Analysis of "Self-Evident" by Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco’s poem “Self-Evident” is her commentary criticizing the current state of America. She includes major issues such as the questionable outcome of the 2000 election, September 11, rising oil prices, the Iraq war, and the general stagnation of American culture. At the same time, the author seems to try and convince the general public to become more aware of the injustices occurring in the country around them and perhaps even tries to convince them to take action. She appeals to them using the techniques of rhetoric.

Logos, ethos, and pathos are used to convince the audience of existence of many unaddressed problems in America. Through logos, she appeals to her audience’s common sense with solid evidence and examples. For example, she cites the results of the 2000 presidential recount election in Forida: “…under the thumb of some blue blood royal son who stole the oval office and that phony election…”DiFranco hopes to persuade the audience by pointing out real-life examples of problems in the government. DiFranco’s logo is somewhat difficult to pick up, however, because much of it is in the form of metaphors and other poetic devices that somewhat distort the understandability of phrases. Besides logos, she appeals to the audience’s confidence in her credentials simply with her words. The complexity of the poem itself is enough to gather the attention of the audience. Using complex metaphors such as comparing people to poetry helps give the audience a sense of DiFranco’s ability as a poet. However, overall, the ethos is weak because there is not enough room to focus on DiFranco’s life and accomplishments. Instead, the attention centers on DiFranco’s ideas and beliefs. Finally, pathos is used in the poem in the form of buzz words such as KGB and toxic smoke, which both evoke negative connotations. DiFranco wants to link the problems in America with these words in order to operate on the audience’s emotions. Furthermore, DiFranco uses strong phrases such as “I’ve got no room for a lie so verbose,” which also sparks a sense of indignation in the audience; making them feel deceived by the government. Thus, DiFranco uses pathos rather effectively through her medium since poems allow the author to evoke a great deal of emotion. In effect, DiFranco’s contemporary examples, poem structure, and syntax are the basis for the poem’s rhetorical cocktail.

The rhetorical technique for poetry and written mediums in general differ from other mediums such as audio and visual because the audience cannot see the pictures nor hear the voice of the author. Instead, the audience must paint the pictures themselves and must provide the voice. As a result, the author’s ability to use some forms of rhetoric, such as ethos, is rather limited because it simply would not fit in the medium. On the other hand, other mediums can fit more information into one sitting which allow for greater flexibility. Furthermore, written language is more subject to interpretation. Without the voice of the author, the audience must guess what emotions are evoked based on diction. Without the visuals that the author wants the audience to see, the audience might imagine different interpretations of the same words. Thus, it is somewhat more difficult to use some aspects of rhetorical analysis when it comes to written mediums.

Link to Rick's Profile

This is a link to Rick's profile. You have to sign into your Facebook first to view it, however.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Rick-Ramirez/1685797750#/profile.php?id=1685797750&v=info&viewas=1685797750

Rick Ramirez: The Ideal Citizen

Rick Ramirez is a sketch of what I view an ideal citizen to be: he loves his country, he values his individualism, and he is tolerant of the beliefs of others. It is my belief that one can only truly appreciate something if one is in the absence of it. In a sense, immigrants, those who have been in the absence of the freedoms and luxuries found in this country, are sometimes better able to appreciate their citizenship than those born with it. Rick is an immigrant whose family moved from Mexico to escape poverty when he was young. Because Hispanics make up a great deal of immigrants in today’s society, I thought it would be appropriate to give Rick and Hispanic background. For Rick, appreciation of his country goes beyond simple words and is manifested in his interest to serve his community through volunteer organizations and being a member of the Red Cross.

Although Rick appreciates his country, he also questions it as well. The ideal citizen should be well-informed and value their individualism. Rick’s political view is “whatever makes sense” because he embodies this principle of individualism. Although some government textbooks label non-politically aligned people as individuals who are either politically apathetic or are simply uninformed, this is not the case for Rick. In fact, Rick enjoys watching the news, reading the newspaper, and is interests include politics and the economy. One of his favorite movies is the John Adams miniseries, which explores some of the important principles of the current republic form government. Despite not being politically affiliated, Rick is an informed citizen and he decides on how he exercises his right to vote not on what a particular party believes to be right, but what he believes to be right. Like the wild horses in his profile picture, his beliefs are not restrained by the saddle of partisanship.

Openness is another aspect that an ideal citizen should have. Living in America, one deals with people of different backgrounds quite often. Rick is an agnostic, who by definition is one who neither believes nor discredits the existence of God. In other words, Rick is able to walk the line between all religions because he has no stake in a particular one. At the same time, he does not condemn atheism like some religions because he is open to the possibility. His openness and tolerance of other backgrounds is perhaps illustrated further in his choice of music, which includes Bob Marley and Wyclef Jean. Both musicians were known for their positive music, which promoted peace, tolerance, and good will. Rick’s principles are also reflected in his choice of books: The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. Both of which describe the lives of two important activists who fought for social equality.

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