The author Elias Leight writes about the on going trend in the music industry for artists to create long albums. According to the author, a long album is one that passes an hour. This is illustrated by him stating Lana Del Rey's album being an hour and eleven minutes long (Leight).
Leight uses formal diction in this article. This is shown when he writes "streaming's reshaping of music consumption..." (Leight). This is formal diction as he uses professional language and does not write like he is addressing a friend. Because of this formal diction, the author has detached emotions in the article. He does not write personally enough to show his own opinions. He only shows questioning, or a slight curiousness; it is present in the title of his article, as it is a question itself. (Leight). The author conveys an objective tone throughout the article. This starts as he includes "what's driving the trend?" (Leight) before diving into two opinions (an argument and a counterargument) on the reason behind albums becoming longer. He does not include his own opinion as well, as it stays formal and objective. Leight relies heavily on appeals to ethos as well. This is illustrated when he adds "says Malcolm Manswell, a marketing manager..." to describe where his quotes and information are coming from. This conveys ethos as he is describing the credibility of his sources and evidence. This can also aid Leight's article in proving it is relevant, if it has credible people discussing it. He includes logos as well to properly present each opinion and give enough information to explain each idea. This is present when he states the argument that longer albums are used to exploit the music industry to reach gold albums and to make more money. He inserts "60 percent of streaming-service subscribers are more likely to listen to "individual albums and tracks just a few times...because they are discovering so much new music." This describes an opinion and gives facts to back up the claim as to why more songs means more chances for the singer's song to be streamed. The author's purpose is to explore the reason behind albums becoming larger, and to inform the reader to different opinions on the matter. This is shown through his different opinions and quotes added to the article. Leight adds "exploiting loopholes is nothing new in the music business" before writing about one present opinion on the matter. This position is important and valid. Since there are so many articles and media platforms plagued with bias, this is one that tries to escape that label. It remains alone as it addresses different opinions to this question, which many could appreciate.
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Last night, the President of the United States lead his first State of the Union. This is an address given yearly each January by the President to Congress, to express plans for legislation to lay out the President's plan as well. The Rolling Stone has made an article concerning the State of the Union Address given on January, 30th.
This article by Matt Laslo gives a list of '5 things' the audience did not get to see on the TV while the event was being aired. Laslo uses informal diction in his article, attempting to provide a tone of humor and sarcasm-satire. When describing the smell of the Capitol, he describes it as smelling like a "greasy diner or college dorm..." (Laslo). He wrote this in a descriptive way, but used language that would not be found in a formal essay, especially in one addressing the nation's Capitol. In addition he includes "(take that, Trump!)" further illustrating the informal diction used, as this is something the author would say to a friend. Laslo shows a low level of emotional attachment as most of the words and phrases he writes are all phrased in a joking matter, that pokes fun at the issue of Trump, or the United State's government. Though he pokes fun at it, this could show how he does not agree with Donald Trump, making his emotions towards the address negative-thus explaining the joking tone. This emotion of, what is almost like pettiness, is shown through the humorous air he includes. By using these informal words, he succeeds in demonstrating a satirical tone as he ridicules the Capitol by providing five things that happens 'behind the scenes.' He shows this immediately by naming his first point, "The Capitol smells worse than a college dorm" (Laslo). By including this ridiculing statement of the Capitol, it automatically informs the reader of his views, and the stance his satirical and sarcastic article takes. In addition, he reported about bars offering drinking games for each time Trump said a word he uses relentlessly: '"America First,' 'Middle Class,' [and] 'Fake News'" (Laslo). This makes fun of the President and his views, as they turned some of his major points, and statements, into a game. This of course, pokes fun at the President himself, showing the ridiculing and somewhat mocking, amusing tone. Matt Laslo also took advantage of other rhetorical devices in constructing his article. He used hyperboles-an extreme exaggeration-throughout the article. One example of this is shown through what Laslo labeled as point number four: "Lawmakers behave like little kids" (Laslo). This is a simile-another rhetorical device- as well, as it includes 'like' while comparing lawmakers to children. This is a hyperbole because Lawmakers are not acting exactly like young children do. He uses this to show that lawmakers act immaturely as they wait for supposed hours to get a seat close enough to shake Trump's hand. He does not mean that they act like young children who cry, have tantrums, and cannot use the bathroom by themselves. He also