Basically, Jon Stewart is speaking about how the show crossfire had so much potential to be an informative presence on the entertainment/political scene. He is stating that they are wasting a great opportunity; that the current news shows (especially Crossfire) are looking to his comedy shows to get their cues in integrity, which he believes is sad. He is confronting them about how America “needs help from the media [and it is now] hurting us” through partisan agendas.

Jon is mixing his well known quips and comedy with criticism of news and media of the day; he believes that television shows today, especially pertaining to politics, are all based on partisan hackery.

The Articles I have been following on multiple blogs pertaining to the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” do not really tie into the ideas that Jon Stewart is presenting. The blogs all talk about how it is wrong to keep one group of people from entering into the military. Moreover, many of them discuss how it is detrimental to our countries national security. For instance, just recently the U.S. Army First Lieutenant Dan Choi, an Arabic linguist was fired for being openly gay. It seems quite stupid as we need people with his skill in the military to just dismiss him for a sexual orientation. It is comparable to kicking someone out of the military for their gender or race. I do not believe that the opinions on these blogs have much to do with partisan agendas as they do not take a stand; left or right, democrat or republican. They are simply stating the hypocrisies of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and how it should be repealed to make “America be what America says it is”; home of the free and the brave is hard to accomplish when certain sexual orientations are oppressed and not allowed to be truly free or brave.

In a National Public Radio article I found out that Hip-Hop Album Sales are down 40% from 2000. The Article cited young people being “fed up with the violence, degrading imagery and lyrics”

http://publish.indymedia.org/en/2006/08/844402.shtml

This article is not directly about the topic but it was the closest I could find. It deals with the American Culture and how “pornography has permeated nearly every facet of America’s culture of compulsive consumption” I believe this includes music industry, especially Hip-Hop.

I could only find these articles though; I feel as though because this topic was popular in 2006 and 2007 it was very detrimental to my search.

Although, the two articles I was able to find both agree with one another, they state that hip includes very crude lyrics and images which support this sort of degrading view of women. More specifically, the article about pornography in America tackled some pretty deep topics like a story of a women forced to watch pornographic material and because of this struggled with ‘body issues’. She found herself fat a disgusting because the women she was used to seeing women who were “air-brushed and surgically-enhanced”. I believe the same can go for Hip-Hop videos, as most of them show nearly nude women with perfect, idealized bodies. This has a mental toll of most women, everywhere they turn there is a figure of a “goddess”, and it becomes quite daunting for most to comprehend. Thus, both of the articles support one another even though their topic base is very different.

I believe my audience is a young group (ages 15-30), people who might be listening to Hip Hop and wondering why every video or promotional photo shows the rapper at hand with literally women everywhere as if they were “walking bling” as one of the videos I watched pointed out. The women are like a commodity, the more attractive they are, the more there are the richer or more popular the artist is.

I believe the videos I remix will be music videos, for firsthand accounts and interviews about the topic at hand. I know and plan to use a lot from a series that “Black Entertainment Television” put out called “Hip Hop vs. America” it was a series of debates featuring popular Hip Hop artists and different people disagreeing with the message the videos and music send. I believe these will prove very helpful for plentiful and unbiased views; also they are from reputable sources, the rappers themselves and those who are trying to change the industry as it sends bad views of the culture behind Hip Hop.

Tammy Jolene Atha
October 18, 2009
Caroline Dadas
Rhetorical Analysis

“Wake Up America”

It’s the 2008 Democratic National Convention and all one hears is the voice of Dennis Kucinich. The room is filled with left wing liberals and democrats alike, they are all vying, hoping that the choice in candidate, Barrack Obama will be able to beat their adversary, the Republican Party. The stage is set in a patriotic manner, Red, White, and Blue is cast anywhere the eye can see. The voice coming from this small man is passionate and it is carried out in his manner, he is bouncing up and down, pointing and nearly yelling as loud as possible to capture the eyes (and ears) of those present.

The Speech began with a “wake up call” from Kucinich. (“Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Speaks to the DNC”, 0:39-0:40) He is speaking about how in 2001 the “oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy and have added four trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt.” (0:45-0:58) He is showing us how the Bush Administration has “skillfully played our post-9/11 fears” (4:00-4:05) and brought only wealth, and money to the upper crust of society. He is showing, more or less, appealing to the pathos or emotion of Americans. He is reminding us how tragic it has been lately, how the Bush Administration was “misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating” (2:10-2:15) the American’s money, pouring trillions of dollars into a war with Iran for what Kucinich claims is just over oil. He is using these examples of how Americans have been ‘shafted’ pushed aside to appeal to our emotions, or pathos. Delving into hard topics and reminding all how underneath this eight years of republican ‘ruling’ we, the “Joe the Plumber” class have been less than a priority. He is giving detailed examples of when and how the middle class has had their jobs taken away while they are forced to watch their children, classmates and fellow “blue” collar workers be shipped off to war. He is appealing to the emotions, plucking away at the ‘heartstrings’ of those hit hard by the recession and poor economic growth leading up to it.

