In most entertainment today, we see reflections of current events or social movements, especially in the last two years. In fact, the entertainment industry is one of the biggest users of kairos, embracing every hot topic they can in order to engage their audience. Currently, most are embracing the kairos of Covid-19, civil rights movements, and feminist movements, which have all been pretty big topics in the last year or so. However, this is not a new concept. Movies, television, and music have been reacting to and reflecting current trends for decades. Most of the time, this is done through the development and writing of leading characters, who will typically go through a similar situation that people are facing in the time period of its release. From the late 1950’s up to present day, feminism has been a non-stop movement across America as women and those who support feminism and equality fight for just that. In the late 50’s, the “Second Wave” Feminist movement began following World War II as more women wanted to be treated equally in the workforce and in their home lives. After all, they contributed just as much to the war efforts by supporting the American economy and war efforts from home soil as the soldiers overseas had. Eventually, the children of the Second Wave Movement grew up and became inspired by their mothers and grandmothers who had fought for their equality. This inspiration sparked the “Third Wave” Feminist Movement of the 90’s, where women fought for more legal and political equality. Continuing on from this wave is essentially every movement and march that has occurred in the last twenty years to fight for women’s rights and equality, embracing all of the ideas from before. Eventually, the entertainment industry began to reflect these feminist ideologies in leading female characters. Female leads were suddenly more witty, intelligent, and skilled in combat. Filmmakers and writers use kairotic moments and movements to shape string female characters that are inspiring and relatable for women, thus adding fuel to the fire that it the feminist movement. They tap into each of the persuasive elements in order to gain the trust of their audience that these characters are accurate representations of women during the time period of their releases. The Star Wars franchise is a great example of using these methods for creating female leads that please modern women’s ideals. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan was one of the first leading female characters to show Strong female characteristics after the “Second Wave Feminist movement”. As a main female character, Leia reflected the desires for equality and respect in her attitude, personality, and intelligence. Through the films she is featured in, she expresses her true feelings without regret, holds an immense position of power as both a princess and general, and shows dedication to her cause by essentially sustaining hope for the rebels over a 40 year time period, even as the male heroes come and go as it is convenient for them. The directors and writers took advantage of the kairos that presented itself directly following the Second Wave and created a character that they felt would meet the standards that women were demanding.
As the feminist movement progressed, so did the female leads in Star Wars. In the early 90’s the Third Wave feminist movement, based on desire for political and legal equality, was in full effect in the United States. When The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, Padme Amidala was designed as a powerful woman in politics, negotiating with intelligence, wit, and success. Even though Padme also suffers from some stereotyping and has a severe drop in her character arc in the last few minutes of Revenge of the Sith, she never falters from a composed queen and senator, fighting for democracy in the “right ways’ ‘. Padme serves as an embodiment of everything that the Third Wave fought for women to be seen as: a powerful, intelligent leader who was still “allowed” to be feminine. Nearly two decades later, Rey, a culmination of essentially every female movement in the last 50 years, made her first appearance as the main protagonist in The Force Awakens. Along with being the first female in the “hero” role in this franchise, she is also clearly the most progressive character from her skills to her clothing.
- Captain marvel – reflection of feminist movements and backlash received over Black widow
- Comparison of Rey Vs. Captain marvel and how they both reflect the feminist movements in different ways while maintaining the same ideals
- How ethos, pathos, logos are used in each of the characters
- The importance of kairos in constructing a character that is going to reflect a current idea
- How women also reflect these character back into feminist movements, essentially in a progressive cycle.
1. Identify the writer’s main claim about the rhetoric, ideology, lenses of analysis, or and subtext of the piece.
Main claim: Feminism is a movement that has been embraced by the entertainment industry for decades. This is represented by different feminist waves, starting on the second wave and setting an example of Star Wars who create female leads that please modern women’s ideals.
The lens you used to see this artifact is the evolution of female movements and the paired evolution in the female leads characteristics in movies from the Star Wars franchise.
2. Identify and comment on the writer’s introduction or “way in” for this piece of rhetoric. Name one thing that might be added, deleted, changed, or moved.
Your way to introduce your piece of rhetoric is by setting the background of the industry entertainment using the Kairos of current events in their movies, and by setting the background of the feminist movements. Later, you make relation of both, giving the example of the Star Wars movies. I believe there’s nothing to add. Everything makes perfect sense and the information presented is clear to understand the civic artifact.
