Month: February 2019

The Central Park Five was a very interesting documentary about five teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of rape in the late 80s in Central Park. In New York City during that time, the crime rate was high, 6 crimes happened in a day. This case stuck out because it was more than just a crime or wrongful conviction. It was a issue with race, the police and the media. The media portrayed the teenagers as they would do such a thing, saying things like “they deserve for what they did”. Racial issues led to the wrongful conviction of these five teenagers, they were vulnerable. The families of the teenagers didn’t have much experience dealing with the police and didn’t know how to handle the interrogation. In addition, the policemen left the teenagers and their parents in the dark about the confession, legal process, etc. The teenagers were unfamiliar with the whole legal system and scared. One of the teenagers, Santana, said he was interrogated for 15 hours and faced loads of pressure by the the police officers. He was only 14 years of age, so it’s understandable that he was afraid of what he experienced. He had no prior experience talking to policemen and didn’t have his parents to tell him to do as he was being interrogated alone. So he “co-operates” with the policemen doing whatever they said. The confessions by these teenagers were inconsistent, there was no DNA test done,and  the policemen faked the confession and fingerprints as evidence. These are the reasons they were convicted, which is unlawful.

In Joan Didion’s essay, she speaks about the case of a jogger who was raped and brutally beaten in Central Park in 1989. A group of black and latino teenagers were convicted for the crime, even though there was never enough evidence to prove it. Because of this, Didion explores the problem with the media often incriminating minorities while talking about whites as, in a way, superior to them. And why society has come to accept this belief without much hesitation and questioning. She also explores the other issues that go on in New York that usually go unnoticed, such as corruption. She exposes New York for its flaws. Didion’s main concern in my eyes are the racial inequality that is presented in the media, specifically when it comes to crimes against whites, and the underlying issues that happen in New York. She provided many examples of headlines that were in the newspaper after the incident with the jogger. After lookin at these headlines, they clearly portrayed the accused teenagers as violent, thugs, and wild, while they portrayed the victim as an inspiration and referred to her very highly. She also discusses other crimes that are closely similar to this one that did not receive much media attention.

The text “‘Backpacks vs Briefcases’: Step Towards Rhetorical Analysis” discusses the importance of rhetorical analysis and how rhetoric is used to make decisions and conclusions everyday. The text also talks about where rhetoric can be found and how to recognize the different aspects of rhetoric.

Rhetoric is an important idea in daily life. Any form of persuasion or communication will include some form of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the use of language, writing, or visuals to successfully persuade one’s audience. Rhetoric is important to understand if one has to make conclusions when being influenced from outside resources.

There are many different components of the rhetoric. Rhetoric is used commonly in everyday judgments and impressions. When looking at the context, identify the situation or reasoning. The rhetor presents the argument to cause the audience to believe in something and it is how the rhetor goes about persuading the audience. Argument is the core of rhetoric, which can only be reached through effective persuasion. 

Lastly, comes analysis. Analysis is done through carefully studying a piece of rhetoric. It is important to ask questions after viewing a piece of rhetoric to see if  the rhetoric’s argument was effective and accurate. The analysis of a piece of rhetoric requires the audience to draw conclusions and how the example rhetoric fits wit in the context. Questions to think about are does the rhetoric work? And does it address the problem effectively.