Description
Language can be highly significant breaking common notion among the masses and the video is a valid proof of it. Will McAvoy played by Jeff Daniels does beyond the common answers expected by the audience and reveals the truth about American current position in the world.
McAvoy shares statistics and the latest positions held by America on issues such as infant mortality, maths, literacy, life expectancy, science, labour force, etc. McAvoy further justifies his claim by saying the only places America leads is number of incarcerated citizens and defense spending. The result of using such strong language and honest analysis helps him to connect with the audience as they are pulled into McAvoy’s outburst and the result is absolute silence. Through his language, McAvoy manages to show a mirror to the audience and make them realize that they are living in a dream world.
Another important factor in the video was the use of nostalgia, where McAvoy remembers the time when his country used to stand up for morally right, passed laws for moral causes, waged war on poverty, explored universe, and cultivated a great economy. McAvoy states that all this happened in the past, when great people lead the nation and kept everyone informed. The nostalgia brings out human emotion in McAvoy and makes the audience realize how he also craves for making America the greatest country again.
His words are driven with passion for his nation and his dismay that his country has moved away from its track of greatness. Overall, nostalgia adds the necessary emotion from the speaker and makes him relate with the audience and their expectation of their country being the greatest.
References
Perelman in his article presents philosophical discourses and rhetoric that seem revolutionary and address to the humanity within all of us. Through the use of rhetoric and philosophical discourse, McAvoy breaks his barriers and comes out heavily criticizing his country over several issues and insulting the current generation of their delusional world. Through rhetoric, McAvoy communicated and persuades his audience that they are living in a bubble and incomplete information is being fed to them. Philosophical discourse is presented in his outburst as he criticizes the panel for their falsified and ineffective address of the question from a young girl, which has become a common denominator of the present society (Perelman, Winchester, and Verene 129-134). The article has been helpful in making me analyse the video as it made me understand the use of rhetoric and philosophical discourse that drives McAvoy to criticize the mass opinion of America being the greatest country in the world.
Critical and imaginative responses are the result of questions that are posed in specific situations. McAvoy’s response seems creative and imaginative thinking, but it is a mere reflection of the question asked and the response given by others on the panel. It can also be said that his actions are symbolic of the nature of the situation where McAvoy feels the young people of the country are being misguided by the leaders. McAvoy’s symbolic action of clarifying the growing bubble of misinformation represents his suppressed feelings that were provoked by falsified information and his inner conscious that wanted to speak the truth. This chapter has helped in analysing the situation as it informs about symbolic actions and what could have enticed McAvoy to break the fold and speak out on issues that are covered under the blanket of past glories.
Analysis
Symbols such as McAvoy’s words work as a tool to penetrate the misinformed students who are fed false information and hope of America and its greatness. Symbols break the myth developed by the media and leaders of the nation as it identifies that exact position American holds in significant areas of relevance. The symbols in the text help in communicating and persuading the audience the reasons American is not the greatest country anymore. In addition, it also gives an account of past glories and how the country is living in the past. The symbols are used for making sense of the outburst and share some well-known facts with the unaware audience who are fed wrong information by reputed panellists. Overall, symbols or words are used for making people understand that America has fallen behind other countries, but the misinformation spread across the country maintains the myth of past glories.
The symbolic action that can be understood from the video is that America is not the greatest country anymore. McAvoy explains it through his words that America is no longer the leading nation of the world and other countries are superior in many ways. The text helps in accomplishing the task of making people informed about the current situation of the country. It helps to identify the mistakes made by America and how people are covering their mistakes. The text accomplishes the task of explaining to the audience that the world has moved on from the past, but America reminisce their past success and wants to live in that bubble. The text also explains that American only leads in defense spending and mass incarceration, which are indications of the failure the country as there are other important issues to handle such as poverty.
In terms of persuasion, the text manages to convince as McAvoy delivers facts on the several important issues where America has fallen behind. Also, it presents worrying signs for the country as he makes it clear that the country leads in incarcerations and defense spending. In addition, McAvoy’s popularity and reputation as a news commentator and host makes him a reliable source for the audience. Through nostalgia, McAvoy appeals to the past and makes it clear that American used to be greatest, but as time passed, the country lost its focus from important issues. The words are convincing as they are persuading form of communication from a reliable source that appeals to the audience on the way the country should be ran, rather than the way it has been running under the current leaders.
Discussion
Will McAvoy’s outburst from an episode of Newsroom over America not being the greatest country anymore is an example of symbolic action. The language used in the video helps to catch the attention of the audience and works as a persuading tool to inform how America has fallen behind other countries in several important issues. Using nostalgia at the end shows the emotional side of the speaker as he remembers the time when America did the rights things and people were informed. Use of symbolism has helped in persuading the audience of the rhetorical situation where several Americans are living in a bubble when they think of America as the greatest country. Through symbolic action, McAvoy makes the audience and the panel slits realize their mistake of misinforming themselves over the issue of America’s greatness and makes them identify that most of them are living in the past glories.
Works Cited
Burke, Kenneth, and Joseph R. Gusfield. "Symbolic Action." On Symbols and Society. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1989. 77-85. Print.
HBO. "America is Not the Greatest Country in the World Anymore." YouTube. YouTube.com, 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Perelman, Chaim, James Winchester, and Molly B. Verene. "Rhetoric and Politics." Philosophy & Rhetoric 17.3 (1984): 129-134. Print.