appeals to pathos as well, as he tries to relate to people's sense of humor and what they will find funny. This is shown when he writes about the lawmakers who wait for hours to get a seat close to Trump, he compares them to "young teens who camp out for hours... to score tickets for Katy Perry..." (Laslo). This paints an appeal to pathos as this was said in a humorous light to make the audience laugh. The author's purpose is to simply make fun of the President and his administration, through criticizing what supposedly goes on at Capitol Hill during events like the State of the Union through humorous inputs. This is present in his titles of the points that show what he believes goes on beyond the cameras. Through this, he shows his own views as well, as he makes fun of a Republican. In addition, The Rolling Stone is also a historically democratic news source, furthering the proof of it being bias towards the republican adminstration. His views come through when he inserts this quote by Engel that states: "I don't agree with what the president's doing, and I don't want to show any kind of approval" (Laslo). Here, he criticizes the President. This purpose is interesting as he expresses his own ideas and views, in a funny way, to make people laugh. There is nothing wrong with this purpose, but those who do not agree with democratic views, could find this article offensive, or off kilter-ed. check out this article here: 'The Greatest showman'The Greatest Showman is a new movie that hits theaters Dec. 19th. It has been a highly anticipated film and the first reviews regarding the movie are finally in. The movie is inspired by P.T. Barnum and his life while he started his circus. Further more, It deals with the rise and birth of show business and follows the story of someone who rose from nothing.
This article by Peter Travers is a review of the movie itself and tells his opinions on it, and gives a brief description as to why. Travers uses a mix of informal and formal diction in his article to get his point across of 'The Greatest Showman', not being so 'great'. He adds, "How do you cast a virtuoso Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, spare no expense in production values...[and still make a bad movie]" (Travers). This illustrates his formal diction as he uses words such as "virtuoso" in explaining the actor Hugh Jackman, along with "spare no expense" to describe the money spent during production. This starts off immediately with a negative connotation towards the film. More commonly, Travis inserted informal diction, this is seen here: "end up with the shrill blast of nothing..." and "he sure acted like he did" (Travers). This comes across as informal diction because he uses phrases and words such as "shrill blast of nothing" and "he sure acted". These are both things that would be said to friends. Using these words gives the tone that he is talking to the reader directly, and helps connect the reader more to his negative opinion of the movie. The author does not hold much emotional attachment to this article, or movie. This can be determined through the language he uses since it is all informal and critical of the movie. In addition, it is a somewhat brief article, giving off the impression that it is not extremely important to the author. His language including "what a shame" (Travers) it shows a slightly sarcastic emotional level, and one that is detached as well as it is critical. The author gives off a critical tone in the article. This is to be expected as well since he is reviewing a movie, and critics are expected to be critical and examining people. This critical tone also comes across in his language. It is shown when he writes, "In cinematic misfire 'The Greatest Showman,' first-time director Michael Gracey fails to master..." (Travers). The critical tone comes through the phrase "cinematic misfire" as he compares 'The Greatest Showman' to this exaggeration that tells his opinion on how the movie missed the mark. In addition, he includes "fail to master" which further pushes his opinion of it being a mediocre or sub-par movie. He also helps to aid this argument by including his informal diction as it makes the movie seen unimportant or unimpressive, like simple language sometimes can be. His critical tone definitely helps to convey his disappointed, unimpressed, and critical attitude towards the film. By inserting "What a shame that Gracey buried Jackman and company in a pile of marshmallow" (Travers). His disappointment and unimpressed opinion is shown through this excerpt as he criticizes the movie for hurting and ruining Jackman's role in the movie. This is also critical as well, as it targets the director of the movie for overshadowing and underdoing Jackman's role with a "pile of marshmallow" (Travers). Travers also appeals to logos as he adds information about a critic who has also had negative thoughts about 'The Greatest Showmen: "[T]he film throws stones at theater critic James Bennett (Paul Sparks) who writes venomously... In the context of this story, bad reviews are fake news" (Travers). This helps support his claim by giving information informing the audience that his argument has merit as he is not the only one who feels this way. In addition, he adds ethos. The ethos is in regards to the film itself, because he writes about all the qualified and known stars, writers, an producers involved in the making of the film. He writes " add a score by Oscar (La La Land) and Tony (Dear Evan Hansen) winners Ben Pasek and Justin Paul..." (Travers). By adding this, it makes people somewhat angry and confused as to why such an 'allstar' team produced such a sub-par movie, according to his claim. The author's overall