Introduction
The appeal to authority, in terms of the credibility or believability of the speaker, is one of the strongest influences on public opinion in a democratic republic. People once flocked to the public square to hear political debates or speeches, but today mass culture has taken the place of the orator. The famous orators of today are hip hop artists, and they both identify and influence the way we grapple with social issues in the same way that orators did prior to the technological revolution. The cultural transition from a physical public platform to a digital one may obfuscate the import of more formalist rhetorical tropes, but the ability of rhetoric to elucidate a perspective and actually change the way people view contemporary issues remains of utmost importance.
I want my students to have an enhanced awareness of rhetorical tropes and devices both in American history and contemporary popular culture. Particularly, this unit will focus on the audience's desire for authenticity through modern eloquence. The unit will begin with a brief examination of eloquence as artifice as a means to sincerity. In short, successful eloquence occurs when the audience believes the speaker to be sincerely conveying the plain truth. In this unit, we will be comparing the successfulness of eloquence in four different works, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Edward Everett's Oration at Gettysburg, Kendrick Lamar's album "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" and Jay Z's album "Magna Carta Holy Grail." In each pair of works, one succeeds much more in stirring the passions through an eloquent style and delivery. In both pairs, one work is unquestionably more successful at achieving this "authentic" form of eloquence, regardless of mastery of a craft. This unit will not only examine what eloquence means, but how the speaker achieves credibility and a sense of "truth" through it.
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