Thursday, January 5, 2012
Rhetor’s Notebook Post #2: Framing the Rhetoric of The Laramie Project
To help you draft this essay, I’d like you to identify a concept (like rhetoric, audience, rhetorical constraints, appeals to ethos, pathos, or logos, argument, love, or social justice) from any of the essays by Covino & Joliffe, Corder, or Miller, which you think will help you develop your claim about the film. First, use the reading to help you define this concept and explain what it means to the rest of us. Then, use this term to open up an initial discussion of The Laramie Project and explain how it helps us understand the film's persuasiveness. How does this concept help you analyze the film and deepen your claim about its persuasiveness? Please post your response to this post before class on Monday.
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In his article, “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love,” Corder asserts that each individual is an argument, telling their own narrative. These narratives shape the world in which we live and contain our beliefs. Since they are evidence of our convictions, conflict occurs when we encounter opposing arguments. He continues to explain the various outcomes when two conflicting narratives collide. Instead of remaining steadfast in our views, Corder argues that for successful communication to occur, we must see the other. He says, “Argument is emergence toward the other” (Corder 26). If there is a mutual respect between interlocutors, then there is a movement towards truth. In the film “The Laramie Project,” the Catholic priest and two homosexuals from the theater company demonstrate a moment of ‘argument as emergence.’ Both sides recognize the differences in their individual narratives, allowing them to feel respect for the other. Since they accept that their truths are different, they are able to see the other and move towards a mutual understanding. During this initial conversation they share, a solid bridge of trust is built. Part of the persuasiveness of the scene is its unpredictability. The fact that a friendship could develop out of these two polarized narratives is a humbling moment. Although the priest has a tremendous amount of ethos because of his position within the Catholic Church, he doesn’t let his authoritative position hinder his communication with the homosexuals. Rather than regarding the homosexuals with hate like the other pastor does, the priest approaches them with love, which Corder argues is necessary to create a commodious language. With love, the priest extends his universe and narrative to include that of the homosexuals.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Convino and Joliffe an appeal to pathos is when a text activates the “sympathies and emotions of the auditors” which causes them “attend to and accept its ideas, propositions, or calls for action” of the piece(Covino and Joliffe 16). Although the article discusses how pathos can sometimes present as pandering to the audience, it can also act as a powerful tool in engaging and persuading the audience. In a film such as The Laramie Project the appeal to pathos creates a strong emotional connection to the film’s call to action. The key to the appeal to pathos in The Laramie Project is that it is not aimed at one specific type of viewer. As the film calls for further understating as to why hate crimes such as this happen, it does so not only for the victims of such crimes. It makes the call to action for the town that has been crippled by such a brutal event. It makes the call for the family of the victim and the family of the murderers. It makes the call to all those who can relate to the victim, or the town, or the families. Due to the fact that the appeal to pathos is so wide, it plays a large role in the film’s persuasive nature. In The Laramie Project hate crimes are not presented as simply impacting the given minority, but a problem impacting the entire nation. The more individuals that feel emotionally connected to this event, the more strength there is behind motivation for understanding and changing the reality of hate crimes.
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ReplyDeleteIn the movie, The Laramie Project, the appeal to ethos plays an important role in the message of the film. In the excerpt from their book: Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries, Covino and Joliffe define ethos as an appeal “to the authority,” “good character and consequent credibility of the rhetor.” The importance of this concept is easily felt in the production of the movie in many ways. If we look at the producers, or interviewers, as the rhetors in that they were the ones to write the play/movie, credibility was necessary for them. Most of the townspeople were hesitant at first to talk about the incident until the interviewers had established that they were looking to learn and help, not to exploit them. The excerpt explains that a rhetor’s “text must demonstrate that [he/she] is a person of good sense, virtue, and good will.” Although the producers did not have a specific text of the play they would write yet, they had a good enough idea so that they could assure the people that their words, and Matthew’s death would be honored and not be exploited.
ReplyDeleteIf we look at the townspeople, the interviewees, as the rhetors as they were the ones who’s words were going to be used and it was technically their story, they had a natural appeal to ethos. Being connected to the incident on an intimate level, they had the ultimate authority to retell the story and essentially write the play. This appeal to ethos is necessary in the movie, because if the producers did not hold that credibility, the movie would not have the same powerful message and it would not have touched so many people in the town and the world.
