507: Confessions Kim Possible – Rhetorical Analysis Saul Elbien, the rhetor to “507: Confessions – Kim Possible” podcast published from Chicago Public Media on October eleventh, 2013, address a unique situation sometimes present in criminal investigations, false confessions. Elbien starts off his podcast by describing a crime scene: a man found dead by the Anacostia River, bound and beaten to death, with only his credit cards missing. (“507: Confessions”) Elbien then introduces the audience to Jim Trainum, the lead investigator on this murder case. Trainum is able to use signed credit cards slips and surveillance footage of a young girl to lead him to his key suspect, “Kim”. Even though Kim is initially locked up in jail for the murder primary
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Years past before Trainum was able to look further into the case, he discovered mistakes by watching the investigational footage while they were interrogating Kim he and the other interrogators made that eventually lead Kim to creating a false confession, in order to: “give them what they want” (“507: Confessions”). Elbien uses his interviews with Trainum to help the audience understand what went wrong with this case, and how under the correct circumstances, even the most innocent person can confess to a crime they did not commit. Elbien wraps up his podcast by listening in on a phone call between Kim and Trainum. During this phone call, Elbien did not intervene, he simply listened, and allowed for Trainum to apologize and answer any questions Kim may have, ultimately helping Kim completely have her false confession be a thing of the past. Elbien masterfully uses logos, ethos, and pathos to not only connect with his audience throughout his podcast, but to also get his point across that false confessions are not an urban myth; rather, a very possible problem occurring in our criminal investigations; possibly leading to innocent …show more content…
The reason for this is that Elbien does not do the majority of the narrating throughout the podcast, Trainum does. Elbien is fortunate enough to be able to use situated ethos, this allowed him to use complete facts and completely relatable “characters” because they are directly inputted into the podcast via an interview. Situated ethos allows for nothing to be questionable, this case actually happened, and is a perfect example for Elbien to use because it cannot be questioned on authenticity by the audience. By using this method, Elbien ensures that there cannot be any questions from the audience about interpretation of Trainum’s, or Kim’s for that matter, thoughts about the case. Even when logic flips partway through the podcast, he is still able to keep his goodwill with them by being with the grain of the audience. At the begining, before the audience is given all of the information, Elbien presents the case as: “Kim confessed, which means she is guilty, meaning she should get put into jail” (“507: Confessions”), and that is exactly what happens. Once the audience gains the rest of the information about Kim’s false confession, however, they want her to be free from any restraints placed on her by the false confession. The main reason for this is simple, Elbien uses his interviews with Trainum and Kim and places them directly into the podcast. Elbien does not say:
Years past before Trainum was able to look further into the case, he discovered mistakes by watching the investigational footage while they were interrogating Kim he and the other interrogators made that eventually lead Kim to creating a false confession, in order to: “give them what they want” (“507: Confessions”). Elbien uses his interviews with Trainum to help the audience understand what went wrong with this case, and how under the correct circumstances, even the most innocent person can confess to a crime they did not commit. Elbien wraps up his podcast by listening in on a phone call between Kim and Trainum. During this phone call, Elbien did not intervene, he simply listened, and allowed for Trainum to apologize and answer any questions Kim may have, ultimately helping Kim completely have her false confession be a thing of the past. Elbien masterfully uses logos, ethos, and pathos to not only connect with his audience throughout his podcast, but to also get his point across that false confessions are not an urban myth; rather, a very possible problem occurring in our criminal investigations; possibly leading to innocent …show more content…
The reason for this is that Elbien does not do the majority of the narrating throughout the podcast, Trainum does. Elbien is fortunate enough to be able to use situated ethos, this allowed him to use complete facts and completely relatable “characters” because they are directly inputted into the podcast via an interview. Situated ethos allows for nothing to be questionable, this case actually happened, and is a perfect example for Elbien to use because it cannot be questioned on authenticity by the audience. By using this method, Elbien ensures that there cannot be any questions from the audience about interpretation of Trainum’s, or Kim’s for that matter, thoughts about the case. Even when logic flips partway through the podcast, he is still able to keep his goodwill with them by being with the grain of the audience. At the begining, before the audience is given all of the information, Elbien presents the case as: “Kim confessed, which means she is guilty, meaning she should get put into jail” (“507: Confessions”), and that is exactly what happens. Once the audience gains the rest of the information about Kim’s false confession, however, they want her to be free from any restraints placed on her by the false confession. The main reason for this is simple, Elbien uses his interviews with Trainum and Kim and places them directly into the podcast. Elbien does not say: