Racial Stereotypes in Mass Media: A Rhetorical Analysis While modern society may seem post-racial, degrading perceptions are continually inflicted upon various races and cultures. Within Joni Adamson’s article, “Indigenous Literatures, Multinaturalism, and Avatar: The Emergence of Indigenous Cosmopolitics” and Agustín Fuentes’ excerpt from his article, “The Myth of Race”, the authors produce a strong case for the fact that the portrayal of racism and stereotypes in the media is continually a problem. The authors do this through their various constructions of ethos, logos, and pathos appeals by using rhetorical techniques, such as their sources and quotes. Through these appeals, they are able to state evidence to support their claims, but
…show more content…
Additionally, slow violence exists and is problematic. Although the term “slow violence” is not commonly used, Adamson allows the reader to achieve a personal understanding of her argument through effective uses of pathos appeals. For instance, she describes the story of the Ogoni tribe of Nigeria, who are threatened by racism and discrimination from oil companies dominated by other ethnic groups. She utilizes harsh, descriptive language of how the Ogoni were “being murdered, raped and tortured” (Adamson, 460) to illustrate a vivid image to have a greater emotional impact upon the reader, in hopes that they will resonate with the tribe and feel uncomfortable. In addition, Adamson states that many individuals do not sympathize with different races and cultures because there is not a destructive “spectacle” (460) that personally impacts them. In order for one to relate to the plight of indigenous populations against big corporations, the chaos a culture experiences must be portrayed as a “spectacle” (460) and appeal to pathos so others may view the catastrophic events a seemingly different race experiences, as shown in her example of the film, Avatar. Consequently, her use of pathos allows for this attention to be effectively drawn to capture the reader’s attention, and ultimately allow for her argument to be solidified. However, it is arguable that it is necessary for …show more content…
As she is a professor of English and Environmental Humanities at Arizona State University, she satisfies the ethos appeal by including Rob Nixon’s example of the Ogoni tribe, which demonstrates her degrees as the tribe is subjected to injustice by oil extraction by Royal Dutch/Shell Oil. In order to illustrate her additional claims, such as that the portrayal of stereotypes and races is still a problem in the media, she elaborates on Nixon’s “work on the concepts of ‘slow violence’ and ‘spectacle’” (460) to support that “there is a deficit of spectacle or “recognizable special effects that fill movie seats” in these communities” so there is “nothing to draw the global media’s attention to their plight; consequently, slow violence often remains hidden” (460). The ethos appeals that Adamson employs through her relevant sources allows for her argument to be more convincing than Fuentes’ article since she includes information that is relevant to the modern-day reader. For instance, she provides evidence of different responses to the convergence and divergence of cultures in mass media. She accomplishes this through various examples and the words of credible sources, such as “Evo Morales, Aymara President of Bolivia”, whom she quotes, “praised Avatar for its imaginative portrayal of an indigenous group fighting a greedy corporation” (459). Nevertheless, while these sources
Additionally, slow violence exists and is problematic. Although the term “slow violence” is not commonly used, Adamson allows the reader to achieve a personal understanding of her argument through effective uses of pathos appeals. For instance, she describes the story of the Ogoni tribe of Nigeria, who are threatened by racism and discrimination from oil companies dominated by other ethnic groups. She utilizes harsh, descriptive language of how the Ogoni were “being murdered, raped and tortured” (Adamson, 460) to illustrate a vivid image to have a greater emotional impact upon the reader, in hopes that they will resonate with the tribe and feel uncomfortable. In addition, Adamson states that many individuals do not sympathize with different races and cultures because there is not a destructive “spectacle” (460) that personally impacts them. In order for one to relate to the plight of indigenous populations against big corporations, the chaos a culture experiences must be portrayed as a “spectacle” (460) and appeal to pathos so others may view the catastrophic events a seemingly different race experiences, as shown in her example of the film, Avatar. Consequently, her use of pathos allows for this attention to be effectively drawn to capture the reader’s attention, and ultimately allow for her argument to be solidified. However, it is arguable that it is necessary for …show more content…
As she is a professor of English and Environmental Humanities at Arizona State University, she satisfies the ethos appeal by including Rob Nixon’s example of the Ogoni tribe, which demonstrates her degrees as the tribe is subjected to injustice by oil extraction by Royal Dutch/Shell Oil. In order to illustrate her additional claims, such as that the portrayal of stereotypes and races is still a problem in the media, she elaborates on Nixon’s “work on the concepts of ‘slow violence’ and ‘spectacle’” (460) to support that “there is a deficit of spectacle or “recognizable special effects that fill movie seats” in these communities” so there is “nothing to draw the global media’s attention to their plight; consequently, slow violence often remains hidden” (460). The ethos appeals that Adamson employs through her relevant sources allows for her argument to be more convincing than Fuentes’ article since she includes information that is relevant to the modern-day reader. For instance, she provides evidence of different responses to the convergence and divergence of cultures in mass media. She accomplishes this through various examples and the words of credible sources, such as “Evo Morales, Aymara President of Bolivia”, whom she quotes, “praised Avatar for its imaginative portrayal of an indigenous group fighting a greedy corporation” (459). Nevertheless, while these sources