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ReplyDeleteIn The Laramie Project the people of Laramie get a chance to explain their stories about Matthew Shepherd and the incident surrounding his death openly. The Laramie Project takes this terrible occurrence that was extremely controversial and uniquely transform it so that the true horror of this crime is explained in a way that could appeal to anyone across the country, no matter their beliefs. The film addresses the rhetorical constraints, the “frames of mind, belief systems, and ways of life that lead the audience to accept the speaker’s or writer’s ideas and to act upon exigence” (Covino 11). The film shows how many people in the Laramie with a wide range of opinions on Matthew’s death had taken their stance. By interviewing people close to Matthew, people who opposed Matthew based on his sexual orientation, and people who were friends with the men who murdered Matthew the entire story is seen from many points. This approach makes Matthew’s story almost universally represented to the story that it is—a boy who was the victim of a hate crime based solely on his sexual orientation. By addressing the rhetorical constraints of the audience The Laramie Project was a film that could be accessible and appeal to the pathos of any audience.
ReplyDeleteEthos is essentially what gives the rhetor credibility. It is defined in “An Introduction to Rhetoric” as something that “moves an audience” by increasing their belief in “the credibility of the rhetor” through “good character” as well as “good sense, virtue, and good will.” Through this definition it is clear that the Laramie Project relies heavily upon the use of ethos. In this film ethos was achieved through character, text, wisdom, practicality, expertise, and accessibility. The film has an over arching idea that killing is wrong which is supported both by the plethora of ethos of those who believe this and the distinct lack of ethos for those who oppose this idea. The playwrights present ethos through their expertise on the subject matter, having previously recreated the story of Oliver Wilde, and through their clear desire to be true and just to the people of the time. This added to the ethos of the opinions of many in town because numerous of those who felt that it was heinous to commit such a crime were hesitant to talk at first until they felt the playwrights were good intentioned. Their hesitance makes their words have even more legitimacy and therefore increases the ethos further. Also, those who felt as if Matthew deserved what he got for some reason or another spoke as if ranting and did not seem like they were people of level head and sound mind, thereby discrediting their opinion. This makes the only opinion with a strong sense of ethos be the one in favor of life and against the brutal murder.
ReplyDeleteMarin Klostermeier
ReplyDeleteProfessor Geoffrey Bateman
WRIT 1622-2
January 10, 2012
In order to go into a town after they have suffered a tragedy, like the one that happened in Laramie, Wyoming, to interview people and ask them to reopen wounds that had just started healing the people of the town need to be able to hold these “intruders” in a somewhat high regard. This regard is commonly referred to as ethos when the people doing the interviewing are planning on sharing the information that they have collected. More specifically, “Ethos is generally defined as the good character and the consequent credibility of the rhetor” (Covino, 15). There are two distinct ways that one can look at ethos, either by seeing someone as credible based on the text they create, or by seeing someone as credible based on events that have happened in the rhetors life that give him or her authority in the area that there text covers. Ethos can be found in the film The Laramie Project no matter where one sights its origin. Ethos comes from the company of the Tectonic Theater Project (the rhetors) when one identifies the fact that the company had a very successful production surrounding the trials of Oscar Wilde. The company also comprises people who are straight and who are members of the LGBT community. Going to investigate a crime that happened occurred out of hate for a person who was gay, makes a well rounded group vital, in order to gain multiple perspectives. Ethos comes from the text that they create from the fact that the company interviews a diverse collection of members from the community, from people who are gay themselves, to those who do not condone the life style, to family members of the people being charged with the murder of Matthew Shepard. In the film I saw a general theme of people hoping for something good to be brought out of the tragedy. The theater company finds dome of this good when two members go to interview a Catholic priest who turns out to be an ally for the LGBT community. How the company presents that their minds where changed gave them ethos by showing that they would not be blinded by their own misconceptions.
