TOW #23: IRB- Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

Now that I have finished the Jay-Z autobiography Decoded, I can safely say that this was one of the most in depth biographies I have ever read about an individual that was not an autobiography. Even though this Jay-Z biography does not assume automatic ethos for the author because he is writing about another man, as the text develops you soon realize that they do indeed have a sense of ethos because of all of their research on Jay-Z’s life.

One unique tactic the writer of this text implements in their biography to enhance its illustration of Jay-Z’s life is the use of his own lyrics as both visual images and also titles and subtitles of the chapters within the book. With there being so much detail about the life of Jay-Z, it will be assumed that the audience of the text will be individuals who have some passion for his music. Therefore, it only makes sense that the audience will understand that the titles of each chapter are actual lyrics and quotations from the rapper himself. The author of this text definitely relies on the previous knowledge of their audience peace most of their devices would prove ineffective if the readers did not know anything about Jay-Z’s music.

Additionally, using Jay-Z’s words as a guide for the biography extends the author’s sense of ethos because he uses the exact words of Jay-Z as a path of the biography itself. Writing a book about someone else is no easy task because you not only have to gather about information about someone else, but you need to attract readers who will believe that you have the vast amount of someone else’s life in order to write about them. Thus, this device of using common phrases of the audience’s familiarity proves to be a useful technique for the author to gain ethos, however would definitely be an ineffective tactic if the reader has no clue about Jay-Z or his music.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this biography about one of my favorite rappers Jay-Z and I think it was nice to change it up this marking period and read a biography. It is a unique perspective to find rhetorical devices within a text that is so black and white such as a biography. 

TOW #22: Written Text: Obsession?

This text written by CNN’s reporter Sally Kohn, a progressive activist, wants her readers to consider why we are focusing so much on the missing Malaysian Flight 309. While she clearly addresses that the story should be important because of the hundreds of missing people, she juxtaposes this situation with what else is going on in the world. Therefore, by comparing this issue to the many issues we face worldwide, she comes to a conclusion that when it comes to human behavior, people will only focus on the major catastrophes and ignore the smaller ones.

Kohn definitely builds her sense of ethos by including citations from people experienced in this field of study, such as writers from the New York Times, and also statistics from researchers who develop data in their fields as well. With this Malaysian flight catching so much of the world’s attention, the audience of this text could be any reader as long as they know about the missing flight because if they do not know about this current event, the rest of this article will not make any sense to them.

This text is quite successful because of Kohn’s use of juxtaposition to clearly illustrate how the Malaysian flight story has found so much attention on the news recently. By comparing the hundreds of people missing on the plane to the amount of people who die from cancer each year, the innocent kids who are part of child sex trafficking, and the women who suffer from AIDS. The use of comparison strengthens Kohn’s argument because the reader will now realize that while this flight is important, the immense focus on the story should be nearly irrelevant because of the issues we face everyday as 

people.

Additionally, the use of juxtaposition leads into Kohn’s conclusion that people only focus on the events that are unknown to us, such as the missing flight. On the other hand, we do not focus as much on solid evidence we are sure of, such as men and women’s 25% risk of getting cancer in their lifetimes. I think the author clearly achieved her purpose by truly exposing how “irrelevant” this story is contrast to how much attention it is getting from the public. 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/19/opinion/kohn-flight-370-obsession/index.html?hpt=op_mid

TOW #21: Visual Text- Palm

The makers at Palm have realized how tough it is for someone to manage all of their appointments and information that build up as we live our lives. With effective advertising, they now have informed their audience that the Palm is the product they need to stay organized. While their audience is pretty much any individual who has a constantly busy lifestyle, the image of the hand also relates to the audience because this will directly apply to any person that also writes stuff down on their hands. The purpose of the advertisement, not only to simply buy the Palm, is to inform the audience that the Palm can organize everything going on in your life.

The use of straightforward diction definitely enhances the advertisement based off the two words as headers, “Chaos” and “Order”. Since both are exact opposites, the audience will be able to see the purpose in the advertisement since order is preferred over chaos. This leads into the juxtaposition pictured within this advertisement. This advertisement also effectively utilizes the juxtaposition rhetorical device simply because one side of the image there is pictured one idea, and on the other is a contradictory illustration.

On the side labeled chaos, an individual who has lots going on yet lacks the organization to maintain all of this information writes all of their information down on their hand. On the other hand, the right side of the picture is quite simple, containing the palm device in front of a simple white background. The message the company clearly depicts through the juxtaposition is that one simple device such as the Palm, can handle everything you would ever need to write down from your busy life.

The use of juxtaposition really emphasizes the organization one can maintain with such a device, and prevent you from writing everything down. Additionally, the largest message on the person’s hand is “Buy Palm” so not only will the audience realize how simple it would be to use a palm, but also out of the many messages on their hand, buying the Palm is their priority. 

TOW #20: Written Text: I Have A Dream

One man had a dream. A simple one, yet powerful enough that it could forever change the status of racial equality in our nation for eternity. In his “I have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King first builds his ethos with his location of the delivery (being the Lincoln Memorial) because of President Lincoln’s contributions to the equality of African Americans. With his audience being Civil Rights activists and also racists and an extended audience of people throughout the world, MLK also alludes to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by saying “Five Score years ago” in order to build his sense of ethos, and furthermore broadcast his purpose of demanding racial equality for African Americans in the United States of America. With that said, King does stress the importance that Blacks will not rise through conflict, and they “must not be guilty of their wrongful deeds”.

MLK achieves his purpose by uniting his audience as Americans. Dr. King references some of the most prolific American documents that are the foundation of our nation such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Not only will it boost King’s ethos as well as use our founding father’s own words about equality to stress the need for racial equality, but it also unites the audience as one American people as these documents represent our existence. Therefore, by uniting his audience as Americans, (and to an even further extent, “Children of God”),  it only makes sense that racial equality is essential and deserved if we are all American people.

Likewise, King uses repetition to emphasize the need for racial equality in America. King states “Let Freedom Ring” many times while adding a diverse region of our nation, which illustrates how he wants there to be equality among all citizens in all corners of our country. He also states “I have a dream” which is followed up by an idea that could be possible if all citizens in America had the same rights. Both of these examples of repetition become a list by the time King stops repeating each of these phrases, which ultimately allows the audience to truly see the benefit and also the obligation it is for all citizens within the U.S. to have equality.