Rhetorical Analysis Of Small Change Gladwell

Writer, Malcolm Gladwell, in his essay, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted,” acknowledges that social media has changed the way people protest. According to Gladwell,“Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is” (172). We believe we can be activists online, but that is not the truth. Gladwell’s purpose is to point out that without social media we can accomplish way more. He analyzes the opinion of journalists who claim that social media is the ‘new activism.’ He creates a confident and straightforward tone in order to appeal to the readers so they are influenced to believe his opinion. Gladwell uses many rhetorical strategies and a few of the most important ones that are used are anecdote, pathos, and logos. Gladwell begins his essay by describing multiple protests where in the absence of social media tend to be stronger and more organized. He implies that,“These events in the early sixties became a civil-rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade—and it happened without email, texting, Facebook, or Twitter” (170). He points out many events in which there was activism without social media that were successful. He joins all these historic examples of activism together in order to build a solid …show more content…
Social media has renovated our view of social activism. He persuades his readers with anecdotes, pathos, and logos in order for them to side with his point of view. Gladwell builds a solid argument that is supported by countless examples. He writes with certain authority and confidence which makes the reader want to keep reading. Gladwell’s argument challenges the ability of social media taking over the art of activism. Liking a picture on Facebook or favoriting a tweet on Twitter doesn't solve anything and won’t make a