One rhetorical situation that I found interesting was the infamous MLK speech at the Lincoln memorial; thus chose to talk about it. The speech, lasting just short of seven minutes, was delivered by Martin Luther King. Jr, 1963, was credited as one of the main foundations for the civil rights moment as it bought attention and change following the speech and his unfortunate demise. His pothos is his expression of how people of color were treated and chined down by society, his ethos of being known for peaceful protests, the infamous bus boycotts, and his logos where he expresses his ideas about equality for all playing a role in his speech. In terms of appealing to people, he wanted the world to hear it; more especially he wanted government officials and local people to hear the speech. Since government officials have the power to change (those that are in Congress) and local people are the subject group he wanted to bring this change. MLK was very fixed in his ways of nonviolence, hence why I think this was one of the ways he expressed himself: through his voice as an American. 

Out of all the points he made during his speech and the topics he skipped through, I found his approach and point of view as a speaker interesting: his opinions on what he had to say. I noticed where he had chosen to give the speech: under the Lincoln memorial. Aside from the obvious symbolism, he stood next to not only people of color but people of no color. It drove home the point he was trying to make to the world. Following that, I noticed he used a lot of American legislative quotes, talking about how he wanted everyone to be born equal in this nation and the emancipation proclamation. He brought up the notion of the emancipation proclamation and what power it held back then, but such powers were not working: people of color were still not equal. 

He uses his own emotions: his dreams, where he wishes to see people of every color and race playing together in the park, or how he wishes to see his children be judged by the context of their character, not race or skin color. It adds personality and personalization to his context and what he is preaching. It sets a common goal that makes him more acceptable to the local and common people. 

Finally, he talks about the issues faced during those oppressive times, where people of color were treated harshly. He describes how they are left alone on an island, saying they are separated from society and still under acts of discrimination. 

Jia Yi Karen Li 

Tuesday, October 25^th, 2022 

ENGL 110 

Prof. Rice-Evans 

Taylor Swift’s The Best Day (Taylor’s Version) is a 4 minute and 5 second song that was released alongside the rest of the rerecording of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on April 9^th, 2021, written and recorded originally in 2008.  the rerecording was produced by Taylor Swift and Christopher Rowe, charted on Hot Country Song charts, and won Best Family Feature at the 2021 CMT Music Awards. The lyric video was uploaded on YouTube on the same day. The lyric video consists of old home videos of Swift and her family, parents and brother, when they were younger. The rhetorical strategy that The Best Day uses is pathos, the use of emotions in an argument or debate. The video of old home videos evokes a nostalgic feeling in the views and when paired with the lyrics of the song, a heartwarming feeling can be found. The home videos and lyrics can cause the listener or watcher to relive their own childhood and how their mother or family helped them get through tough times like Swift. While this song can relate to anyone with a close relationship with their family, Swift wrote this song for her family, especially her mother, Andrea Swift. This is explicitly shown throughout the song and its lyrics, as it references aspects of her childhood where her mother was there for her and specifically calls out her father and brother for being amazing people in her life. The purpose of the song was to thank her family for encouraging Swift’s music career. Because this was a song, Swift was able to use each verse to incorporate a story from her childhood that showed how her mother helped her. The stories and videos also show that Swift used ethos, the credibility that the speaker brings to the subject they are talking about, because she uses her own personal anecdotes to prove why and how her mother has helped her. Swift uses Kairos when she chronologically tells these stories in order to ‘walk’ the listener through parts of her life. She chose to use the same language she would have used as a child to emphasize how even as a young child, she could tell her mother was there for her. The rhetorical strategy used is interesting because the song could have been very straightforward to her mother, but Swift chose to use more vague and sweet tones for more people to connect with the song.