OToole 1 Brendan O'Toole Writing Seminar II Rhetorical Essay Instructor: Ms.

Olding November 4, 2013

Rhetorical Essay In this rhetorical essay I will be analyzing two artists. One from the musical genre of Glam Rock and then another artist from a different musical genre. I will compare and contrast the two artists and their songs by using Ethos meaning ethics and credibility, Pathos meaning emotional appeal and Logos meaning logical appeal. The two artists that will be described are Queen from the Glam Rock genre and one of their most famous songs Dont Stop Me Now and Jay-Z from the Hip-Hop/Rap genre and one of his most popular songs Empire State of Mind. The band Queen is a Second Wave Glam Rock Band meaning that they are heavily influenced by past Glam Rock bands but also by other rock bands outside of the Glam Rock genre. Queen is a rock band that originated from London, England in the 1970s where they gradually moved their way into the radio-networks for their unusual style of music. However something that many people wouldnt ever know about the band is that in their very early years the band was so poor that Freddie had to start making homemade drugs and would sell them at the corner of McDonalds. Soon after becoming successful in Britain with the album Queen II, they gained overwhelming popularity and influence in the international spectrum by one of their feature songs Bohemian Rhapsody which

OToole 2 was the number one song in the UK for several months and hit the top ten list on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1975-1976. In 1990 the band Queen was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Phonographic Industry and in 2001 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio (Wikipedia). The artist Jay-Z or Shawn Corey Carter was born December 4, 1969. Jay-Z is one of the most popular, famous and decorated American rappers of all time, however Jay-Z along with being a famous rapper he also is a song writer, record producer, entrepreneur and an sports agency owner. According to Forbes, Jay-Z makes $42 million dollars yearly making him one of the most affluent Hip-Hop/Rap artists. In addition he has been awarded 17 Grammy Awards, was ranked number one by MTV in there list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006, and has three albums Reasonable Doubt (1996), The Blueprint (2001) and The Black Album (2003) that all have been listed on the Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (Wikipedia). Dont stop me Now by Queen is one of the bands most popular songs and describes a situation where apparently a person is on ecstasy and the rest of the song further depicts the way the person is feeling while on the ecstasy and how that they dont want the high to end. However the song can be easily logically explained and summarized by the philosopher Aristotles three divisional categories; Ethos the credibility or ethical appeal, Pathos the emotional appeal and Logos the logical reasoning behind the writers music or story (YouTube). First is Ethos; the lead singer, Freddie Mercury represents himself by dressing like a biker by wearing all black leather jacket and pants with a low cut black shirt. His first backup guitarist is wearing an all black karate suit with sparkles where as the other

OToole 3 guitarist is wearing a sweater vest and button up with a normal pair of pants and the drummer is wearing a bright green blazer and red pants. Freddie Mercury has an authority during the song/performance due to the fact hes the lead singer and that hes center stage and the main focus throughout the entire time. Which also brings credibility to Freddie Mercury because he wrote the song. Freddie Mercury also builds a bridge and connects with the audience by moving towards the front of the stage and getting close to the and making hand jesters towards the audience to get them involved in the performance (YouTube). Secondly Pathos; throughout the entire performance of the song Dont Stop Me Now connects with me emotionally due to the extreme enthusiasm Freddie Mercury uses while singing and playing the piano. The tone of the vocals and instruments shows the confidence that the band has in themselves, and values in that while they play their instruments and sing, there isnt any hesitation coming from them; in that none of the band members seem to be in there element, meaning that whatever comes to there mind while performing, theyre going to do it without any second guessing themselves. These are values that I completely agree with because they believe that people should be themselves and shouldnt join in with what everyone else is doing, because they heavily believe in individualism. The instrumentals and vocalization of the song help emphasize the lyrics of the song and bring more of a upbeat vibe to the performance. Lastly Logos; the song Dont Stop Me Now does use Logos, they explain that they want to have an enjoyable night while on ecstasy; however in the song the singer explains that if you wanna have a good time just give me a call telling us to go to him if we want to try to have fun by using ecstasy (YouTube) (SongLyrics).