purpose is to inform readers on why 'The Greatest Showman' was not amazing and to tell others of his opinion regarding the film as critic. This is shown when he tells in his thesis how they made the movie "without ever mastering the crucial knack of building snippets of musical comedy and drama into a satisfying whole" (Travers). By writing this right off the bat, the reader knows his initial opinion and view on the film and impacts the reader because it is concise and makes a point. His goal was achieved overall because of his plethora of opinions and contradictory statements that idolized the cast, but then compared that to the plot, story, and presentation of this movie altogether. This purpose has some value because many look to critics like Travers to inform on on whether a movie is worth seeing or not. To add on, he also makes a living from this as well which adds value since it is his job and source of money to live. On the other side, shouldn't people be able to see the movie themselves and craft their own opinion without the influence of critics?; this calls the value of the article and its motives into question. Check out this article here: It's Time to Revisit Trump's History with Women
This article addresses an ongoing controversy and problem that is facing America and the world today: sexual assault. As of recently, victims of sexual assault have been coming out and accusing their assaulters of what they did. This started with accusations focused on those in Hollywood, such as Harvey Weinstein who was one of the first accused, with many to follow. With so many brave victims coming forward, it is starting a movement for others to call out these people who have sexually assaulted others. The author of this article, David Cohen believes all the allegations that deal with Trump assaulting women should be called into question. Cohen often uses informal diction as he addresses the matter and talks to the audience like they are there by using 'we.' Along with this, he uses short sentences and dashes as well that give off an informal diction in the article. This is shown when he adds "As a country, we didn't listen to those women last year" (Cohal). By adding this he creates a bond with the reader to connect with them as if they are mutuals, or friends. In addition to this, this shows his emotional attachment as he is stating how they, as Americans ignored those women when they shouldn't have, as this article tells how sexual assault should be addressed now. He uses short sentences as well that include words that convey an informal tone because of how short and brief they are: "And then there's politics" (Cohan). This is a way someone would talk to friends, making it informal. This also shows his criticizing tone as he introduces the topic in a way where it is worded to where the reader sees what follows the sentence will be negative. Cohen's emotional attachment is shown through: "Amid this seemingly massive culture shift around sexual harassment, assault and abuse, the brave women who have come forward with allegations against Trump deserve to be trusted as well" (Cohan). By including this statement that compliments the women who have come forward and talks about how them coming forward is a cultural shift, it conveys his positive viewpoints on this change, and his emotional involvement that is proud and criticizing as he calls for questioning of the President, and others. The author's tone is critical and optimistic as well. He shows a critical tone because of how he calls out the President for being the victim of many allegations of sexual assault, and others in America. Cohan writes, "All told, at least 16 women have accused Trump of harassment, assault or other abusive sexual behavior" (Cohan). After this, he states how Trump "...denied all those claims, at one point suggesting some of his accusers were too unattractive for him to have assaulted" (Cohan) calls Trump into question by criticizing what he did. In addition, he follows with criticizing Americans as he says how Americans ignored these allegations. The optimistic tone is shown by how he tells that the sexual assault is a big, pressing issue in the United States. He shows this by including "We're in the midst of a unique moment in modern history. Women are speaking up about the mistreatment they've suffered at the hands of powerful men – and people are actually listening" (Cohan). By adding this and then following the rest of the article with reasons why this is an important change, he implies an optimistic tone as he wants this to continue and to create positive change. Other rhetorical devices David Cohan appeals to is ethos and pathos. He appeals to ethos by inserting "As The New York Times reported last year, Trump is accused of sexually assaulting a woman on an airplane" (Cohan). By including this, he establishes credibility in his article by showing that this issue involving the President has indeed happened, and has happened multiple times as well. This also gives him evidence to show how this is an issue that needs to be reported and talked about more. In addition, it appeals to ethos because it is from the New York Times, a trusted and accredited news source. He appeals to pathos as well by adding "Trump has freely admitted that he would enter the dressing room at Miss Teen USA beauty pageants, with some contestants as young as 14" (Cohan). This is used to illicit an angry and scared response from readers, especially parents; this makes them angry that he did an act like this to children and scared that someone with as much power as Donald Trump would choose to do this. The author's purpose is to inform readers about the sexual assault allegations that have