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ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the idea of invention in the Corder article entitled Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love. Corder states, “that argument-that rhetoric itself-must begin, proceed, and end in love” (Corder 28). He then goes on to list several ways in which this can be achieved. One way love, in terms of rhetoric, can be achieved is through the continual cycling of, “closing to speak, [and] opening again to invent again” (Corder 29). According to Corder, invention is the act of opening oneself to the “richness of creation”. He goes on to describe the act of opening, and the idea of invention using similar phrases. However, I had trouble understanding this seemingly sacred universe where all creation lies. How do I get there? Furthermore, he states that once we speak, once we act, we are no longer able to retain our openness. From that point on we are closed until we decided to reopen again. Why can't we speak, and remain open in another regard? Why can't we say something with the sole intention of bouncing our ideas of another individual. And, if why are we only closed when we speak or act? Why aren't we closed at all times, because after all we are constantly making judgements and forming opinions in our head, regardless of what comes out of our mouth. I think the idea is interesting, and I'm not saying it's wrong. I simply don't fully understand what it means. However, I do agree that by keeping and open mind, which allows us to dip into this great chasm of creation, we are performing an act of love. By keeping our mind open, we are able to accept the arguments and rhetoric of others, and by accepting their ideas we are respecting and therefore loving. This idea of openness and invention versus speaking/acting out plays a key role in the Laramie Project. Corder would argue that every time an interview took place, that individual was “closed” at least for the time being. And, by speaking they weren't treating rhetoric as “love”. But, as I said before it doesn't make sense to me why an individual must speak in order to relieve themselves from the universe of creation. Everyone in the town undoubtedly formed opinions regardless of whether or not they verbalized what they were thinking. As far as I'm concerned it is impossible to retain the sense of openness and invention that Corder spoke of.
ReplyDeleteEthos can be defined as “the good character and consequent credibility of the rhetor,” (Covino 15). Establishing good character is perhaps the most important part of constructing an effective argument. If the writer comes across as a trustworthy person to the audience, then the audience is far more likely to be swayed by the writer’s argument. On the other hand, if the argument is presented in a way that makes the writer seem less trustworthy, then the audience will likely ignore the claims presented to them. Covino mentions the use of footnotes and bibliographies in academic papers as an example of a writer maintaining good ethos. This act shows that the writer “has done the required homework,” (Covino 15).
ReplyDeleteThe Laramie Project does something very similar to this by showing the interviews with the townspeople. These interviews show the audience that the original writers “did their homework” to ensure that their portrayal of the town of Laramie was accurate. They also imply that the writers recognized their own biases and stereotypes, and rather than simply writing the play based on how they assumed the town felt, they decided to travel to Laramie to interview the people. The audience ideally would see this as an effort to avoid slandering the name of Laramie and to maintain some objectivity in the play.
The story of Matthew Shepard told through The Laramie Project is a great example of pathos. Pathos, as defined in Covino’s essay is when an author attempts to “activate a person’s emotions” through their writing, speech or in our case film. The Laramie Project does a great job of persuading how horrible hatred is by showing how emotionally distraught the town of Laramie was after Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered. To further develop these emotional connections The Laramie Project mentions the appearance of the Westboro Babtist Church at the funeral of Matthew Shepard and the trial of one of his murderers. This “religious” group is a great example of rhetoric gone rotten, because the insight hate and anger through their demonstrations at extremely emotional events. They also appeal to pathos by inciting anger with their protests. However, as one of the central themes of the film was how good can come out of evil, and humanity will follow a logical path towards good, a group of people positively protested the Westboro Babtist Church’s protest by dressing up as incarnations of good, angels. Another chief display of pathos in the movie was during the trial and sentencing of McKinney when Matthew Shepard’s father gave his moving speech. This speech contained a great amount of pathos, as it targeted the emotion, and how horrible it would be to lose one’s child. In addition to the development on pathos, The Laramie Project also is a great teacher of the importance of social justice. Miller states in his essay about social justice, that social justice is the “crude” idea of how the “good and bad things in life should be distributed”. In The Laramie Project social justice is a huge underlying theme, and most it provokes thought regarding how we as a society should treat other members of our society if they are what someone may deem as a “bad thing” in life. In short, The Laramie Project highlights social justice by appealing to the pistis of pathos.
ReplyDeleteThe Laramie Project would have undoubtedly proven to be a much weaker argument if Kaufman and his company members had taken a more aggressive approach in denouncing Matthew Shepard’s murder. Instead of attacking the town of Laramie and using the murder as a platform from which to tear down sexual discrimination, the members of Tectonic Theater Project sought to build and strengthen their argument by developing a sincere understanding of the citizens of Laramie. In some ways this was the company’s way in developing a strong ethos. In Covino & Joliffe’s essay What is Rhetoric?, they write, “Ethos is generally defined as the good character and the consequent credibility of the rhetor” (Covino 15). Further more they claim, “a text must demonstrate that the rhetor is a person of good sense, virtue, and good will” (Covino 15). Kaufman & co. display all of these attributes through their accepting and understanding interview process. In the essay Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love Jim W. Corder writes “If there is to be hope, we have to see each other, to know each other, to be present to each other, to embrace each other” (Corder 25). This is exactly what the company members did, as they took over a year to interview nearly 80 people about their views concerning the incident. In turn, the play was able to instill a sense of hope in the citizens of Laramie, as a way of letting them coming to terms with the crime and move forward from it, as well as the rest of the nation, by displaying such a loving reaction to a terrible event. Corder also writes in his essay, “As each understands and accepts the other, then they may move toward the truth.” (Corder 24). Kaufman and his cohorts opened the door of healing by working to understand and accept the people of Laramie; the play is the door through which the people of Laramie may learn to understand and accept the views of outsiders and move forward.
