Rhetorical Analysis

Jason Maselli                                                                                               10/27/19

For my rhetorical analysis I chose to do short scary stories on reddit. The title of this story is called “Snowman Family” written by GorillaOfUndeath.

The story is about a divorced man. It takes place after a long and heavy snowfall. It was near midnight when the man, Chris decided to shovel peoples driveways to get ahead of the competition and to help aid in the creation of snowmen. His first stop was his ex-wifes house, after he is done Chris goes back to his own house to then make a Snowwoman. After he is done with this he comments on how is daughter would love it when she sees it. Chris then goes to Randy’s house who is the person his ex-wife cheated with. When Randy answered the door he is visibly mad  due to how late it is and after some type of exchange Chris stabs him with a syringe filled with a paralyzing toxin. Chris left him on the floor while he went to shovel his driveway, once done he comes back to get Randy who is still laying on the floor then drags him to the backyard where the Snowwoman was. During the process Chris comments on a problem he didn’t have when making the snowwomen making it clear he did the same thing with his ex-wife. After he is done he goes back to Randy’s house again and finds a photo of Randy smiling next to his then pregnant wife. After he is completely done with the snowman he goes to get his daughter. His daughter says the Snowcouple should have a child, Chris agrees and stabs her with another syringe saying he sees a resemblance to Randy. The story ends with him saying he needs to go shovel and once he’s done we’ll will make the kid snowman.

I found it very clear that the author was using pathos to get the feel of horror to the reader. The writer used very common mishap in life even started off with a descriptive description of the setting to make the reader get more involved. Learning the person the reader is seeing these events though is divorced makes them feel a bad for him even more so by saying he’d shovel there driveways as a type of therapy and peace offering having the audience believe that Chris is doing the right thing. The addition that he’s building snowmen for his daughter makes it seem sweet. The fact that this fact is mentioned after he finishes the snowwomen makes the reader feel like he is just the average divorced man who is trying to make their kid happy. The writer adds a little line about the lipstick Chris puts on the snowwomen it says that it ends up being a smeared mess adding to a little homemade feel but then compares it to a split lip in winter foreshadowing the horror behind the kind gesture. In the altercation with Randy the writer make sure the audience notes where Chris’ hand is(his pocket) with an even less friendlier tone at this point the reader knows something is about to happen.

The writer makes Chris strike Randy when he is about to mention why she cheated on him possibly to make the reader not totally shocked but still a fear factor is growing. When it is time for Randy to be brought to the other creation it is noted that no one is even aware of whats happening while he is dragging Randy by his feet it build more fear since this is completely possible. Chris uses a metal pole to make then snowmen stay straight by making the people inside lean on the pole it is here where it is said that this part of making the snowwomen was easier making the reader a little shocked. Snow is then packed over the person and during this process the writer makes Randy’s despair clearer even saying at one point this would be easier then if Chris was to let Randy go since frostbite has no doubt set in. Once finished and he finds the picture of Randy with his pregnant ex-wife it is dismissed making the reader think he still loves his daughter this is further proved by how he treats his daughter with love as any father would. When he agrees to the making of the kid snowman the reader would think they’d be building it together but this is quickly dismayed and she is stabbed  immediately this would shock the reader and make the reader feel worse when it is said that Chris would leaver her there for a bit in the cold morning weather.

Works cited

This story is no longer on the reddit it self so I will post the link to the video of the narration- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt8na6Nec8E

Rhetorical Analysis of a Magazine Article

ENG 1101

 

For a long time now, many women have become obsessed with dieting, lifestyle, and their overall physique due to social norms. There are countless articles  on this topic. Whether it be explaining different dieting techniques, giving tips, or touching on the dangers that dieting brings along. The article I have chosen to analyze today was published in Cosmopolitan Magazine and it is “The Food-Combining Diet Made Me Question Everything I Know About Food- but it Might Not Be So Legit” written by Kara Cuzzone.

The article talks about a dieting technique that was quickly gaining popularity. The dieting technique is called Food Combining. In the article Cuzzone states “The theory behind the diet: Since your digestive system breaks down macronutrients at different rates  and use different enzymes, or molecules that help us digest, you should only eat foods that process at the same speed in one sitting.” In the text she also states the rules of the diet and the biology behind the rules.

