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Alexander Lim

Jennifer Johnson

Writing 2

17th April 2017

Settling the Differences

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive

our hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

World War Two happened nearly 80 years ago, and yet we are still seeing the exact

same messages of hate and discrimination today. The only difference is it is directed at a

different race and religion. Growing up, we hear the phrase History repeats itself, which

never really seemed to make any sense as we were also told to Always learn from our

mistakes. It may be a nave thought, but shouldnt learning from our mistakes mean that we

stop allowing terrible things that have happened in the past from happening again? There is

no doubt that people are different from each other, but that does not mean we should

discriminate against a race/religion because they are different. Similarly, genres differ from

each other, however they each carry their own strengths and weaknesses depending on the

situation, and we should not discriminate against one just because it is different. Two genres

that will be discussed are songs as well as newspaper articles. The song Where Is the Love

by The Black Eyed Peas was released in 2003, roughly two years after the September 11th

attacks on the Twin Towers. It addressed several issues including but not limited to

Terrorism, Government Hypocrisy, Racism, Intolerance, and violence against LGBTQ

people. For comparison, the newspaper article written by Eric Lichtblau in 2016 Hate

Crimes Against American Muslims Most Since Post-9/11 Era covered how there had been a

rise in hate crimes towards Muslims, and what may have caused this. This paper will analyze
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how the two genres use different parts of the rhetorical triangle to serve their purpose and

audience. Although both genres cover similar issues, the song mainly makes use of ethos

while the newspaper article uses pathos and logos. We will begin by discussing the song.

Where Is The Love? was written and produced as a pop song. Pop songs came

about due to popular culture, and this meant that the artist was hoping to target a large

mainstream audience. Music has been used for eons as an incredibly powerful tool to

communicate ideas and messages surrounding a specific rhetoric. A big reason why it is so

powerful is that the creator can not only sympathize with their audiences emotion, but also

persuasively influence it. The genre of songwriting itself is extremely versatile and can be

used to communicate a plethora of messages. With this song specifically, it appears the artist

is attempting to use rhetorical exigence to create awareness of the situation as well as counter

the ideas of hate that were raised in the lyrics. Most of the time, the rhetorical appeal that is

commonly used in songs is pathos. This is where it attempts to persuade the audience by

appealing to their sense of identity and emotion. By using lyrics such as People killin,

people dyin; Children hurt and you hear them cryin; Can you practice what you preach?; Or

would you turn the other cheek?(The Black Eyed Peas), the artist is questioning your

morality and whether you are just going to stand by or do something about the issue. It is

abundantly clear that the emotion the artist is trying to get the audience to feel is love, and the

way that this is done is by making the audience feel their fundamental connection to other

human beings.

The artist continues to share more of the terrible things that are going on in our world,

only to offer us a simple solution in the chorus. The lyrics Gotta keep my faith alive til love

is found; Now ask yourself; Where is the love? [4x] (The Black Eyed Peas) suggests that if

we find love in ourselves, we will be able to make a difference. This message makes the song

applicable to everyone, because love is free to give, and it suggests that all any of us needs to
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do is love one another. It offers a simple yet effective solution to solve the problems, and

allows the audience to connect with it further. Another large part in making music a

successful medium for delivering a message is how it can be shared with people for a longer

time. The fact that the lyrics rhyme and the music is catchy makes people want to come back

to it often. With this repetition, the audience is also subject to a larger amount of exposure to

the message being delivered. The tone of the song is also much less formal with slang and

jargon often being used. This approach does assume that the audience should be part of a

younger generation that is somewhat familiar with certain pop culture terms and current

events before they are able to fully comprehend the message. The song was placed at the top

of several billboards during its time, and that is a sign of how effective it was as a medium

for delivering the message. Music is something that is everywhere even when we arent

expecting to listen to it (shops, restaurants, etc.) and this means that it is much easier to share

as compared to something like a newspaper article.

A newspaper article in the New York Times also has the same intention of bringing to

light the issues of discrimination which has arisen in our society, but it does so in a different

way. While music is used to communicate almost any message, newspaper articles generally

involve current events and have more of a serious and objective tone to them. This therefore

means that the audience they will reach is smaller as well. Most of the time, the writer of a

newspaper article is a journalist, and they do their best to provide unbiased facts and an

objective view of the situation. Most newspaper articles make use of a mix of ethos and logos

for rhetorical appeal. Ethos is the audiences perception of the authors credibility or authority,

while Logos is the use of logic to persuade the audience. Because this article was published

by the New York Times, which is a highly reputable news outlet, it is already establishes with

the audience that it is credible. On top of that, the journalist makes use of data such as

California State University, San Bernardino, found that hate crimes against American
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Muslims were up 78 percent over the course of 2015 (Eric), which strengthens the extrinsic

ethos. There are also several instances in which people of authority are interviewed. These

choices reflect the rhetoric that the journalist is trying to convey. We can start to tell that the

overall rhetoric is one that correlates Trumps negative campaign rhetoric to the rise in hate

crimes against Muslims. When it comes to intrinsic ethos, the choice of language that is used

is very formal and matter of fact.

By stating more facts from reliable sources, the journalist strings them together in a

logical sequence, which allows the reader to come to his/her own conclusion just from

understanding the facts, or in other words, the rhetorical appeal of logos. An example of this

happening is where a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center was quoted saying, I

dont have the slightest doubt that Trumps campaign rhetoric has played a big part [in the

rising attacks] (Eric). The entire article suggests that a combination of both recent attacks in

Europe as well as Trumps negative campaign rhetoric has led to an increase in hate crimes

against American Muslims. On top of the factual evidence that was strung into a logical

sequence, the writer was also very professional in the style he wrote his article. He refrained

from using any jokes or puns, and he continued to use language that was blunt and

straightforward. His main aim was not to entertain his audience, but instead to bring them

awareness of the issues of discrimination that are on the rise during that time and to logically

help them understand that cause and effect relationships. To further strengthen the evidence

for the argument, he included devastating facts along with photographs of recent attacks.

With all

Both the song as well as the newspaper article were written with the same general

idea in mind. They both sought to bring awareness to the public of the discrimination that

was currently happening. However, they did this in two different ways. The song represented

more of an opinionated perspective, and it intended to influence the audience to think about
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the circumstances in a specific way by using emotion to its advantage. The article, on the

other hand, did its best to provide facts and remain objective to allow readers to form their

own opinions. Something that the song lacked was any factual evidence, and it almost

assumed that there was certain information that listeners should already know before they

could understand the message the song was delivering. Both genres differ widely, but they

remain similar in the idea that they are both aiming to satisfy their audiences in their own

way. The song was entertaining with a simple and straightforward message that was easy for

most people to understand. This meant that they could spread awareness faster and wider.

The newspaper article, on the other hand, was more for an audience that already knew that

these issues of discrimination existed, but wanted to find out more information to logically

understand cause and effect relations. Overall, we can see how both genres on the same topic

are treated differently and which conventions of each genre lead to that.
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Works Cited

Lichtblau, Eric. Hate Crimes Against American Muslims Most Since Post-9/11 Era. The

New York Times, 18 September 2016.

The Black Eyed Peas. Where Is the Love? Elephunk, A&M, 2003.