Post 4

A Rhetorical Analysis of Jello Biafra's 2008 Address at Open the Debate:

       In a monetized political scene dominated by politicians that represent that represent only a sliver of the ideas shared by the American people, input from anybody that represents a third party comes as a refreshing gust of air. Jello Biafra, punk superstar turned activist, rejuvinated my faith in the United States' electorial system two and a half weeks ago when he gave a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention "Let Nader Debate" rally held in Demver's Magness Arena. He preached to the audience passionately about the barriers the electoral system places to stifle diversity of though, and urged the crowd not to settle for the less of two evils; Barack Obama. The speech did not recieve much converage, and was not expected to, but nonetheless Biafra employed a slew of rhetorical devices to great effect.

    Biafra invokes heaps of ethos and pathos with his opening statement, "Looking around the past few days, once again it really brings home to me how rabidly anti-Democratic the Democratic party really is." The colloquial diction Biafra uses draws him closer to his audience, which consists mostly of people who disagree the rigid and linear nature of the current U.S. political machine. Also, Biafra establishes his credibility among the audience with his clever use of the phrase "once again." The two words imply that Biafra has experience in the field of social criticism, and that current problem he is facing is just one of many he has helped conquer. The sentence also invokes pathos for Biafra's cause through the irony it brings to light by juxtaposing the word "democratic" with a corruption of the word that takes the form of the Democratic Party. Biafra eases himself into the listeners' minds with his attempt at humor, making his audience much more succeptable to whatever he has to say next.

   The primary rhetorical device Biafra uses throughout the body of his speech is the juxtaposition of political facts with humor. By telling the audience a fact, setting a historical precident, then cracking a joke at that fact's expense, Biafra makes the morsel of information seem absolutely ludicrous. His speech consists almost entirely of the repeated use of this technique, with the security at the Democratic National Convention, right wing politics, and left wing appeasement at the tip of his spear.

   Biafra also dips heavily into his pool of literary trophe in his speech. Being one of the most celebrated lyrisists of his time, Biafra revels in the power of diction. He uses turns of phrase such as "Bill Clintoned" and "freedom fried" in order to give the listener something to grasp onto even after they have left the stadium. By translating his opinions into catchphrases like "dealmakers not leaders" and "Don't hate the media, become the media," both produces an emotional appeal for his ideas and adds grease to the wheels that circulate his opinions.

Footage for the address can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNW7L_bsjHQ&feature=related

   

Post 3

1. Out of all of the pieces assigned for homework, I believe that Liu's essay, "Chinatown," serves as the most substantial embodiement of Think Description. Although the other essays barrage the reader with an arguably equal number of details, Liu's piece contains the most physical description, and thus provides the reader with the clearest mental image. Phrases such as "I'd be stuck, always as if for the first time, by how tiny she was: four feet nine and shrinking" (203 WP) breath life into the the little old lady.  One can easily imagine and sympathize with poor old Po-Po; perfectly shriveled and shrunked, submersing herself in the very environment she sought to escape. 

   Kincaid provides an impressive quantity of both venom and anecdotes, Staelehi effectively bores the reader out of his or her skull with the pure volume of wisdom he wishes to impart, and Gladwell gleans detailed insight into an invisible yet essential occupation, but none of the articles conjured up comprehensive images of any specific place in  general. The reader is almost asphyxiated by Kincaid's hatred, made palpable by such passages as "My nose was pressed against a glass window alright, but there was an iron vise at the back of my neck forcing my head to stay into place," (104 WP) but one can only speculate to what the window looks like, or even for what Kincaid herself looks like for that matter. The other two essays similarly bring forth interest qualitites, but fail to give them substantial tangible qualitites through description.

2. "Lane Library: A Living Learning Community" reverses the connotations tied in with the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words." She effectively pencils an elaborate sketch of the interior of Lane Library with words by utilizing an excellent command of Thick Description. Her paper fails to consider the community outside of the library however, which sets it back a tad in my book at least.