Rhetorical Visions in the Film, American History X “Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the timeâ€. This is a quote from the film American History X. This film sends out a powerful message about hate groups such as skinheads and Neo-Nazis. The vision of this movie is to make others aware of the complex life of a skinhead. Through different symbolism we see how society views this group. We also are made aware of the continuous cycle of violence that continues to exist even after a powerful leader changes his view. American History X is important to analyze because it shows how one man’s rhetorical vision changes through life experiences. This film depicts the lifestyles of skinheads and how one person with a vision leads others to worship everything he is and everything he believes in. How can a leader with so much rhetorical vision and passion about one thing change over a period of time? The importance of this film is to observe how a character develops. It also shows a social and psychological issue that has been around for many years and how it only takes one person to change how a group thinks. I will attempt to answer the research question by using Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory and Fantasy Theme. The goal of this paper is to “provide insight in the shared worldview of a group of rhetors†(Bormann as cited in Foss 121). I will also show repeated phrases that lead to different rhetorical visions. I will explain how fantasy types emerge and also how symbolism reflects the rhetorical visions. The first part of my paper will include two different literary reviews that have been done on fantasy themes. One of them specifically deals with hate groups and how th... ...spectives (1999): Vol. 1 Issue 3: p19, 4p. Academic Premier. InfoTrac. Scarborough- Phillips Lib., Austin, TX. 20 Feb. 2004. Benoit, William L., et al. “A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Political Cartoons on the Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr Affair.†Critical Studies in Media Communication. Vol.18, No.4, December 2001, 377-394. Billingsley, Robert D. “Hard working youngsters or Nazi thugs?†Federal Probation; Sep. 93, Vol 57, Issue 3. p88, 2p. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. InfoTrac. Scarborough-Phillips Lib., Austin, TX 20 Feb. 2004. Duffy, Margaret E. “Web of Hate: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Rhetorical Vision of Hate Groups On Line.†Journal of Communication Inquiry 27:3 (July 2003): 291-312. Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration & Practice. (2nd Edition). Illinois Heights: Waveland Press. 1989.
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Expression and Repression in Parra’s Iphigenia, The Diary of a Young Lady Who Wrote Because She Was Bored
Like Ruby, Iphigenia uses water imagery to dramatize her feelings and fantasies. But she also turns to the river to express her wants and desires because she cannot do so freely in her Venezuelan home. After the death of her father, MarÃa Eugenia leaves Venezuela and her best friend Christina, to visit friends of the family in Paris. In Paris she experiences a sense of freedom that she has never known before, walking the streets alone, going to operas, and dressing as she pleases. But when she gets back to Caracas to live with her aunt and grandmother, she becomes bored, feels imprisoned, and finds out that her Uncle Eduardo stole her inheritance, leaving her penniless and completely dependent upon him. Her only recourse is to get married to a wealthy suitor. Unfortunately, MarÃa Eugenia falls in love with Gabriel, who is not her family’s suitor of choice. Uncle Eduardo moves the family to the country and intercepts Gabriel’s letters to MarÃa Eugenia. Soon Leal, a suitor to the family’s liking, whom MarÃa Eugenia does not love, asks her to marry him and she accepts. A short time later, MarÃa Eugenia’s uncle Pancho falls ill, and Gabriel, a doctor, comes to the house to tend to him. When they see each other again, MarÃa Eugenia and Gabriel realize that they are both still in love, and he entreats her to run away with him, but MarÃa Eugenia cannot summon the courage to accept his offer. Instead, she accepts the life that her family condones, sacrificing herself as Leal’s wife. In this story water is closely associated with MarÃa Eugenia’s ability to express herself. She struggles throughout the novel to communicat... ...eal because of their influence. Splitting off from her family by going to Paris, confiding in and symbolically becoming the water, the green-world token, falling in love with Gabriel, the green-world lover, rebelling from her family, and engaging her unconscious bring her to the tip of self realization. But as a result of the influence of her family, MarÃa Eugenia accepts her family’s expectations as her own, that which is contrary to the desires she expresses in the process of her transformational journey. In Pratt’s words, instead of growing up, MarÃa Eugenia experiences a “growing down†in which the protagonist accepts “auxiliary or secondary personhood†instead of self realization (36, 168). Instead of accepting herself during the process of individuation she rejects her love for Gabriel and her desire for freedom to conform to the wishes of her family. |