By creating this article on rhetoric analysis, I have been able to better understand the different aspects of rhetoric. I have seen how a rhetorician can unknowingly use her ethos to get her message across, or actively use many different rhetorical strategies without intending to. I analyzed the Black Eyed Peas song titled "Where is the love". As rhetoricians, they employed various rhetorical strategies to get people to understand their message. Also, they used completely different strategies to get their music to a lot of different listeners around the world.
What follows is the rhetorical analysis of "Where is the love" by the Black Eyed Peas.
"Where is the love"
The rhetorical artifact to analyze is the Black Eyed Peas song titled "Where Is The Love". This song was on the Black Eyed Peas album Elephunk released on June 24, 2003. This song was released by the music group consisting of Will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo. This album and song also marked the first that singer Fergie joined the group as a permanent member. Elephunk was released on Interscope Records with producers Will.i.am and Ron Fair. This song was intended to shed light on the injustices and inequalities in the world and in response to the violence of 9/11. The musical group created the song to persuade their audience to stop the hate and violence that our world has gone through and continues to go through. In addition to the message conveyed in the song, the group also created a music video that shows how the members convey their message and music to the community. The song was very popular, "number 1 for six weeks" in the UK. (songfacts.com) The Black Eyed Peas also performed this hit at the 2004 Grammys.
The group recently released a new version of their hit song in August 2016. “Will.i.am said that the new version was inspired by tragic events that happened around the world. "I remember when the Paris attack happened, people were like, 'We need 'Where's the love?', then Dallas," he said. "Everyone called us, we need this song again." (Songfacts.com) With the new version, the Black Eyed Peas brought in many famous singers to help with the song and convey a message that would reach a much wider audience than previously achieved: In a time when the world is full of violence and hate, the message of peace and cooperation delivered by the Black Eyed Peas becomes an aural symbol of what people in society should be looking for.
Looking at the song "Where is the love" through a rhetorical framework reveals many rhetorical practices.ethos, pathos,milogosThey are all used by the Black Eyed Peas throughout the song and video to get their message across. In addition, the group uses other rhetorical resources to get its message across to the public, such as shedding lightvisual culturein our society,to useproclamationto promote your message, and the use ofTerminist substances.
Pathos is used effectively by the Black Eyed Peas on "Where Is The Love" and many of their songs.AnyIt is an Aristotelian call and Palczewski defines it as "what makes the public feel emotion." (15) Pathos is the most used Aristotelian resource through his successful music, since it focuses directly on the emotion of the world. They target the emotions of their audience directly through their lyrics with lines like: "Chemical fumes fill the lungs of the young, with lasting suffering as the young die young" (azlyrics.com). This is intended to touch the reader directly emotionally because children or "the young" are believed to be innocent, but they are the ones who suffer things like chemical gas attacks. The title of the song also speaks directly to the emotions of the audience. "Where is the love" has the direct objective of asking the audience where the emotions of the world have gone. Additionally, the four members of the musical group are seen throughout the music video creating question marks in their town in the form of graffiti and other artwork. This is meant to symbolize the group questioning the emotions of the world and society, asking "Where is the love?" Also, in the first few lines of the song, there is a line that says "people who live like they don't have mothers", which is a common phrase used to describe how people feel without guidance or love in their lives. Once again, the emotional aspect of the song and video clip appeals to listeners and viewers alike.
The second great Aristotelian resource used in this rhetorical device is the logos.logosis defined as "that which is based on the argument itself and shows or appears to show something". (Palczewski, 15) This is an argument or form of belief based solely on logic itself. In "Where Is the Love", this is used when the group directly questions actions and events around the world, illuminating the fact that many actions and events are meaningless and based only on hate. For example, the lyrics ask how we are waging a war on terror even though we still have terror and hate groups like the Crips, the Bloods and the KKK in America. “Abroad, yes, we are trying to stop terrorism; But we still have terrorists living here; In the United States, the big CIA; The Bloods and the Crips and the KKK. It shows the logical gap in problem solving in our society and how we allow these hate groups to continue to operate in our country while we wage a war on terror and hate.
Third, the group usesdistinctive character, which is defined as "that which is 'in the character of the speaker'". (Palczewski p. 15) By now, the Black Eyed Peas had established themselves as an emerging group, allowing them to use their ethos as rising stars to spread their music widely and reach a wide audience. After releasing the song, they proved that they weren't just talking and started an organization called the Peapod Foundation, which actively seeks to help people in need in a variety of situations with a focus on music. This helped establish their ethos as a group that would back up their message with action. Upon releasing his music, his credibility was widely recognized by the public and helped bring his music to a higher level.
The Black Eyed Peas made this song to promote peace and equality for all people in the world. wearproclamation,They add credibility to their name and give the band more ethos.proclamationis defined as "when the person performing a symbolic action serves as evidence for the argument they are making." (77) The way the Black Eyed Peas serve as evidence of their commitment to peace and equality for all is through charitable and philanthropic actions. The group created a foundation called The Peapod Foundation to be "a world leader in fostering social change by bringing people together through the universal language of music." (thirtythreeproductions.com) Through this organization, the music group promotes equality, inclusion and love by providing charity and philanthropy and they achieve it in many ways. "The foundation has provided support for social issues affecting children around the world, including: housing/shelter, health, education, poverty, and music/arts education." (thirtythreeproductions.com) Through these and many other actions, including a benefit concert in South Africa in 2006, the band and their organization created an active image of themselves as a group driving social change not only with their words but also with their own actions. Furthermore, the group consists of four main members with very different origins and ethnicities. William. is African American, Apl.de.ap is Filipino American, Taboo is Mexican/Native American, and finally Fergie is Mexican/Scottish American. Due to the fundamental fact of the ethnicity of each member, they are living proof of the argument against racism in our society and actively participate in its implementation. This group consciously engaged in performance to bring about greater change through their songs.
