In the song Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green day uses rhetorical appeals to protest the war in Iraq. Ethos is displayed in that the audience finds the singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, credible because he is in the very popular band Green Day. He also has credibility in the song because he can personally relate to the feelings of pain and loss felt by Americans after 9/11 because he lost his father. ("Like my father's come to pass.") In the music video for Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day uses pathos to appeal to people's emotions. Since the music video follows a couple where the boyfriend goes off to fight in the war, the audience can put themselves in the shoes of the couple. The audience can feel connected to the couple and feel the pain when the boyfriend has to leave his girlfriend to go fight. The video uses pathos to show the audience that the soldiers fighting for our country are not just random people, but they are people with families and significant others who have to deal with someone they love leaving them.
Sources: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/greenday/wakemeupwhenseptemberends.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9JoFKlaZ0
I think your "not just random people" point is totally accurate. Even though hearing "there were X thousand deaths" can make a person feel sad, hearing the story of just one person's tragedy sticks better in an viewer's mind. It's more relatable when it's another human being instead of just a large number.
ReplyDeleteI agree, i feel that this song is very easy to relate too. It should not be difficult for most people to imagine what it is like to send a loved one off to war.
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