Crystal Chau

Writing 2
Zack De Piero
Is It Acting or Just Affectation?
Imagine todays pop songs. What do they have in common? Is it the constant
reassurance that were beautiful like diamonds in the sky, or possibly that we are so
powerful that we dont need batteries to play? Or is it perhaps that we dont need
dollar bills to have fun? In any case, the songs that dominate the Billboard Hot 100 chart
whether the songs come from the seemingly fearless and flawless Beyonc to girly and
supposedly innocent Ariana Grandeall have somewhat the same core story to tella
story that ranges from a love story to a victim-to-victory tale. Of the multitudes of pop
artists that have come and gone, one has taken the initiative to display the inner workings
of the pop industry: Sia. Her new album, This Is Acting, has sparked discussion and
possible reflection on what the consumers demand. Among those discussions, Billboard,
Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker have all participated by providing articles that both
praise and criticize the album. And in each of these cases, the writing style changes,
causing a shift from a disdainful to a critical to, finally, a objective tone in the articles
from the publication Billboard, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker, respectively. The
varying tone of each article reflects on the objectives of the publications.

Although the different articles have many differences, the structuring of the
articles are similar. The critics start by describing Sia as anyone wouldby relating her
to the strange costumes she wears as well as the A-list popstars that she has written for.
The author then, discusses her role in the music industry as a writer for many artists,
which leads into her breakout single, Chandelier. The articles discuss the positives of

the albumnamely the conception. Next, the critics discuss the relationship of a song to
an artist that it was meant for. Finally, they discuss some of the faults in the album,
specifically the emotionless aspect of the album. This appeals to the audience because in
any review, they are able to first understand the strengths of the album then, realize the
faults in the album that caused such a dip in the rating. Although some articles focused on
the negative aspects while others emphasized the best aspects, each of the articles gave
somewhat of a full picture of what the album entailed.
The writers noticeably differ in their style and tone considering the three
publications have different approaches and intended audiences. As stated in Navigating
Genres, it is important that the writer considers the context in which the writing is being
used (Dirk 255). We can see that the writing styles vary amongst the three publications in
order to fit the readers.
In the first article written by Carl Wilson in Billboard, the critic grabs the readers
attention and immediately establishes his disdainful tone as he describes the concept of
Sias new album as a watershed in the publics growing awareness of the way pop
sausage gets made today. From his word choices, readers may wonder what caused the
writer to respond in such an extreme way. This is the reader trying to understand the
exigence of the piece. Understanding the exigence is important because it helps you
begin to discover the purpose of the rhetoric (Carroll 49). As a publication that
celebrates music, the author adheres to the publications goals by delivering an article that
delves into the musical substance in Sias album. The author further develops his tone
through words such as banging beats, onslaught, overwhelming, reject, scrap
heap, scattered and forgettable, and impersonal. With the incorporation of

negatively connotative words over neutral ones, the author conveys his disdain for the
album and emphasizes the negative qualitiesprevalent in some reviews.
Carl Wilson finishes his article with a dramatic touch to create a larger impact on
its readers. He ends his piece with: That isnt actingits just affectation. Such a
method is befitting a publication such as Billboard that centers solely around music and
the creative process that musicians experience and, in certain times, suffer through.
Seeing as how the entire album was created to a formula with the artist stating, upfront
that [the album] is more impersonal, the author finds that the concept does not excuse
the songwriter because, according to the author, David Bowies recent death reminded
us how theatrical and contrasted pop can be without turning glib. This also appeals to
Billboards constituents as many of the readers hold somewhat the same principles as the
publication that emphasizes artistry and original work. Many of the people who read the
articles on Billboard, and especially the reviews, expect a judgment that encompasses the
inception of the album, but more importantly the appeal to the album sonicallypossibly
indicating that the readers are music purchasers, which the article delivered on, stating
that five songs [sound] like the scrap heap.
Deviating from the first writers disdainful tone, Jon Dolan from the Rolling
Stone takes on a more critical approach that judges the album, yet keeps a more objective
viewpoint. The author describes the album through such words as strain,
perseverance, tensely, utilitarian versatility, dusky, and outtakes. The writer
utilizes terms that possess both positive and negative connotations, providing a balance in
the review that describes the artistic faults and accomplishments. Unlike the first Wilson,
Dolan gives credit to the titanic cathartic chorus and the mastery of the pop song

