, they talked to him for about an hour before the tape went on. Then, on March 15th, the second interview. Jay signs his initials to an official explanation of rights form at 3:15 p.m. Then the tape starts.” She brings evidence to discredit Jay and the detectives in the case.

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Anya Schultz, the author of a review titled Serial: A Captivating New Podcast, works to show how multiple narratives and stories can be manipulated and sometimes vastly misinterpreted. Serial, an intriguing, enthralling podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, tells the story of Hae Min Lee, a young, beautiful, high school senior who was murdered in 1999. Lee 's case, as Koenig and Schultz point out, has a few missing pieces of information that were never accounted for. For example, how did the jury come to the conclusion that Lee 's ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was truly guilty? Why did Syed 's lawyer forget to mention the letter from his acquaintance Asia McClain that could have polished his alibi?

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In the podcast, Koenig reads

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148 Words | 1 Pages

In “What We Are to Advertisers” and “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” both Twitchell and Craig reveal how advertisers utilize stereotypes to manipulate and persuade consumers into purchasing their products. Companies label their audience and advertise to them accordingly. Using reliable sources such as Stanford Research Institute, companies are able to use the data to their advantage to help market their products to a specific demographic. Craig and Twitchell give examples of this ploy in action by revealing how companies use “positioning” to advertise the same product to two demographics to earn more profit. Craig delves more into the advertisers ' plan by exposing the science behind commercials.

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964 Words | 4 Pages

Water is the greatest resource upon the Earth, but what happens when it runs out? Even worse, what happens when humans bottle the water, of which all life relies on, and sells it to us with false claims? Well, we've already been on the receiving end of this trick for years, almost unknowingly. The documentary Tapped, directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey, gives a look into the bottled water industry and the effects it has on society. The film taps into human emotions, brings about logical reasoning and statistics, and uses sources with valid credibility to address a hidden issue.

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout Serial (a podcast discussing the love story between two teens from Baltimore in the 1990s), Adnan Syed is interviewed by Sarah Koenig as her goal is to find out who really killed Hae Min Lee as she deeply investigates

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1122 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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582 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever wonder how does a crime scene investigator, known as a CSI, discover blood spatter on different fabrics, which is not visible to the human eye? The key is bluestar. According to the article “Influence of Bluestar Reagent on Blood Spatter Stain of Different Fabrics” by Arnon Grafit, bluestar is a “luminol-based reagent that is applied by spraying on surface.” Not only that, but “it helps obtain DNA and to analyze spatters patterns. By analyzing the article the reader is able to understand how bluestar works through the rhetorical techniques used.

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Finally, I would like to look at a podcast called Serial. The first season of Serial follows the murder of a high school senior Hae Min Lee in 1999. After searching for six weeks, her body is found buried in the local park. Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan, is arrested and charged with her murder. However, Sarah Koenig, host of Serial, believes there is something fishy about the case from the start.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

The TED Talk by Joe Smith he talks about about a small way to reduce waste. The title of his speech is called, “How to use a paper towel” and was filmed in March 2012. In this TED Talk by Smith he talked about how to save paper towels. He wanted to clarify how much we really waste and what we can do to reduce paper towel consumption. He showed the audience a effective way to use the paper towel through a simple demonstration..

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Humans’ actions and thoughts are complex, many people spend their lives researching why people act in certain ways. In the TED Talk ‘Why we do what we do’, Tony Robbins, motivational speaker and life coach, helps people understand the reasons behind their actions in order to show how they can reach their full potential and use it to help and understand others. The rhetorical and speaking strategies used in his speech aided him in his effort to reach his audience. The ethos and pathos were very strong and bolstered his message, but his attempt at being logical did not improve the quality of his speech, and affected the extent his audience will take his message to heart.

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TED is one of the non-profit organizations that does help to share different ideas of different people to the world through their persuasive talk. Sir Ken Robinson, in his Ted Talk, discusses how systems of public education disregard the creativity as it is an important factor related with the growth of students, academically. Robinson does focus on the creativity by arguing through different examples, which does make audience, and other viewers to think on this issue and take action which is being ignored by public education system. The use of pathos, ethos, and logos while his talk regarding creativity in school makes the case of education system entertaining and understand, by giving proper examples with the use of humorous tone.

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She states “A year after Adnan was arrested and the case came to trial, Jay walked up to the witness stand. There’s a moment when Adnan muttered something to him” (45). By Adnan calling Jay pathetic he showed that he couldn’t believe Jay would rat him out. This incident shows that Adnan is a liar and is mad at Jay for going to the police, showing that he is guilty. Even after controlling himself through the whole case he snapped when he saw the man that betrayed him.

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673 Words | 3 Pages

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

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