Earlier this year, Boston-based food company Toast received funding that totaled $250 million dollars, almost 30 million dollars more than AIDS treatment was funded in 1991. Some people took notice, including AIDS activists, Elizabeth Glaser, and Mary Fisher. In 1992, both women delivered a speech at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions about the importance of joining the fight against HIV. Glaser and Fisher command attention from the crowd because of their masterful display of rhetoric. Glaser focused on creating a pathotic appeal with repetition and juxtaposition, while Fisher emphasized the tragedy of reality with the use of antithesis and personification. Although both speeches resonated with the audience due to their similar establishment of ethos and utilization of Kairos and Commonplaces, they differ in their implementation of rhetorical devices.
Month: September 2019
Pulling on the Heart: Rhetorical Analysis in Speech
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– Michael Magnotti
Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!
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Can Music Cure AIDS? If So, Queen Did It…
The majority of people understand the basics of HIV and AIDS; however, few understand how much bigger the issue was only 25 years ago. Activist, Elizabeth Glaser, spoke about the issue of AIDS treatment at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.
If you’re interested, you can find the speech here.
To summarize Glaser’s speech, the past generations of leaders pushed back and procrastinated the problem of limited treatment for or protection from HIV. A large percentage struggled to afford healthcare, better yet insurance to help pay for the medicine needed to fight STDs. In fact, according to the speaker, her treatments cost $40,000 per year. In addition to protecting adults who contracted the disease, Glaser urges the world to recognize the dangers newborns face when exposed to HIV or AIDS during birth.
From a rhetorical analysis of the speech itself, Elizabeth Glaser earned the hearts of every person in the crowd. She tugged at their patriotic hearts by repeating the phrase “I believe in an America, but […]” close to five separate times. This repetition reminds the audience that America is everyone’s (but so are its problems). Glaser points out that too many people hear about the subject and think “it’s not my problem”, but she drives home the idea that it is because it is a problem affecting the entire country.
On a more specific note, Elizabeth Glaser took full advantage of Kairos in her speech. The greeks define Kairos as the right time, opportunity, occasion, or season (specifically for rhetors or rhetoricians), while others define Kairos as the right time to deliver a message to an audience with the hopes of persuading or compelling them to action.
To explain, a couple supporting arguments from Glaser’s speech appeal to the emotions of the audience. Although one can argue her direct timing (closely following her daughter’s death due to AIDS and her son’s worsening condition) contributes to her argument, her indirect timing could add a different level of connecting the audience with the use of a commonplace. The commonplace referred to being the death of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer from the infamous band Queen.
Freddie Mercury, a superstar in the 1970’s and ’80s, passed away in late November of 1991 due to HIV-related bronchopneumonia. Because so many people loved and admired Mercury, Glaser seized the moment, if you will. She found the kairos, or the perfect time, setting, and audience to give her address about treatment for HIV and AIDS.
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– Michael Magnotti
Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!
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Sources:
“HIV and AIDS.” Womenshealth.gov, Office on Women’s Health, 25 Mar. 2019, www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-and-aids.
“Freddie Mercury Short Biography” Biography Online, Biography Online, www.biographyonline.net/music/freddie-mercury.html.
What Makes A Photographer… It’s Not Just Taking A Picture?
A current trend amongst the youth of calling themselves a “photographer” because they take good Instagram photos portrays photography as simply a hobby but negates the careers of many esteemed photographers.
Therefore, one must ask the question on everyone’s minds: Then what makes a photographer?
Personally, I believe a photographer to be someone who views the world with the untrained eye, understands how each subject interacts with each other, and captures the moment or the feeling use technical knowledge of the camera. Essentially, a photographer does not take a picture but creates one. Photography is not about taking a picture (you just push a button to do that), it’s about telling a story or transferring emotion.
To explain, some people want to take good quality photos so they buy a good quality camera, but they keep it on Auto mode. As you can see from the photo above, most cameras contain many different settings (Which we will get into eventually). Even iPhones have multiple settings such as customizable aperture size, shutter speed, and exposure.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m focusing so much on utilizing the different photo modes. I’m stressing the importance of defining a photographer because I have a mission for this blog: in the next five to six posts, I can promise you will be off auto mode and possibly shooting on a primarily manual.
In my opinion, a photographer utilizes the tools and settings within the camera to manipulate what is captured. The three main attributes of a camera are the ISO (Brightness), F stop(Aperture size), and Shutter speed.
In order to make my point, let’s look at an example from Photo Editing India.
One could train a monkey to take the before picture. Fun fact, a scientist trained an octopus in New Zealand to take photos of tourists. However, it takes a creative mind and photographic knowledge to create the photo on the right.
The photographer of this photo, most likely, understood the interaction between the sun and the sand (the sand amplifies the sunlight). Therefore, he or she underexposed the photo in order to bring back the detail later in photoshop or some other photo editing software.
In addition to exposure, the photographer chose an appropriate shutter speed for the photo. Because the model is walking, a faster shutter speed is required to reduce blur. Because shutter speed and exposure change the brightness of the photo, it is very possible the photographer changed the aperture size to compensate for the lightness or darkness.
In conclusion, photography is a hobby but a photographer understands how the world and his or her camera work together to create a photo. Three main tools a photographer might use are Exposure, Aperture size, and Shutter speed. I hope this first post inspires you to get excited to learn as much as it inspires me to help you on your way!
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– Michael Magnotti
Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!
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Yul Brynner Couldn’t Stop It, and It Killed Him. Can You?
Unfortunately, too many people have experienced the loss of a loved one due to cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control, doctors diagnose one in two men and one in three women with some sort of cancer.
The only problem with the aforementioned statistic is that most cancer is not intentional. A famous actor from the 1970s, Yul Brynner, was featured in a commercial after his early death caused by smoking.
You can download and watch the commercial of Yul Brynner here.
The video was especially persuasive because it delivered the perfect trifecta: Great ethos, pathos, and logos. The delivered ethos comes from the commercial being sponsored by the American Cancer Society. On the other hand, the emphasis on pathos originates from Yul Brynner himself. Brynner was one of the most prominent actors of the time, thus the audience already felt connected to him and probably did not recover from his death (which occurred only one year prior.
Lastly, the commercial contains multiple sources for logos appeal. The last sentence Brynner offers the audience is striking because he recounts that “if [he] could take back that smoking, we wouldn’t be talking about any cancer”. The full effect comes into play when we acknowledge that this statement was delivered as the American Cancer Society logo was displayed (adding additional logos appeal).
Furthermore on the subject of persuasion, the commercial utilizes the philosophy of Commonplaces (referring to rhetoric) to persuade the audience. because Yul Brynner played so many parts in so many different television shows or motion pictures, the audience can relate to this commonplace, this sort of connecting agent.
To summarize, Yul Brynner was featured in a very moving anti-smoking commercial. Said commercial focused their efforts to create a collective effect on all members of the audience. In this way, the commercial is a historic and “civic” artifact. The civic aspect of the commercial is emphasized when Brynner speaks directly to the audience and continuously says “we”.
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– Michael Magnotti
Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!
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Sources:
Center for Disease Control – cdc.gov