I would say that the audience of this specific text would be women in their late teenage years to women in their late forties. I would not necessarily say that this specific audience is self conscious because this article can be for women who are simply interested in bettering their lifestyle. However, articles like this make women more susceptible to comparing themselves to others and genuinely caring what society thinks of them.

Magazine articles are usually witty and get straight to the point. However this article has a deeper meaning than just a diet plan. Women have become obsessed with being socially accepted and will do almost anything to lose and/or gain weight to fit it. Although this specific diet was not as strict or as harmful to the human body as others are, it is about the principle of the diet.

 

Works Cited

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a28750812/food-combining-diet/

hip hop music

hip hop is a music genre that allows artists to express themselves  specifically African Americans when it comes this type of music.  In the song called  “Never let me down” by Jay z and Kanye West it goes into detail about how the black history has made them into the men they are today. all the struggles and hardships that their families went through for generations developed the strength for them to work more harder to gain accessories that they want. its almost like their motivation is coming from pain and suffering which is kind of ironic. usually pain will make u feel more down about something rather thank persuade you to do more and go harder for what you want.

Climate Change

Climate change is undeniably one of the most prevalent threats to humans that has the potential to affect the economy, community and environment on a global scale. In an article called “Indigenous farming practices failing as climate change disrupts seasons,” published by Peter Schwartzstein on October 14, 2019, the author highlights the numeros unforeseen weather fluctuations triggered by the disturbances to our Earth’s climate. The author initiates the article by giving a condensed description of a typical workday of the Hopi Tribesmen of northern Arizona; these farmers deduce the success of their crops’ growth by assessing the environmental conditions of their arid, mesa environment. However, due to the spreading issue of rapid climate change, their methods have been rendered futile, and has made it difficult for these tribesmen to continue sustaining themselves. 

Similar to the predicament of the farmers of the Hopi Tribesmen, Schwartzstien continues his article by explaining how the issue of climate change is worsening the living conditions of many peoples’ lives. However, he makes sure to prioritize the specific impact it has on the lives of farmers who heavily rely on their indegineous knowledge of seasonal weather and climate forecasting in order to maintain their crops. He reinforces their dilemma by providing the reader with a list of evidence highlighting a string of problems that mainly influences the forecasting methods of these indeginous farmers, such as bird migrations, wind direction, stars, and etc. The author also strengthens his reasoning by revealing that these farmers are oblivious to the concept of global warming, and explains how they are morally defeated as their indeginious wisdom that they and their ancestors have relied on for such a prolonged period are unfortunately becoming outdated. 

Schwartzstien’s article tries to persuade the reader of the issue of climate change and the specific effect it has on farmers who rely on indigenous farming methods by addressing the moral and mental toll these changes have had on these farmers. He makes sure to focus in on the emotion and trauma that the farmers are psychologically enduring as the methods their people have utilized for centuries are failing. He also tries to convince the readers of the situation of these farmers by mentioning the circumstances of the farmers, explaining how they are not equipped with the contemporary knowledge of our world’s situation in order to know what’s happening to the weather patterns. Schwartzstien’s main use of pathos helps to convince the readers that the situation of farmers in these communities and the ever growing issue of climate change is a devastating and unfortunate problem that will most likely continue to put them at a disadvantage if nothing is done to slow down the process of this global obstacle.   

 

Bibliography

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/climate-change-killing-thousands-of-years-indigenous-wisdom/

My chosen genre is the film industry and one article that I found really interesting is How Will the Movies(As We Know Them) Survive the Next 10 Years? 

This article talks about how big studios are taking over each other and how the smaller movies and even the brand titles are struggling and how every single aspect of the movie industry is being called into question. A big producer, Jason Blum said:“This is the biggest shift in the content business in the history of Hollywood”.

People in the movie industry are scared and not sure how it will look like years from now.

So the reporter of this article assembled quotes that were said by the key Hollywood figures and he concluded from what they said that their message to the industry was clear: adapt or die.

He goes into depth of how the movie industry will look like down the road. How and why it’s changing in these drastic ways and based on what these hollywood figures think and from their expertise about the movie industry and from personal experience in their fields they predict how the movie industry will most likely look like and how companies and actors are going to deal with this change.

 

Fairy tale Genre

The genre that I thought would best suit me is fairy tale. The fairy tale that I chose was, “Why The Autumn Leaves are Red” by Ada and Eleanor Skinner,  the story discusses literally why the colour of the leaves change colours as well as how the sun and moon came about to make our seasons in a world of only animals. It all started with a good deed by one of the little animals.