OToole 4 Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z is one of my favorite songs by Jay-Z, though I dont consider myself a fan of Hip-Hop/Rap, I am a fan of Jay-Z due to his overwhelming success. In this song it describes how the city of New York influenced the work of Jay-Z and how the city has affected many others. It explains the characteristics and the people of the city and how if you set a goal for yourself and if you work hard enough for it, then it is possible to reach. Jay-Zs goal was to become the best American Rapper and that to reach his goal to become that, that he would find it in New York City (YouTube). First is Ethos; in the music video of Empire State of Mind Jay-Z presents himself wearing a black hat and jacket with a white shirt. He shows credibility and authority throughout the song/performance because hes originally from Brooklyn and hes from this city and hes reached his goals and is striving for more. However showing him on the streets of the city and knowing that hes from the city, helps to build a type of connection between him and his audience by rapping about specific streets and places in the city (YouTube). Secondly Pathos; throughout the song Jay-Z describes that since hes reached his goal to make it in New York City that he can now make it anywhere. Jay-Z uses bass beats, piano and drums and symbols to create a simple and relaxed type of beat through the song. The values in the song are clear that Jay-Zs goals were to make it to New York which can been and heard in the part of the song where he says Im the new Sinatra, and since I made it here I can make it anywhere and his values are to show that a person always strive for their goals in any situation. Lastly Logos; Jay-Z clearly describes evidence of reaching his goals which he describes in the song by singing Now I live on

OToole 5 Billboards and claims that hes setting more and reaching for those, by producing more albums and recently becoming a sports agent (YouTube) (SongLyrics). Interestingly, both the artist and their songs arent similar; they are very different. What makes them so different from each other are five things. First, is the way that they present themselves, Jay-Z presents himself as a stereotypical American rapper where on the other hand we see Queen in many different types of outfits such as having a biker look by wearing all black leather jackets and pants with a low cut black shirt, all black karate suit with sparkles, bright green blazer and red pants and lastly a classic sweater vest. Secondly, is the way they preform, Jay-Z preforms primarily on his own, however occasionally with another artist, where Queen only preforms with just the band members. Jay-Z also uses music videos more so then Queen does. Thirdly, the way Ethos represents them is that for Jay-Z his ethical appeal to his fans is that since his value is to strive for greatness, he tries to get that message off to the fans that can be primarily seen in Empire State of Mind. For Queen their Ethos and ethical appeal is to be yourself and not to be apart of the norm. In conclusion both the band Queen and the artist Jay-Z are completely different where Queen is Glam Rock and Jay-Z is Hip-Hop/Rap. By using Ethos, Pathos and Logos to help further explain and describe Queens Dont Stop Me Now and Jay-Zs Empire State of Mind it easy to say that even though both are very musically talented, they are also very different. Where Jay-Zs values lie with striving to be the best you possibly can and set goals to reach, Queens value are more being yourself and not being with the norm. Both their songs describe their differing mentalities and values.

OToole 6 Bibliography Citation Page "Queen (band)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. "Jay-Z." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. NetApp Voice. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. ""Empire State of Mind" JAY Z | Alicia Keys [OFFICIAL VIDEO]." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. "Queen - 'Don't Stop Me Now'" YouTube. YouTube, 01 Aug. 2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. "Queen - Don't Stop Me Now (Mercury) Lyrics." SongLyrics.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. "Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind* Lyrics." SongLyrics.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

OToole 7 Brendan O'Toole Writing Seminar II Rhetorical Essay Revisions Instructor: Ms. Olding November 20, 2013

Revisions During the time that I spent on revisions for my Rhetorical Essay I looked at five main things first, if I had a clear understanding of song, secondly In-depth rhetorical analysis of songs, thirdly In-depth rhetorical comparison of genres, forth clear understanding of rhetorical analysis aspect and lastly grammar. Looking back on the In-depth rhetorical analysis of songs I realized that I could have spent more time on interpreting the meaning of the lyrics and listening to the song. Which also helps go along with the In-depth rhetorical comparison of genres, I should have look more into the three common influences of Glam Rock to help describe the comparison of the two artist and there specific music genres. Having to read over the Analysis Essay to find the clear understanding of rhetorical analysis aspect I found that I needed to dig deeper into the background of each artists, their songs and their genres I realize now that not only just having myself read over the entire essay that I should have others also read over it and bring it to the writing center to have a fresh pair of eyes reading and looking for grammatical errors and also provide further explanation to help push me to find more descriptive and examinational text to back up my analysis.