As you can see from the lack of enthusiasm in the title, I’m not looking forward to tackling this prompt. It tells us to choose a public figure, whether it be the president, the Queen, the mayor, or the governor, and select a video of them addressing the people about COVID. We are meant to look at and dissect the rhetorical strategies and methods, as well as describe what worked and what didn’t and why. Fun, right? I’m writing these last few blogs on the very last possible due date, and I contemplated skipping this one because I can barely conjure up the motivation to write this entry, but here we go anyway.
On April 14th, Donald Trump showed a video of a Coronavirus timeline to a room full of “speechless journalists.” I have no idea why they are speechless, because the video was literally just a timeline of events, but I digress. Anyway, Trump’s method of rhetoric is visual representation. The timeline shows the effects of the virus and gives perspective to the measures Americans need to take in order to maintain a safe and secure society. Personally, I don’t see any failures in this rhetoric, at least this specific example, but I could understand if someone were to come up to me and mention a hole or two in his delivery. I would simply say that I didn’t think that way and I would reiterate my utter nonchalance toward this whole issue. There is strong and poor rhetoric alike on both sides of the coin of democracy, and I make it my top priority to make caring about any of it my last possible priority.
The Alley Way 