Also, Kucinich is appealing to the ethos; he is a politician and a liberal stalwart who is showing the audience that he feels strongly about voting democratically and so should they. He is first of all putting down the Bush Administration and proclaiming that a vote for Republican is a vote for another four years of unneeded wars and less then prosperous economic growth. He is using his political prowess to sway liberal, conservatives and moderates alike to voting Democratic. But what makes him so credible? Kucinich is a member of the United States House of Representatives and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination of President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 elections. He has also been named as “the strongest liberal perspective,” and even brought charges against George W. Bush for his impeachment. He is many time the contrast to the more moderate Democrats who run for office. (Unknown Compiler, 2007)
Also, Kucinich uses a rhetoric device called an epideictic approach – or he is attempting to distort or reshape one’s views by simply placing blame on one (the Republican Party) while praising the other (the Democratic Party). (Booth, 2004) He is telling us about the past we all seem under the Bush Administration that “We can’t afford another Republican administration” (2:33-2:36) he goes on to state that “another four-year term (would give them the chance) to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children’s inheritance and hollow out our economy.” (2:26-2:33) He is pointing out all the wrong doings of the republicans and how great life could be of a democrat were president; how the republicans would yield more war, economic slumps, little to no jobs, expensive food, gasoline, healthcare, and prescriptions. He is showing all the negatives of the Republican Party in order to create a falsified sense of this ‘super’ Democratic Party. He is attempting to convince the audience that a vote for the Democrats would mean a vote for a better America.

Also, Kucinich is using a type of rhetoric called deliberative – with this device he is attempting to mold or make the future appear before the audience. (Booth, 2004) He is doing this by promising the American people that a vote for the Democratic Party would bring the middle, working class Americans from “down to up”. (4:44-4:46) In the climatic part of the speech Kucinich raises one hand and the crowd is obviously enticed at this point and he begins to yell. “Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment. Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden. “ (4:46-5:25) In short, Kucinich is proclaiming that simply voting for the Democratic party will yield this perfect place where everyone will own a home, be able to retire, get a good education, and basically he is painting the audience a picture of this perfect world the Democratic party could give us if we vote accordingly. He is creating a rhetoric-made reality.

Rhetoric is an everyday device used even when you do not realize it. Dennis Kucinich used rhetoric to the fullest, taking advantage of it and literally in the course of minutes changing the minds of some of the audience members and not to mention those who may have stumbled upon the speech either on the internet or on television. Rhetoric is the backbone to many forms of communication, especially Dennis Kucinich’s speech “Wake up America.”

References

Booth, Wayne C. How Many ‘Rhetorics’?. Malden, MA, Blackwell Publishing,
2004. 50-51.

Unknown Compiler. “Dennis Kucinich.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web.
22 Oct. 2009 .

     For instance there are some videos were the person making the video has added uplifting music and enhanced the video to show something good that the original author failed to do. At the same rate there are videos to poke fun, like having a George Bush speech, uplifting music, and war images scrolling in the background. A remix is to make a point, to sway a vote, to use the devices of rhetoric to employ a view not scene in the original.

     Thus, I believe the point of the remix is to put a spin on something already published. To add an opinion or a view that was not seen in the original. The remixer could be adding something new or bringing in a new perspective. With many things in life it is so easy to get bogged down by just your opinion or just one side of things, remixes allow for sides, for things to be viewed as a whole and not in just a singular way. It may be slightly random but it reminded me of a lyric from a song

“You somehow managed to take a tiny percent of yourself, the smallest fraction, and turn it into your only equation. You wouldn’t point to your pinky and say this is my entire body, just like you wouldn’t look at one branch and declare that this is a tree. But, if you add all of the little puzzle pieces together, it makes up one entire picture. All are you are is just a little torn corner of a photograph, but when you put more perspectives together you finally get to see the whole frame.”

