Rhetorical Elements - Essay Example

Rhetorical Elements in the Article The of the Rhetorical Elements in the Article The article under analysis, “Nicki Minaj, MileyCyrus, and the VMAs: A Tone-Policing Palooza,” has a great material representing key rhetorical elements. Definitely, the audience of the article is the people in the know of Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus’s opposition trigged by Minaj’s view that her work has not been nominated for Video of the Year because of her skin color and curves, while Cyrus’s video has won because of her white skin and skinny body (Kornhaber, 2015).

The purpose of the article is to draw people’s attention to the heated arguments between American stars originating from their biased attitude towards opponents. Actually, the article shows Nicki Minaj’s tendency to seek the reason of her video’s failure in some subjective factors instead of in-depth analysis of her work. As for the strategy of the article, it includes pathos, logos, and their mix. Pathos is widely introduced through the tone of the article, which is full of descriptions of Nicki Minaj’s demonstrative allergy to Cyrus.

Thus, a phrase “Then a wave of nausea seemed to come over her, and she turned her gaze toward Cyrus” (Kornhaber, 2015) brightly reflects pathos of the article. Logos, in turn, underlies in tracing of the connection between Minaj’s behavior at MTV Video Music Awards and the prehistory of the conflict, which has started from the non-nominated video of Nicki. Author’s ethos may be traced in his understanding of Nicki Minaj’s indignation cause by “…a move that ignores the racial and physical component of the point Minaj had tried to make” (Kornhaber, 2015).

At the same time, the author sympathizes Miley Cyrus that becomes evident from his phrase “…be glad that in that moment you weren’t Miley” (Kornhaber, 2015). Actually, the author uses evidence to build his ethos, which includes facts from the prehistory of the conflict and Minaj vs. Cyrus interaction at last night of MTV Video Music Awards. Thus, the article proves its effectiveness, since it has thrown the light on the conflict between Minaj and Cyrus. Moreover, the article has drawn the audience’s attention to the issue of racial prejudices within show business (at least, as it comes from Minaj’s words).

The articles effectively depicts negative moments of human nature, whereas artists focus the conflict on personal dislike, while musical aspects are not considered. The article show that the art of music can be a secondary issue within moren performers, while unjistified conflicts might occupy the main focus of audience’s attentions. References Kornhaber, S. (2015). Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, and the VMAs: A Tone-Policing Palooza. The Atlantic, 31 Aug. 2015. Retrieved 2 Sept. from: http://www.

theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/nicki-minaj-miley-cyrus-and-the-vmas-tone-policing-palooza/402913/