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Morgan Howard
Hillery Glasby
ENG 1510
March 25, 2013
Rhetorical
Analysis Portfolio of Related Texts
Everyone deserves a friend in this world, somebody to stand
up for them, and everyone deserves to have his or her voice heard. When doing
research and having learned what people who do not fall under the “original”
category of being normal go through is heartbreaking. People have had to come a
long way with the fight for LGBT rights; battles have been won, but the war is
not yet over. People who are advocates
for LGBT rights play a major role in the movement because sadly, their voice
usually speaks for the rest of the people.
I have reviewed different uses of conveying the message of bullying and
the hurt that it creates. Some have stuck with me more than others; however, I
have found some really great techniques and campaigns that people have come up
with that seem to be very effective on reaching out to both gay and straight
people.
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Respect
of both genders is the key for gaining anyone’s attention and maintaining the
respect of your audience. Most of the time people come out with their opinions
and it is their way or no way. No matter what your fight is, being open to
others viewpoints is most important. I think that Ellen Degeneres’ “It Gets Better” campaign is the most
beneficial for gay people to turn to for a good positive voice. She is already a well- known celebrity, with
many fans. She is more so loved than hated. Her great personality and wit is an
awesome combination to have. She is funny but knows when to be serious, and I
respect that greatly. She is a person who has withstood the test of time. Most
funny celebrities have a talk show that fizzles out within the first few years
of being aired, but Ellen is still going strong after quite a bit of time, and
I think that it speaks highly of the good that comes from her.
I feel that her way of delivering her message is completely
awesome. She is true to her beliefs and genuinely cares to be a voice for
people who can’t, or do not get to speak out for how they feel and the problems
that they face. The point of her campaign is to convey the message to lesbian,
gay, bisexual or transgender people that life will indeed get better for them.
She uses excellent rhetorical techniques by using a hint of assertion to show
what she firmly believes in and that she will not back down, but she is not
obnoxious or threatening about it. She uses reasoning by
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explaining what she has
gone through so people can relate to her, as well as a serious tone when
needed. Ellen invites other celebrities who will help support the campaign to
talk as well. Musicians will perform and talk about their issues and everyone
can relate. It is not derogatory towards any person no matter his or her beliefs.
This campaign does not have any weaknesses. Ellen always produces fulfilling
and uplifting material for people of all types to enjoy. There needs to be more
people that are like her. It seems these days that celebrities are stars for
being pregnant at sixteen, or being able to be a drunken idiot on television.
People, young adults especially, need more positive influences in their lives
such as Ellen Degeneres.
Another campaign that I found to be interesting was the
“NOH8 Campaign”. The campaign is really effective with a great meaning behind
it. It promotes human equality just like Ellen’s “It Gets Better”. I really
think that the photo shoots have a great meaning behind them. They show people
of all shapes and sizes, religions and beliefs, genders and sexuality all
supporting the need for equality. Some celebrities will do photo shoots, and
some everyday normal people do them as well. Everyone has their own story to
tell, and this campaign does a great job on showing that.
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I
personally love how NoH8 points out who is denying human equality. It shows
that this world has a long way to go before we reach peace. To me it is great,
but the campaign might come off as too assertive to more conservative folks.
That is where the downfall comes. In order for everyone to be on board with the
campaign, the people who work for companies, etc. that do not support gay
rights or equality will more than likely be offended because they might feel
that they are on the spot. Essentially these people are on the spot, and I
think that it is a great thing. I do however see that this is the major
downfall of the campaign. The use of assertion is greatly used in the add.
Plenty of examples are used to show people who have been neglected basic rights
of freedom and quality.
The last campaign that I found interesting to study was
Lady Gagas Speech. I found this interesting because I was astounded that someone
could be so ignorant and stupid, yet still be so famous. I believe that her
intent of her speech for gay rights was fake and strictly for the use of her
publicity. Anyone with any type of sense to them would have been annoyed and
sickened by her delivery of her presentation.
She overused assertion and looked like a total fool. I
suppose that the fact that she was defending gay rights could be appreciated if
one did not see it as a
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plea for attention.
When somebody is trying to reach out to others, that person must first earn
their respect. Trying to dress like a man with a touch of hipster does not show
authority, it shows stupidity. She will never change the minds of narrow-minded
people; she might just cause those minds to go narrower. Throwing a temper
tantrum and shouting is ridiculous as well. I was interested only because I was
trying to figure out if she was genuinely serious with her speech. She was not
open to others at all. I particularly did not care for her comments she made towards
soldiers. She made it seem that all soldiers are anti- gay which is not the
case at all. My father is a conservative man, and fought in the first Iraq War
side by side with a gay man, and to this day they are still best friends. I am
sure she does not hate every soldier, but her delivery on stories about a few
soldiers does not speak for the millions of other wonderful men and women
fighting for our freedom. She did not have any thoughts for others feelings at
all, and that annoyed me more than anything.
When Ellen speaks, she does so with grace and authority. It
is the perfect balance of what a good leader needs to demonstrate to others. When she first did the campaign what she said
really stuck with me, “It is amazing. I spent my entire career trying to
conduct myself in a certain way making sure no one walks all over me only to
get to a point where people are going to walk all over me”. She talks
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about how she had felt
belittled when she found out how people react to gays, and she knew she needed
to do something about it. Her use of tactic is better than Gagas lovely choice
to begin her speech by saying, “I wrote this speech, this address, myself, I've
spent 48 hours trying to find the perfect thing to say. My address to you today
is called "The Prime Rib of America".
It was pathetic to know that she only dedicated two days to her speech
that she claims to care so deeply about. People who are truly passionate about
something spend their whole lives trying to do something to change it. Lady
Gaga devoted two days of her time to give a pathetic speech so she could gain
all of the fans that she can get. Ellen on the other hand has devoted her whole
life to trying to change the world for the better. She is an excellent people
person. Gaga should definitely take lessons from her. If Americans suddenly
developed a bunch of aneurisms and elected Lady Gaga for president, then the
United States had better say a prayer that we do not run into an issue with
another country. The result would be all of us being baked to death by nuclear
bombs being dropped on us because Gaga decided to try to scare the other
country or she just point blank made them so angry that they decided to wipe
out the entire country.
The Noh8 campaign is similar to Ellen’s with its use of
creativity and has a great message delivery as well. The only issue it has is
its use of assertion towards
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others who do not
support gays. The idea behind it is great, but more people will be set up to be
offended when reviewing that campaign rather than Ellens.
Overall, Ellens is the best because she will reach the most
people and the campaign is most beneficial. The NOH8 is a great thing for
GLBT’s to turn to as well. Lady Gagas speech is an excellent thing to turn to
if anybody, no matter who you, are needs a good laugh.
Works
Cited
"Lady Gaga's
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Speech: The Full Transcript." - Music, Celebrity,
Artist News. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.
"NOH8
Campaign." NOH8 Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.
"Take the Pledge."
It Gets Better. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.
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