The dialogue of the full scene – http://strivinglife.com/words/post/Waking-Life-Chapter-14—Ants.aspx

I personally just felt as though it could yield itself too much analysis rhetorically because it explores philosophy a field that is chocked full of rhetoric as it is by definition a field that needs rhetoric to be well understood. Think, if someone where to approach you asking you weather or not you were real, if your knowledge memories are real he would need to be a good orator. This person approaching you would need to know how to appeal to you to get you to agree with him, thus, he is using some form of rhetoric.

I would say that in taking a close look back at the reading words I could connect would be…

Ethos-in that they name a philosopher in trying to give the “ant” theory credibility, thus, they are giving reference to a person well known and respected to give their ideas credibility.

Pathos-In that the claim is we are too much like “ants” in our communication. We should want to speak to one another as we all hold so little power on the world the best we can do is live our lives and get to know those around us. It appeals to pathos because it is stating that we as humans are so small in the big scheme of things we should want to be connected to people, to know them as a true human and not in a superficial form.

Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qikRcAiCtKM&NR=1

Lyrics web page – http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/At-The-Bottom-Of-Everything-lyrics-Bright-Eyes/61CF0112CE2A36F148256F7F0010A9C0

I choose this video because it has strong imagery. I definitely feel like it appeals to Pathos as must music videos do. It begins with  woman on an airplane flying to meet her fiance somewhere….she is sitting next to man she doesn’t know and is trying to make small talk and failing. The airplane starts to fail and she is scared and asked the man where they are going and he tells her they are going to a birthday party. I assume in attempt to calm her. This is when the music starts…

Basically the lyrics have to do with the whole of society, the traditions and trends that rule us all, how we feel we need to blend into the whole, mass majority rather then be ourselves. I feel like this is a good appeal to pathos because I think we have all been there…where we feel like we must do (or not do something) because society may frown upon it. I feel like the only downfall to this video is the fact that the artists lyrics sometime become too personal that they become less translatable to a large group.

My next video comes from a very good indie/philosophical film called “Waking Life”

Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDWEkzaBULQ

The dialogue of the full scene – http://strivinglife.com/words/post/Waking-Life-Chapter-14—Ants.aspx

This video is talking about human communication. The overtones of being an “ant” and meeting people, passing glancing and never actually speaking to one another….the video is a very shortened version so this may be a problem but it does appeal to logos. There is this logic that says we shouldn’t talk to strangers but why not? sometimes the people you have the most in common with, the most interesting people are the people you ignore daily, walk past them, or commit to the terrible traditions of ‘small talk’

My final video option is…

is a speech given by one of my personal favorite politicians Denis Kucinich

Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv0smG7ptcM

He is speaking about the war in Iraq and how misleading the Bush administration has been about where the money of America is going. It is trying to appeal to logos as it is only logical to vote democrat as the war in Iraq is only hurting our economy and thus hurting the lower middle class families. I feel like this speech would yield lots of information to write about but worry about the how biased the speaker is…

The second video for Reagan appeals to the pathetic or pathos, I believe this because it is speaking about everyday life in America. Implying imagery about the success of America during the 80’s and how he and his colleagues plan to keep this going.

The third video for Bill Clinton is also a strong example of the rhetorical appeals of using credible sources. The entire commercial is about how so many sources (The New York Times, 400 business leaders, Author John White.) I also believe this could also slightly appeal to the reason. I mean if I were a person in 1992 I would listen to this and think “gee he knows what he is doing so says all these credible sources I should vote for him.” So I think in that sense it also appeals to the “Joe the plumber” sense of reason.

In watching the Bush add I also see this as being a ploy of using pathos. It talks about basically about all of the sad moments he has seen come from the war on “terrorism” and how he plans to not let America down.

Just as a final little note I would like to add that I found the music interesting. In the music appealing to Pathos I found that is was sad and most times had a low tempo and legato feel. On the contrary the videos appealing to ethos and logos as being more heroic, most time being very reminiscent of military music. I just found this as just an interesting side note.

Well, yet again I can pretty much interview anyone (as most if not everyone here on campus has been in a lecture class). I think I will more than likely try to break it up in age groups because what I wish to find is if it is just being new to large classrooms is the problem or if this “fear” will continue until say your junior or senior year.

So maybe I will interview say three freshmen – all of different majors, then maybe two sophomores, two juniors, etc. to find if it is just me with this fear or if it is everyone or if it is just being new and not used to being taught in large groups. So accordingly I will try to get a diverse sampling of people.

Moreover, I would also maybe like to look at genders.  Maybe males are less emotional and accordingly less likely to be affected by the lecture hall. I think for me it will just to start interviewing people and looking at the data and choosing which way I would like to take this.