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Joshua Koneski

Professor Gardiakos

ENC1102

9 September 2023

Reading Response #1

Many times in life, one may be rhetorically analyzing something without even realizing. For

example, the first time one listens to a song, they will most likely analyze the many elements to

the song, such as the lyrics and the production. A recent example of this for me was with Nicki

Minaj’s new song “Last Time I Saw You”. She had released a snippet before the announcement

of the new song, and to many people’s surprise, the snippet of the song was more mellow than

most of her songs. As she is known for releasing more harder-hitting rap songs as of recent, I

was expecting her new music to follow the same style. As I am a bigger fan of more

pop-sounding music, this caused me to be more excited for the song. The release of the snippet

had the same effect on others, and by doing that, she was able to get others who may not usually

listen to her music to listen to her new song. This was most likely a part of the purpose of

releasing a snippet beforehand.

As her audience tends to be more interested in rap music, she knew that she would have to

expand out and reach a new audience other than just her loyal fans. Her promotion for this song

was able to let this song reach other audiences that listen to more mellow songs, getting more

people excited for this song than what she would normally have.

With the release of the cover art for the song, she was able to show that the song was going

to be slower and more emotional. The soft pink tones helps her to stay on brand with her

upcoming album, which uses pink as one of its most important features and also helps to
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accentuate the mellow nature of the song. The use of the water that she is standing in can be seen

as providing a more calming state. Also, with the use of her more revealing outfit, she is able to

showcase that the song is more vulnerable than most of her songs as she is showing more of

herself. The background of the cover is mostly barren, which can showcase her feelings of

loneliness. The cover art as a whole, also shows how the song will differ from most of her others,

as the cover art is not as extravagant and loud as most of her others. While listening to the song, I

heard the mellow nature that was shown throughout the production and vocals. The lyrics and the

production helped each other to display the meaning of the song, which is wishing that broken or

lost relationships could be repaired even if they are unable to be. Nicki Minaj, being the rhetor,

was able to display this message to the targeted audience with her new song.

An example of a research community is the music creating community. Many people in this

community research songs and the many elements that go into them, while also creating new

songs. The goals of this community include getting better at creating music, helping those learn

how to make music, and creating music. They use the information that is researched to discuss

with others and also to get new ideas for new songs. New information is usually learned from

others, such as teachers or experts in the research community who have helped others become

experts. This information is shared through many different sites and social medias. One of the

biggest distributors of this information is YouTube, where many videos can be found on how to

create music and perfecting your crafts.

Joining a research community can be challenging, but for the music creating community, it

is not too hard. One can easily comment under a YouTube video, or one can find a site for music

discussion and that is about it for the joining of the music creating community. Becoming an
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expert in the music creating community is much harder, as one would have to build credibility

and become a more well-known artist, producer, songwriter, or musician.

Research communities work in a rhetorical sense in many different ways. The rhetors in the

community include the experts and others that are a part. These rhetors share a message, which is

to find and share research on whatever topic the research community is focused on. The audience

is the people in the community, as those are who the research is shared to. Research changes and

influences our understanding of knowledge as one can be knowledgeable in a topic, but still learn

more about that same topic. Joining research communities rather than just guessing is more

beneficial as someone can better their knowledge on the topic rather than try to figure out how to

do it on their own and potentially keep failing. Someone can know that they are in a research

community when they participate in research and discussion with other members.