been surfacing, especially ones about the President. Along with this, he gives a call to action to push this change in culture to be mainstream, the change of women standing up and coming forward with their stories of sexual assault. His purpose is to aid other women in coming forward and to let America except and embrace this change. This is shown directly through the text in this excerpt: "We're in the midst of a unique moment in modern history. Women are speaking up about the mistreatment they've suffered at the hands of powerful men – and people are actually listening. Whether the end result will be a backlash or a radical reconfiguration of power dynamics in the workforce is yet to be seen, but there's no denying that something new is happening regarding sexual harassment, assault and abuse" (Cohan). This illustrates his purpose to inform about the sexual assault and change as he tells how this is a change in history. In addition, it shows his encouragement of women coming forward as he talks about this change in a positive light and how people are actually listening. Along with this it shows his want for people to support this by saying how this is something new and important that is happening in America. By writing this opinion, he wants to achieve a culture that accepts women coming forward and one that holds men accountable for what they have done. The worth of this argument and purpose is large because it deals with a serious negative topic, sexual assault. This purpose is important because it encourages women to come forward, for America is acknowledge this change in culture (of women coming forward and men being held accountable), and to inform the world of those who have been accused of such horrible acts. Check out this Article HERE! This article intrigued me because of its title. When it comes to mass shootings, It almost always seems like the perpetrator is put into the spotlight and is focused on more than the victims. Although this can give insight on how despicable people like Stephen Paddock work and decide to do these horrible acts, it is equally-and if not that, more important- to shine the light on the victims in remembrance, vigilance, and awareness of how they were affected. This article by S.E. Smith seemed like it would be focusing on the survivors of this horrific event rather than the one who caused it, which I appreciated. Right off the bat, S.E. Smith uses formal diction when discussing the matter of the effects the survivors of the Las Vegas shooting face. He states, "We know from examining the aftermaths of other mass shootings that these hundreds of injured have a long and difficult journey ahead of them..." (Smith). By including this diction that is formal, it creates a straight forward message and tone that makes the article and the issue seem important which will ultimately affect the reader. The author conveys his emotions towards the issue by adding negative diction and quotes that expressed this as well. For example: "Reed tells Rolling Stone people have expressed to her, "I don't want to speak with her – she was only injured. I want to speak with someone who was really affected." (Smith). Writing this adds to Smith's view of how this treatment of survivors during the aftermath is unfair and unjust. These phrases and words show his tone as being candid as he gives facts and opinions of those in a straight forward fashion. He also conveys a critical tone as he scrutinizes how victims are treated and their disadvantages they may face with medical care as well. He expresses this through his writing when he introduces, defines, and criticizes high velocity weapons and follows after with " And that's not the only problem." Following this statement, he launches straight into another drawback of these weapons. This is an example of his scrutinizing manner and candid tone as he moves on in an orderly fashion to explain things clearly. Besides diction, the author provides account of logos. S.E. Smith includes "...[Paddock] killed 58 people... [along with] the 489 individuals he injured." Adding appeals to logos by inserting facts of the number of those affected shows the audience how serious this mass shooting was and provides initial required information to understand the impact and the rest of the article. S.E. Smith also appeals to pathos as well. This is shown when he writes, "For her, every new mass shooting reminds her of how society focuses on killers and fatalities, but tends to forget those who live through such tragedies with injuries or disabilities" (S.E. Smith). By adding this, it makes the audience feel guilt and sadness for how society and people choose to view these mass shooting situations, rather than how he wishes they would. The author's purpose was to inform people about the different effects-physical, mental, and financial- that victims of mass shootings face, including those of the recent Las Vegas shooting. His overall goal is to ultimately inform others how of the unfair repercussions these people unwillingly have to face, sometimes for the rest of their lives. This is shown directly in the text when he added "while many people may think of post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of shootings, Berkowitz says other mental health conditions can come into play as well". By adding statements such as these and expanding off of them, he contributes to furthering the readers' knowledge and understanding of the lives of mass shooting victims. This purpose is wonderful because it shows a side of the story the public does not necessarily get to see. The news posts about the killer for weeks, updating everyone on his life and saying things like "How could someone like him/her