After
reading all of the articles that discuss rhetorical analysis I have found Texas
A&M the most useful to help me analyze the song, “Elastic Heart” by Sia. I
found this very useful because their website was very organized and clear. I
specifically liked their definition of rhetorical analysis, which was, “A rhetorical
analysis is an essay that breaks a work of non-fiction into parts and then
explains how the parts work together to create a certain effect—whether to
persuade, entertain or inform”(Texas A&M). Using this definition I was able
to better analyze the music video. Texas A&M made it easier to understand what
aspects of the video I should be focusing on to rhetorically analyze the music video.
This is a song about a man and woman trying to get out of the condition which
is also the cage, they are trying to fight the change of emotions they are
constantly experiencing which is bipolar disorder. This video clearly shows the
writer’s use of ethos, pathos and logos to show the mind of a person with a
mental disorder.
How they use pathos is very clever, they
use the cage to show that they are stuck in the specific condition. Another way
the writer uses pathos is in the lyrics when she says, “why can’t I conquer
love”(0.24), this is exemplifying to the audience the struggle of her of her
emotion.
In
the music video, they also use logos in a great way. The way the music video
displays logos is through the constant struggle for the person dealing with the
mental disorder. They portray that when a person has bipolar disorder, a part
of the person can never escape the condition no matter how much they want to. This
is shown through the lyrics, “you did not break me I am still fighting for
peace”(2:25). Even though they have not reach peace within themselves yet, they
will not give up.
Lastly the way the director displays
ethos is through the music video because he shows knowledge of what it’s like
to be in the mind of someone with a mental disorder. A good way that this was
displayed is in the end of the video when the girl was able to leave the cage
and she tries to help the man escape, but he was stuck. (4:11) This part of the
video shows how a person’s mind can be torn by a disorder. As for the lyrics sung
when this is happening are, “cause I’ve got an elastic heart” (4:11). This
really displays that since her mood changes so frequently; only part of her can
escape.
In conclusion, the music video for
“Elastic Heart” by Sia displays the three types of rhetoric: ethos, pathos and
logos to teach the emotional struggle for someone who has a mental disorder.
The video makes countless arguments showing the difficulty of living with the
disorder. People who watch this video will have a better understanding of the
internal battle that goes on in the mind of a person with a mental disorder
specifically bipolar disorder.
Elastic Heart. Perf. Shia LaBeouf and Maddie Ziegler. YouTube. YouTube, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 18
Sept. 2015.
"Lyrics: Elastic Heart" Sia Music. Sia, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
"Rhetorical Analysis." University Writing Center. Texas A&M University, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
I like how you were able to tie in all three aspects of pathos, logos, and ethos in the music video. I struggled to find all three but it seems to me that you were able to find it out easy. I would like to know how you came to the conclusion that this song is about mental disorders. You could be right, this is the first I'm hearing about that thought, it's interesting.
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