Rhetoric

Tentative Thesis and Supporting Points

David Fincher’s use of sound in The Social Network is essential in setting the tone and mood on countless occasions throughout the film and provides a general sense of the type of content that can be expected from those particular scenes, while simultaneously stimulating our knowledge of stereotypes.

The first party scene of the movie features heavy dance music and leads to the inference that there’s going to be alcohol, dancing, sexual innuendo, etc. in the scene. Not surprisingly, thats what we see.

Another example, although with a bit of a different outcome, is the music in the very last scene of the film. Whereas in the prior example, the film confirms what we suspect will happen, the last scene leaves us hanging. We are forced to draw conclusions from the context outside of the film.

The Social Network

The Social Network is an American film produced in 2010 that describes the development of Facebook based on the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich. The film was directed by David Fincher and produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Cean Chaffi. Starring in the movie were: Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker. The movie has been described by some of its protagonists as inaccurate. However, the book was written based on interactions between Mezrich and Saverin. Both Mezrich and Fincher took advantage of the not very well known story behind the creation of Facebook as their rhetorical situation.

Review of Readings

I have selected a few lines from the different resources that we have used so far in the semester and scenes from The Social Network that exemplify the texts.

“Rhetoric we define broadly as the art, practice, and study of human communication” – taken from UWP’s What We Teach

The Social Network has rhetoric written all over it. not only is the film an example of the art of human communication, but the entire movie is about human communication and/or the lack of it.

“Pathos – proofs of emotion; appeals to the values of the audience” – also taken from UWP’s What We Teach

The film constantly makes use of pathos when it shows the way Mark treated others throughout the whole story. It appeals to our sense of sympathy for Eduardo and the Winklevoss Twins.

“Rhetorical Situation – the event or exigency that calls forth the rhetoric, spoken or written” – What We Teach

The makers of the movie saw the impact that Facebook has on society and thought that not enough people new the story behind it.

“While the existence of a rhetorical address is a reliable sign of the existence of situation, it does not follow that a situation exists only when the discourse exists” – from Bitzer’s The Rhetorical Situation

The film is definitely an example of a rhetorical address brought into being because of the rhetorical situation of not many people knowing the story behind Facebook. However, without the film, the rhetorical situation still stands. Once Facebook was made, there was always going to be a story behind its creation and if The Social Network didn’t inform people about it, some other form of media would sooner or later.

“Rhetor to refer to an individual engaged in creating or presenting rhetorical discourse” – Herrick’s An Overview of Rhetoric

in the case of The Social Network the rhetors would be the the whole production crew who worked to make the film.

Immediacy, Hypermediacy and Remediation

I would have to say that both the film we are watching and the images we saw at the museum are more immersive in some aspects than in others. With the images, the medium draws attention away from itself by placing us right in the action, with parts of the pictures seeming to jump at us (attack dog for example) and immersing us in the frame. However, it also draws attention to itself by being in black and white and providing just what is there. The film, on the other hand, draws attention away from itself by providing movement with the characters. In the opening scene of the film we almost get the impression that we’re sitting at the table with Mark and Erica. Inversely, our attention is drawn to the medium when one scene cuts to another, showing a time lapse. or juxtaposing the two scenes.

I’d say that overall, the film does a better job of providing a rhetorical impact. With film we see changes in expression, posture, etc. and we get the added benefit of hearing what is happening. We also “follow the action” as it progresses, whereas in pictures we are stuck with what is given to us.

Snite Museum Visit

On Tuesday’s visit to the art museum, I found the fourth image that we viewed to be the most memorable. The simple fact that it expressed a feeling of victory over racism and segregation (even though it wasn’t true yet) and that the triumph of the Civil Rights Movement is such a big landmark in our history as a country made it more appealing to me. I’d say that the most difficult part of analyzing photography was finding the meaning in the smaller details. In part, I think this is because we don’t notice those details to begin with. Once we make note of these smaller details we see that most of the meaning can actually be hidden there and that is huge when we analyze images.

Controversial Chipotle Advertisement

My image is an advertisement for the fast food chain Chipotle. The ad features a white background and the Chipotle logo along with the company’s slogan in the lower right corner. It also includes an aluminum foil-wrapped burrito and text that reads, “Usually when you roll something this good, it’s illegal.”

Quite thought-provoking, eh?

Quite thought-provoking, eh?

