blog #2 Ani Defranco

Rachel Dellon
Blog: Prompt #2
In this blog I am supposed to use rhetorical analysis to analyze a poem called “Self Evident” by Ani DiFranco. The process to analyze this poem is different then any other type of media we have analyzed because it is more abstract. This makes it harder to compare and contrast the poem within its self. Unlike the other sources that we analyzed this poem doesn’t spell out the true theme. In the pictures and videos that we looked at it was obvious to identify what the main idea and theme of the sources were. However, in the poem, unlike the other sources, it was easier to identify the authors sarcastic tones. Also in analyzing this poem it made it easier to sense the poets true emotions about the topic. Therefore, by using rhetorical analysis on different types of objects we can learn more about the underlying cause and emotions of the source being written. Also we can learn how to look at these different sources from other perspectives to draw out more details.
This poem was obviously written by Ani DiFranco. However, from the poem we can figure out that Ani is a well known socialist and feminist. Also from reading the poem we can easily sense that the audience is supposed to be America in general. She discusses our country as a person and what “we” have gone through with nine-eleven to get where we are today. I believe that this poem is meant to make America reanalyze not what happened to use on the tragic day of September 11th but to look at what actions we took to cause this incident. All rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos are used to get her point across. First of all, her ethos is shown in the poem by the way DiFranco refers to differing views of the nine-eleven experience. Next pathos is shown by explaining in detail what manys peoples days were like on that horrific day. One of these stories of a persons day may have been what you experienced which directly affects your emotions. Finally, logos is used when she uses facts about the wrong things that our country has done and explains why 9/11 happened. I find all these different devices that the author uses very effective in getting her tone of anger and her point of view across. This occurs to me because all three types of appeals connect with me as a person emotionally and logically. Media may influence my answer because of all the shows and news that is available today affects the way we think and percieve whats going on in our country. The analysis for this poem generally compares very much the same as the ones we have done in class, except for the fact that there is a need to dig a little harder to find the same answers.