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Rhetorical Analysis: The Black Lives Matter Movement

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In the midst of terrorist attacks, an election that has been overrun with likes on social media, and the looming threat of war, America persists a new civil rights movement. This movement is known as Black Lives Matter. The new crusade embellishes the social injustices and oppressions faced by the black community, specifically police brutality. The Black Lives Matter movement started in 2013 when African-American teen, Trayvon Martin, a victim of police brutality, was shot to death. The initiation of such movement are prevalent throughout history. For instance, the American Civil Rights movement from 1954-1968 was a large step in the black community’s political and civil rights, and, possibly the largest step of all, the induction of the first African American president, Barack Obama. This amazing moment in American history would not be made possible without Obama’s determination, perseverance and unparalleled campaign tactics. One of Obama’s more well known campaigns directed by Davis Guggenheim, “A Mother’s Promise”, draws potential voters into Obama’s campaign using many rhetorical devices within …show more content…
In the first scene of “A Mother’s Promise”, Guggenheim places clips of smiling, laughing children on a warm, sunny day, waving their American flags around in the warm summer air. The director uses empathy to connect with the audience. This rhetorical device is known as pathos. The feeling when one sees a happy child, is a feeling like no other. In American society today, a certain place is held in the hearts of millions for children. When one regards the smiling children in the beginning of the text, it creates a feeling of empathy that is present throughout the entire film. The director deliberately placed the children at the beginning of the film to create that long lasting effect of empathy, thus leading to more possible

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