even be a cold blooded killer?" Instead of focusing around the murderer, this article does something more refreshing and personally what I consider, more correct, as it focuses on victims. In addition, it tells about the aftermath of the shooting and how it will possibly affect them for the rest of their lives; this is another thing not everyone considers or thinks of. By writing this article, it adds a crucial point of view on how people should be treated in these situations. Check out the article yourself here! Harry Styles' New Direction Rolling Stone is a news source that writes articles and gives updates on a wide range of topics, from politics to music. My first blog post, will be focusing on the music aspects of this news source. As Rolling Stone is known for its music coverage, I figured this would be an appropriate first start. So, this post will be covering the interview conducted and the article written about Harry Styles. The writer of this article, Cameron Crowe was tasked with writing about Harry Styles after his journey in the band 'One Direction', or '1D'. He writes about a 'new' Harry Styles to hopefully persuade the audience to see the new, more mysterious, and more honest Harry the fans did not get the chance to see during his time in the band. Harry Styles is known as a world wide sensation and a heart throb from his time in One Direction, as they sold out arenas that held 80,000 people and became the biggest band world wide. Their success was impossible not to recognize. But after? That is what this article is hoping to give more insight on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The author uses a large amount of formal diction when describing Harry himself, or the situations and surroundings he is being interviewed in. Crowe uses this formal writing to give off the effect that Styles is mysterious, honest, and should be seen as a serious musician. This is present when he uses phrases such as "it was a search for a new identity' (Crowe) when describing what Harry's new path was about. By trying to portray him this way, it is supposed to convey that he's done with his boy-band years. When quoting Harry himself, or describing him, they give him a more adult and excited tone, and that was also present in the way he answered Crowe's questions. He responded with more adult language-something he would not have been able to do in the band- and used more excited wording as well to show he was passionate and serious about his music. Crowe attempts to create an emotional attachment between Harry and the intended audience, who are his fans. By using formal diction that is descriptive of Harry's mannerisms's, looks, and thinking it creates a more intimate feeling and gives the fans what they are looking for. By using "the layers began to slip away" when talking about having an intimate interview with Harry, it allows the reader to feel included in this 'secret' as well. Or, when adding the descriptive diction of "a seriously cheerful smile" (Crowe) it paints the image of Harry the audience craves to see and let's them see essentially, the Harry no one had the chance to meet during One Direction. The author included other rhetorical devices to help his claim of the new Harry and new path he had. He utilizes multiple instances of imagery to connect the readers to the article and to Styles. He includes "A lanky guy in a wool hat, overcoat and jogging pants, hands thrust deep into his pockets. Harry Styles had a lot on his mind" (Crowe.) By writing this, it describes Harry in a way that fans have never known before, and softly pushes the claim that this Harry is different from the one the audience once knew. In addition to this, the author appeals to pathos when he writes about Harry Styles' reaction to talking about his parent's divorce. He shows Harry becoming slightly upset, which pulls at the audience's heartstrings when he added "His eyes moisten a little, but unlike the young man who wept over an early bout with Internet criticism... Styles tonight knocks back the sentiment" (Crowe). The author's tone was very candid, as he described Harry, his past achievements, and all he is doing now. By appealing to a candid tone, it helped the argument come across more clearly; the argument that Harry is very honest in this article about his past and future, and is very unreserved. He creates this tone by including a truthful tone even in small details or statements about his path. This includes: "It was in a London studio in late 2014 that Styles first brought up the idea of One Direction taking a break" Crowe). By including this very straightforward, truthful point, it shows the candid tone and gives across the author's view of how the 'new' Harry is great, and that this path is better than his run with 1D. The author's overall purpose is to tell the audience of Harry Styles' new journey in his career and to show people how he should be considered a serious artist. This article represents the large part of the music coverage Rolling Stone reports and Crowe's writing adds to this, especially since this was a breakthrough article on Harry Styles' upcoming and anticipated solo career. This purpose to inform about his new path and to persuade the audience to see him as serious, professional artist has some worth. It helps to give Harry Styles recognition for his upcoming career. It also gave the intended audience of the fans a more in depth look at his life and thoughts, which gives the audience something to look forward to and to feel content about. This purpose is shown directly in the text where it talks about his time in Jamaica and experiences writing his album there. |
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