The story starts by using the animals in kind of like a government settings the Bear, the Deer and a Little Turtle. So in a way kind of like Russia, the United States and Canada at the national council trying to figure out what is the biggest problem in the Earth. In terms of the story they needed light to save them from the darkness so the Little Turtle which is the most peaceful one or Canada worked to do good and bring up the light that everyone needed. And because the deed was fulfilled the Little Turtle received high praise from the others. The Deer (the US because they have trouble generating goods by themselves) became jealous and tried to get some of the action that the Little Turtle got and tried to receive praise for itself and so he went to Skyland and the other animals tried to get him to come back when they found out. That’s when Bear went up to get him to come back ( I guess this should be America) but anyways they ended up in a big fight and then  Deer’s antlers were bleeding and then when he fell the blood went through the sky floor dripping on all the l.eaves changing th colour making it Autumn.

Why The Autumn Leaves Are Red

Rhetorical Analysis on Mythology

Sehun Bolaji

10/14/19

 

Rhetorical Analysis On the Story of Icarus and Daedalus

 

In the story of Daedalus ( A famous craftsmen in Greek Mythology) and Icarus (His Son) was locked in a tower above Minos (The King of Crete), to keep the secrets of the labyrinth hidden. In order to escape, Daedalus using his crafting skills had crafted two pairs of wings for him and his son to escape. Since Daedalus had crafted the wings using wax, he warned Icarus not to fly too high so the wax won’t melt due to the sun or fly too low so the feathers wont get wet due to the seawater. On their way to freedom Icarus forgot his father’s warning and flew too close to the sun, causing him to fall to the sea and drown. The purpose of the story of Daedalus and Icarus is that you should always heed your parents warning. The basic concept of the story Daedalus and Icarus is that hubris (Pride) is a bad thing. It could be said that the subtext is that you should always heed the advice and warnings of your elders, particularly your parents.

 

The story of Icarus and Daedalus targeted a younger audience, as shown by how Icarus was a young protagonist and fell to his doom not only because of his pride, but because he did not heed his fathers, Daedalus, a more experienced and wiser man warnings. The tone of the story is Egotistical, Arrogant, and Grim. It was egotistical due to the fact that he let his pride get in the way of his judgment. It gave off an Arrogant tone because he did not heed his father’s warning even though he was warned about the consequences of it. Finally, a Grim tone was set because at the end he had faced due to his ignorance. The Myth uses the rhetorical appeal known to us as Pathos. This Myth has an emotional appeal as shown by it using a connection between father and son to get its moral lesson across. Pathos is more effective than ethos and logos due to the target audience. The target audience is a younger age group, to be more specific,  those who don’t respect or listen to their elders, anyone older than them. By using a pathos appeal it keeps the younger audience more entertained. Using stats from ethos and facts from logos would bore the younger generation, if they’re not entertained they won’t be able to get anything out of this mythical story, prohibiting the writer from getting its message across. For instance, icarus getting cocky and flying too close to the sun and falling to his death is more entertaining than that of someone simply saying that listening to our guardians will have a positive effect on us in the future.

 

Work Cited

 

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html

How to write about music

Jevon Williams

ENG 1101

Rhetorical Analysis

 

Music writing is something that can not be taught, so it is a pointless exercise in a way to write a book called How to Write About Music.However, while you can’t teach anyone how to write beautiful prose about this melodic art form, you can encourage, shape and structure lessons to empower the reader to write about music. As Rick Moody states in his timely foreword to the book: “The lack of a dominant template is one of the many similarities between the music writing of the seventies, let’s say, and the music writing of our own time, is the lack of a prevailing format.”

He’s Right! There are hundreds of magazines in the twenty-first century, thousands of music blogs, YouTube channels, journals, etc. all clamoring for well-written articles, think pieces and musings on popular and not – so-popular music.

If writing for a blog, there are no more rigid word count restrictions; the possibilities are endless and it’s intimidating. Yet while the way we listen to and consume music has changed so much, an album’s basic concept remains the same.The exercise of defining and praising an album is therefore still a very true and sought-after method of writing music. Reviewing an album is not an easy task.

“The critic both uses and is sometimes blind to his prejudices and ideals – the more you know about yourself and how you process what you’re writing and given that self-knowledge, the better … Don’t write as someone who doesn’t care about what you care about.”