English 102-01

Alexis Burdick
How Rhetoric Affects Me Daily

As I woke up and started my day, my coffee and phone in hand, I took a moment to open

Instagram. My feed is filled with angry people and opinions of the attack on the capitol. Talk of

impeachment and riots fill the screen, The Daily Show being among one of the accounts that had posted.

One post in particular caught my eye. “Republicans denounce the attack on the Capitol.” It was a weird

video because each speaker was cut off at a very strange time. Each speaker said, “they denounce the

attack on the Capital but…” But what? This video confused me, and enticed me to learn more.This ad is

persuading people to see things from their political standing. To point out that even though these people

denounced the act, they are also trying to justify the actions that allowed this to happen.

The Daily Show (@thedailyshow) • Instagram photos and videos

I poured myself another cup of coffee and flipped my laptop open and was greeted with my

notifications. Sister wants to chat, Trump! Impeachment!. The events of the last few days will not seem to

leave my screen. I clicked on the news page- I shouldn’t have- and was intrigued by one of the stories Not

again!! What prison food in the US really looks like, and why some inmates refuse to eat it (msn.com)

This title was accompanied by this picture.

This image was very confusing because the man on the right seemingly has nothing

to do with the article at all. This pulled me in, and I came to find out that the man on the right was one of

the rioters that entered the capitol building. The article goes on to explain that this man was caught and

sent to jail, he has not eaten the food the jail has provided because “he can only eat organic foods or he

will get sick.” This article, I believe, is trying to influence two things. One, that people should be wary of

the ways they protest. Two, that the food they serve in jail is inhumane.
English 102-01
Alexis Burdick
How Rhetoric Affects Me Daily

I flipped back over to instagram and stumbled upon a post about how the EU banned the export

of unsorted waste to developing nations. I am always happy when I see these kinds of posts on social

media but as I looked at the pictures of plastic, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for the amount of plastic I

use daily. The purpose of the image is to make the public think twice about their own plastic use, just like

I did. (1) Instagram • Direct

As I continued my day I came across an ad for a game, the headline for the ad read “This game is

so beautiful it’s worth installing just to see”.RAID: Shadow Legends (plarium.com) The scene pictured

shows a beautiful cartoon woman, she has horns and red eyes. Behind her are trees that have faces that

remind me of Ents, Ents are mythical Tolkien characters that look almost identical to the picture. Their

purpose was to catch the eye of the viewer and lure them into the install.

As I got into bed I turned back to the news and one thing that caught my eye. The article's title

stated “How Big Tech Impeached Donald Trump”, accompanied by a photo of Donald Trump with

different colored X’s over his mouth. This article was made to inform the public about why and how the

president can be banned for social media websites.How Big Tech Impeached Donald Trump (msn.com)

As I reflected on my day, I noticed that most of the things we see as we flip through different social

media platforms. All are trying to manipulate the way each person thinks, and feels. Ultimately to have

us all agree with the message they are trying to delineate. I noticed that I also was being reeled in by the

internet’s hook, but by analyzing texts rhetorically I can help determine the messages that are trying to get

across to each of us. I am easily sickened by the mass media and my own thoughts that come along with

it, so I always have to abruptly stop this vicious cycle of scrolling. Turning off my screens, I roll over and

sleep takes me.