The Black Eyed Peas created this song to change the way the world sees the world and to change the actions that some people around the world have been involved in.terminist substancesThey are "a screen made up of concepts through which people perceive the world and which divert attention from one interpretation to another." (Palczewski, 47) The language used by artists in their songs and politicians in their speeches, etc. it is changing the way listeners and viewers of various aspects of media view the world. This concept can even be seen in the different languages used around the world. The way that different languages describe aspects of their environment changes the way that environment is viewed. This difference changes the way people of different cultures and backgrounds view their world on a fundamental level. Descriptions can also change the way a person solves problems and change the way he or she might solve problems. The Black Eyed Peas are actively trying to change the terminist screens in our society by addressing the issues we face in their lyrics. “But if you only love your own race; So leave room for the distinction; And discrimination only breeds hate; And if you hate it, you get angry, yes. These lyrics specifically question the image that people have of themselves in our society. When you see someone solely because of his race, you see your world centered solely on that fact. This view will also lead to fear and hatred based solely on race, and the Black Eyed Peas are actively trying to change this view by challenging this ideal. By challenging this, they persuade people to question the terministic screens through which they view their lives and bring a more peaceful and inclusive vision to our society.
The society we live in has become progressive.visual culture. It is defined as “a culture characterized by the ubiquity of visual forms of communication that appear simultaneously in multiple media (such as television, the Internet, mobile phones, and magazines). (Palczewski) Over the last decade and a half, the culture we live in has become increasingly dependent on forms of visual media. The Black Eyed Peas play on this culture and actively use it to spread their message. With the release of their hit, they also created and released a music video. His message of inclusion, peace, acceptance and anti-violence is promoted through the use of imagery to accompany his music. In this video, the group can be seen touring neighborhoods, sending their message out loud. At the same time, the symbol of a question mark is painted, plastered, hung and affixed to buildings and structures in cities. This question mark symbolizes the main theme and capture of the song "Where is love." The band's active participation throughout the video demonstrates how the negative aspects of society will not go away without the will of people to stand up to hate and atrocities around the world. The visual representation of music reaches a broader audience within our culture than a simple song. The Black-Eyed Peas were able to connect with their audiences on a broader level, as they were able to tap into familiar aspects of our society and gave fans insight into how the band represents what their lyrics promote.
The Black Eyed Peas' rhetoric helped the song reach the top of the charts. They strategically used the tools at their disposal to create and produce music that would have a lasting impact and raise many questions. First of all, the effective use of ethos, pathos and logos contributes to the effective outcome of the music. Ethos builds on the group's celebrity status, along with outreach programs and the foundation established to promote charity and help people in need around the world. Pathos is one of the main components of music, conveying the message that touches all listeners. They were able to make any listener react to their music and evoke their emotions regarding the atrocities happening all over the world. The logos are also used effectively throughout the song, within the lyrics they raise questions that call into question the events with a logical third person view of the events taking place. The three Aristotelians are consciously and effectively used by the Black Eyed Peas to convey their overall message of inclusion, peace, and opposition to hate, anger, and racism to all listeners.
Furthermore, the other aspects of the rhetoric used also convey this message effectively to the audience. The terminist canvases of our society tend to contain our society's hate and anger, but through music, The Black Eyed Peas are able to change the way many of their fans and listeners see the world and truly hear the words and the meaning of the song They also took advantage of the fact that our society is an ever-growing visual culture and used it to their advantage by creating a music video for their song. They did this to bring their music to a larger audience and in turn spread their message to that larger audience. Along with these two facts, the group used performance to create a greater ethos measure or two to live up to the message they were spreading. They were and are a shining example of their message and that racism and hate should no longer exist in the whole world. Overall, "Where Is the Love" is a song that reached out to many listeners and raised many thought-provoking questions, at a time when hate and violence were very prominent, they managed to recreate the song and have similar effects. the same acts of violence occurred.
Finally, the Black Eyed Peas presented their song "Where is the Love", a piece that effectively raised questions about the state of affairs in the world we live in. The group employed many rhetorical practices to achieve their ultimate goal, including but not limited to the use of ethos, pathos, and logos along with terminist displays, the use of enactment, and playing with the fact that the world we are in lives, more and more a visual culture. These rhetorical strategies have helped The Black Eyed Peas reach audiences and people around the world and transform the communities in which we live. In response to 9/11, the Black Eyed Peas were able to create music that helped people change the way they saw the world and bring about change. "Where is the love" turned out to be a song that people turn to when darkness and hate fill the world, to change the course of society and bring about positive change.
Works Cited
Ice, Fritch and Catherine Helen Palczewski.rhetoric in civic life.Strata publication. Second edition.2012
letters from a to zhttps://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html. Consulted on October 12, 2017.
song factshttp://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3301. Consulted on October 12, 2017.
Bean."Where is the love." Elephant,Registros da Interscope, 2003. Spotify.
33 production.http://www.thirtythreeproductions.com/?portfolio=peapod-foundation. Consulted on October 12, 2017.