Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline/Draft

Now that I’ve created the outline for my speech, here’s the outline for my comparative essay:

Topics – “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd and “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.

Purpose – To explain how both “Us and Them” and “I Have a Dream” use rhetoric to persuade listeners to realize the harm of separation (“us vs. them”).

Thesis Statement – Pink Floyd and Martin Luther King Jr. both utilize intrinsic proofs, capitalize on the kairotic moments of the times, the Cold War and the age of segregation respectively, and issue a challenge to the dominant ideology in order to argue for a civic call to end the separation of seemingly different peoples.

Introduction

Attention Strategy – Separation is destruction. Throughout history, humans have had a tendency to separate form each other, forming allegiances to one side and criticizing the other. This kind of division causes destruction. Both Pink Floyd and Martin Luther King Jr. were able to realize this.

Orienting Material – Describe relation of Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” to Cold War and MLK’s “I Have a Dream” to segregation

Preview – Use of intrinsic proofs in music, lyrics, and speech; relation to kairos of the times for each artifact, issue of challenges to dominant ideologies through song and speech

Body

  1. Main Idea – Both “Us and Them” and “I Have a Dream” find reliability in intrinsic proofs to get the message across.
    1. Intrinsic proofs of “Us and Them”
      1. Logos represented as a logical argument against war in lyrics
      2. Pathos represented in anecdotes of lyrics and “hills” and “valleys” of music
    2. Intrinsic proofs of “I Have a Dream”
      1. Ethos of MLK as a speaker on racial segregation
      2. Logos/pathos of words and anecdotes spoken in speech
  2. Main Idea – The Cold War and the age of segregation provide kairotic backgrounds to assist Pink Floyd and Martin Luther King Jr. in delivering their messages.
    1. Cold War is a time of separation
      1. “Us vs. them” mentality held by both sides
      2. Fear of unknown and possible nuclear destruction increases tension and hatred of other side
    2. Age of segregation is a time of separation
      1. Racist backlash higher than ever due to civil right reforms beginning to occur
      2. Racially motivated deaths like Malcolm X and Medgar Evers show signs of destruction
  3. Main Idea – Pink Floyd and Martin Luther King Jr. use their artifacts to issue a challenge to the dominant “us vs. them” ideology using different methods to reach the same emerging ideology of togetherness.
    1. Pink Floyd challenge to separation
      1. Uses grim images of war, death, and sadness in song lyrics
      2. Uses example of what could happen if separation continues (negative consequences)
    2. MLK challenge to separation
      1. Uses positive images of brotherhood and nonjudgmental unity
      2. Uses examples of what could happen if separation ends (positive consequences)

Conclusion

Summary Statement – “Us and Them” and the “I Have a Dream” speech are excellent examples of pieces that use intrinsic proofs, kairos, and emerging ideologies to explain the destructiveness of division between people.

Concluding Remark – Both Pink Floyd and Martin Luther King Jr. were able to leave us with profound pieces of literature that have meanings still echoing in today’s society.

If you wish, leave a comment saying what you like or what you think I could add. All constructive criticism is appreciated.

One thought on “Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline/Draft”

  1. I think this is a really good and thorough outline. I think your thesis statement could definitely be cleaner. Personally, I would remove the clause “the Cold War and the age of segregation respectively” to make the statement less wordy. A totally spitballed idea for a more compressed thesis might be “Pink Floyd and MLK both utilize intrinsic proofs and kairotic moments in order to challenge the dominant ideology of division and bring people together.” That isn’t any kind of polished thesis, just an idea.
    I think the paper’s points work together very well and should lead to a cohesive paper. Having the pieces each share all three points will make for a tight and focused paper. In main idea point 1 I’m not sure that “reliability” is the word to use there, but provided more context I could be wrong. I think the only other potential issue I could see with this paper is making sure there is a clear distinction between the second and third points of your paper. I think that it will be important to make sure that a discussion of Kairos of the moment (provided by the setting and time the events take place), does not mesh into a discussion of the dominant ideology of the times, because I think the dominant ideology of the time is important in forming that kairotic moment. So long as you can keep these issues separate, I think this will be a great paper!

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