3. Warning flags: check any of the following predominant themes this paper contains that might suggest a weak introduction or thesis:
Rhetoric is everywhere___
Artifacts try to persuade us___
Life really isn’t like what the artifact proclaims__
Rhetoric has many components__
Ads are deceptive__ T
The artifact did a great job_x_
The artifact catches your eye_x_
4. Find a strong analytical topic sentence and a weak one. Explain why you have identified them as such.
Strong – As the feminist movement progressed, so did the female leads in Star Wars. In the early 90’s the Third Wave feminist movement, based on desire for political and legal equality, was in full effect in the United States.
This sentence serves to correlate the evolution in the feminist movements and the female leads in Star Wars. Later in this paragraph, more information is presented to elaborate on this claim.
Weak – In most entertainment today, we see reflections of current events or social movements, especially in the last two years.
I don’t consider this sentence weak. However, I believe the other topic sentence serves better as a strong analytical topic sentence. Nonetheless, this sentence serves as a good “hook,” it invites me to keep reading the text.
5. Comment on the organization of the piece. What other possible arrangement strategies might make more of the material and develop arguments more fully? How well is the second comparative piece of rhetoric incorporated?
The second piece of rhetoric is not incorporated yet. However, the essay is solid, and from what I can see in the outline, the arrangement is well planned.
6. You wanted to read more about….
The draft is solid and covers everything related to the civic artifact. I cannot think of anything else I would like to read.
Speech Comment:
The Speech was well executed. The delivery is good, the voice level is adequate, there’s good memorization of the text, and the body position is ideal for the speech. Furthermore, the visual aids are images, making the presentation easy to follow. The slides avoid the use of text, and also, avoid a cognitive overload.
Identify the writer’s main claim about the rhetoric, ideology, lenses of analysis, or and subtext of the piece.
Main claim – Feminism’s connection with the Star Wars franchise.
As a Star Wars fan, I love the idea of analyzing our childhood movies. Did Star Wars have good representation of women in its story? This is not a question I asked myself when I was younger, but it is so interesting to reflect on them as an adult (plus the sequel with us being older).
2. Identify and comment on the writer’s introduction or “way in” for this piece of rhetoric. Name one thing that might be added, deleted, changed, or moved.
-The “way in” for this piece can be found in the bottom half of the first paragraph. This is where you bring up the example of Star Wars. Although this is too late. There is no clear introduction in this either. You contextualize and then go straight to Leia.
3. Warning flags: check any of the following predominant themes this paper contains that might suggest a weak introduction or thesis:
Rhetoric is everywhere ___
Artifacts try to persuade us___
Life really isn’t like what the artifact proclaims__
Rhetoric has many components _x_
Ads are deceptive__
Like I said before, the introduction needs work. The thesis is either not there or I can’t find it. There is too much contextualization too. There should either be a small amount or none. Going straight into women in Star Wars would have been a better approach.
The artifact catches your eye_x_
4. Find a strong analytical topic sentence and a weak one. Explain why you have identified them as such.
Strong – As the feminist movement progressed, so did the female leads in Star Wars. In the early 90’s the Third Wave feminist movement, based on desire for political and legal equality, was in full effect in the United States.
-This is a natural feeling topic sentence. You build from the last topic character, Leia, to the newer ones. It was smart to couple the characters with waves of feminism too. It grounds the stories to our real world ideas and challenges.
Weak- In most entertainment today, we see reflections of current events or social movements, especially in the last two years. In fact, the entertainment industry is one of the biggest users of kairos, embracing every hot topic they can in order to engage their audience.
-These are descriptive sentences, but (once more) this contextualization should not be here. Perhaps it could have gone with your body paragraphs. Going straight to the point would be a better hook.
5. Comment on the organization of the piece. What other possible arrangement strategies might make more of the material and develop arguments more fully? How well is the second comparative piece of rhetoric incorporated?
– The first paragraph needs to be split up. There are two concepts in it. One where it could be an introduction and another where it could be a body paragraph. This will make it easier to read and follow along
-There is no second artifact
6. You wanted to read more about….
– the waves of feminism you brought up. Expand on them. You briefly explain their goals but I wanted to know more connections.
Good job on the speech. I liked your pacing and delivery. You spoke clearly and I was able to follow along with your material. Your slides were also creative. It beats just placing a picture up. You could have added gestures to spice up the performance but I understand how difficult that can be. I barely did them.