formula, while critiquing the refrigerator-magnet-level lyrics. The writer also

optimistically examines the rejected songs and understands that Rihanna mightve
been right to dismiss Cheap Thrill, but the lithe party tune couldve done well for a
sprightlier singer like Ariana Grande. Although many good songs are written, the
difficult part is to find an artist with a suitable for the song. This may be the case for Sias
album where people might have a different opinion if another artist were to sing it.
The objectivity in Dolans article highlights certain conventions accepted in the
publication, Rolling Stone. Instead of analyzing the album by its individual parts like
Wilson, Dolan values both the concept and songs equally, highlighting the flaws and
achievements of the album thus, taking a more objective route than the first writer. The
somewhat objective viewpoint and a critical tone fit the publications audience as Rolling
Stone publishes works that expand beyond the music industry. In fact, they cover politics,
television, movies, sports, and culture. As a result, the readers of the publication may
possibly desire a broad range of current event topics that encompass popular music,
indicating that the readers are not reading to determine whether to buy the songs or not,
but instead to be informed of the world around them. In So What Who Cares, readers are
more likely to keep reading and pa more attention with a broader range of topic (55).
Unlike the first article and somewhat like the second, Carrie Battans article in the
The New Yorker delves into a purely informative piece where the purpose of the article is
to discuss the album as well as the artist as whole rather than individual songs within the
album. Writers often use diction to appeal to their readers emotions (Carroll 54). The
New Yorker doesnt seem to use this approach. The author develops an objective tone
through relatively neutral words such as releasing, experienced, appeared, vigor,

involuntarily, and nonsensical. Unlike the other writers, Battan utilizes connotatively
neutral words in order to deliver an informative article that details Sia and her current
work without any personal opinions on the artistry. More importantly, the author also
incorporates another fixture in the article that emphasizes the last two paragraphs that
detail the implications of the article. The objective focus on the singer-songwriter and the
albums concept allows for the author to discuss the piece of work as a commentary on todays
societal culture rather than the appeal to the album sonically. Because Sia and her style of music
is so popular, the readers can see a broad picture of how pop music is in todays culture by
studying the concept of her album. In fact, the article does not discuss any of the songs.

Instead, the article discusses the conception of the album and the context of the album
relative to other performers such as Beyonc and Katy Perry. This appeals to the audience
that subscribes to The New Yorker because they presumably want to learn of current
events as well as their implications to society as a whole. Much like the article in the
Rolling Stone, The New Yorker also writes articles on other industries such as business,
books, and news. With the objective tone of the article, the author provides a great detail
of general information on the parties relevant to the topic and creates an explicit
connection to the world.
As these articles stuck to and deviated from their genres conventions to fit their
publication and appeal to their audience, the value of studying these genres became clear.
Each of these articles held some aspect of their genre in order to provide a complete
review of the album. By learning the conventions in the genre and the genre itself, the
reader can view the articles specifically for their purpose such as a review being used to
provide both the faults and accomplishments. In addition, learning about genres also
allows individuals to understand about biases that may arise. Referring back to the

reviews, although they detailed both the good and bad, some writers praised the album
while others degraded it, indicating that the reviews should be taken with an
understanding the writers may impart their preferences in reviewing an album. Another
reason to learn about genres is to deliver a piece of writing that appeals to the readers as
well as serves the function of the genre. As a result, anyone who will deal with writing
should learn about genre to deliver a function piece of work as well as understand the
uses for each genre.

Works Cited

Battan, Carrie. "Sia Gives Us What We Want." The New Yorker. 8 Feb. 2016. Web. 12
Apr. 2016. <http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/08/hidden-wonders>.
Carroll, Laura Bolin. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis."
Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing. Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., 2010. 45-57. Print.
Dirks, Kerry. "Navigating Genres." Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing. By Charles
Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., 2010. 249-61. Print.
Dolan, Jon. "Sia This Is Acting Album Review." Rolling Stone. 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 12
Apr. 2016. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sia-this-is-acting20160115>.
"So What? Who Cares?" Saying Why It Matters. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 92-101. Print.
Wilson, Carl. "Sia Struggles to Find Her Identity on 'This Is Acting': Album Review."
Billboard. 28 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/6859156/sia-this-is-acting-album-review>.