The first point that I’d like to make about this ad and what makes it rhetorical is in relation to an argument made by Bitzer in The Rhetorical Situation. In section one, paragraph three, lines three through six, Professor Bitzer mentions that,

 “a work of rhetoric is pragmatic; it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself; it functions ultimately to produce action or change in the world; it performs some task”.

Simply put, the fact that my image is an advertisement by default makes it rhetorical. All advertisements result from some company or person’s desire to “produce an action or change in the world”. The advertisement is simply a vehicle that the person or company uses to get to their final destination (the change in the world).

This ad in particular fits Bitzer’s definition perfectly. Why did Chipotle make this ad? It wasn’t just to be able to say that they made an advertisement. It wasn’t to make people laugh either. The goal of the ad is to get you to believe that the burritos at Chipotle are extremely good. Did Chipotle use humor? Yes, but that humor is comparable to a tire on the vehicle that is being used to reach “the change in the world”.

A second point, also inspired by Bitzer, comes from section one, paragraph four, lines three through four of the same article, “A particular discourse comes into existence because of some specific condition or situation that invites utterance”. Here we see a condition which applies to any business. What caused Chipotle to choose to make an advertising campaign? They were aware that there were populations that Chipotle didn’t appeal to. Thinking as a business, it is obviously better to appeal to more than less people. This specific ad is trying to appeal to those who would see illegal things that get rolled (blunts?) as good. This point is also supported very well by James A. Herrick in Chapter one of his book The History and Theory of Rhetoric. He says, “Rhetoric is planned with some audience in mind”. So in this case, Chipotle could have received information from questionnaires or polls that indicated a low level of business coming from marijuana users. That, then, became the basis for why and how to approach advertising for Chipotle.

Another thing to note is the slogan of the company (in any case) and how often it is tied into the advertisement itself. Here we see Chipotle’s slogan, “Gourmet Burritos, Addictive Flavor”. The key word here is addictive. Is it mere coincidence that marijuana builds physiological dependence? We can give the ad the benefit of the doubt, but keep that possibility in the back of your mind.

Thanks to texts like those that we have been looking over in class, we can dissect simple images and artifacts like an advertisement or an image, etc. and find rhetorical value in them. Many times we come across rhetorically strong objects and we don’t even realize it. All it takes is a little time and effort and meaning will “magically appear” if you know what you’re looking for.

Hook Questions

I believe that the specific questions that form in the minds of readers will always rely on the reader themselves. Depending on the experiences of each person, their reactions to the information laid out in front of them will be different.

Obviously, the author is hoping that readers will form certain questions; questions to which the writer will provide their insight on to sway readers in the same direction as themselves. The goal of the author’s writing is to stick those questions in the reader’s mind. However, going back to the point above and remembering that everyone’s experiences are different, the ideal outcome is that readers will not only ask questions implied by the writer, but questions that their experiences bring about.

The main question, regardless, has to be: what is this about. What is the tension and how will it be solved? From there, other specific questions sprout. What is causing the tension and why? Who is involved? Is the tension interpersonal or intrapersonal?

A few of the questions that the reader formulates are answered right away. They have to be if the reader is expected to understand the rest of the narrative. The main questions, however, aren’t answered until the end of the narrative. If they were answered before then, there would be no purpose for the rest of the writing.

WCA Readings Reflection

The Elephant Ear Memory definitely had tension and good descriptive language. Mukumbi truly managed to convey that sense of anger and frustration with the ignorance and racism she dealt with. I personally felt enraged with what went on throughout the narrative. The way the author integrated the Elephant Ears really got the idea across that the problems she encountered at that point kind of turned things sour. She was super excited to try this new thing called elephant ears and then once she tries them she finds out she hates one of the ingredients. Another nice rhetorical feature was the turn and resolution towards the end of the narrative where Mukumbi has gotten past the rotten feeling she would get because of others’ ignorance. She is different by the end of the narrative. She is happy with who she is and not bothered by others like the man on the bus in the end of her writing.

Becoming Screen Literate, on the other hand, used a bit of a different approach using rhetorical tools like chronological exposition and providing very visual descriptions of very visual examples. The gradual progression from the spoken word all the way to Youtube videos and into the future also helped to see what the author predicts will happen in the future with screens. The way he described changes from one medium to another and so on pushes the mind along to seeing the future of media almost without him having to continue naming features of future technology.