My top choice for the Rhetorical Analysis paper is the ‘We Will Rock You’ 2004 Pepsi Commercial. This was the first “text” that I thought of when I learned that we would have to analyze something. Even though it may be considered an outdated commercial, thinking about it always makes me feel excited and ready to yell out the famous words, “we will rock you”. One of the many pros is that the Pepsi utilizes a lot of ethos in the commercial by connecting the popular “We Will Rock You” song with well-known celebrities such as Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Pink. Another pro is that I talk about how the commercial resists the stereotype that women are weak and inferior to men. A con is that I am afraid I will not have enough to fill out a 6-7 page paper.
My second choice is Radiohead’s ‘All I Need’ MTV Music Video. I chose this because it shows tons of pathos by using a split screen to compare a white, British boy and an Asian boy. After watching it, I felt sympathy and guilty about the problems I consider to be “terrible” or “hard”. The pro is that the message of the music video is very clear: to raise awareness and end the exploitation of child labor in countries like China. A con is that I don’t know the band Radiohead that well and am not familiar with their type of music. Are they known to create music videos with an important message, or is it just this music video? I don’t know.
My third choice is to analyze an episode of the now-cancelled ABC show, “Perception”. I am currently watching re-runs of the show. It is about a brilliant neuroscience college professor who uses his vast knowledge on how the brain works to help the FBI solve cases. He is also a paranoid schizophrenic, so when he does not take his medicine (which is most of the time), he acts irrationally. A pro is that the purpose of the show is to raise awareness about schizophrenia and to show the side effects of it. The mental health movement started gain ground around 2012 when this show began so it may not be a coincidence that the show is adding to the movement. A con is that there is not much else to write about the show.