ReplyDeleteJim Corder states in Arguments as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love, “Sometimes we turn away from other narratives. Sometimes we teach ourselves not to know that there are other narratives. Sometimes- probably all too seldom- we encounter another narrative and learn to change our own.” A person’s narrative is who they are; their history, their experiences, their ideas and beliefs. Jim Corder is saying that too often we ignore and even fail to try to understand what others believe and why they think the way they do. I think that is the problem The Laramie Project is addressing. It shares a community’s different ideas on Matthew Shepard’s death and the issue of homosexuality to help people all over the world question and accept other people’s narratives in order to promote individual acceptance. One way the film does this is by appealing to ethos. In What is Rhetoric, Covino defines ethos as “the authority of the rhetor.” The audience of a text is more likely to listen to and agree with a rhetor that shows good character and has a good reputation.
ReplyDeleteThe interviewees in the film present good ethos since they were close to Matthew Shepard, which gives them authority in telling his story and who he was as a person. Matthew Shepard’s father develops ethos in his appeal speech when he states he agrees with the death penalty but then counteracts that with saying he doesn’t want Matthew’s murderer to die because Matthew wouldn’t have wanted that. This is effective in creating ethos because if the father of the victim of a hate crime doesn’t want the death penalty for his murderer of his son, then who would ever want the death penalty on someone else. The Catholic priest also develops ethos when he meets with two interviewers from the theater company who are homosexual. Instead of hating them, the priest surprises them (and the audience) by accepting who they are even though he disagrees with homosexuality. This appeals to the audience because if a Catholic priest can accept homosexuals then everybody should be able to accept the differences of the individual. The Laramie project is a piece that uses the appeal to ethos as one way to push the nation to hear and learn other narratives, and maybe change our own to be more accepting of the individual.
When Aristotle was forming his radical theory in his work “Rhetoric,” his purpose was aimed at providing political influence-seeking men in BCE Athens with the persuasive skills necessary to obtain power. However, his catalog of emotions and ideas of “fitting one’s text to the character types and states of mind that pathetic appeals,” continues to apply to modern methods of persuasive writing (Covino, 17). Pathetic, or better known as the emotional appeal or pathos, is defined in Covino’s article “What is Rhetoric?” as an effective text that “will somehow activate or draw upon the sympathies and emotions of the auditors, causing them to attend to and accept its ideas, propositions, or calls for action’ (16). In summary, a rhetor’s appeal to pathos within a text utilizes emotional connection between the audience and the message being delivered. If we analyze “The Laramie Project” through the rhetor’s appeal to the audience’s pathos, we find the film to be very influential in the effectiveness of its message delivery. The film aims, not to comment on the moral debate of homosexuality in general, but rather on the social justice of Mathew Shepard’s death and the world view of Laramie. In appealing to pathos, the rhetor addresses a wide variety of areas surrounding Laramie and Mat’s death, each with varying effectiveness on different audiences. In addressing the social justice within the film itself comes the most impactful appeal to pathos, Mathew’s father’s statement to the court. In using his own emotions, his son’s memory, and his own appeal to the jurors’ pathos, Mat’s father successfully convinced the court to spare Mat’s murder’s life. The independent appeal to pathos within the film, extends beyond the film to appeal to the pathos of the audience, further enforcing the cry for social justice, but also acceptance, forgiveness, and mercy. In its use of pathos appeal, the film effectively delivers a message bigger than Mat’s death, bigger than Laramie, bigger than hate crimes in itself, to deliver an overarching message, full of emotion and effective persuasion.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many facets that the American society is constantly trying to refine is justice. In the Scope of Social Justice, the author asserts that in order for true justice to be achieved there needs to be an implantation of both a “relative shares of advantages or disadvantages accruing to different groups of people” (5). Later the author contends that there should be an agency of some sort, “capable of changing the institutional structure” (6). With this definition, it remains evident that the Laramie project was created to expose the flaws in with both the distribution of advantages and the allocation of justice at the government level. In a New York Times articles titled The Lesson’s of Mathew Shepard, the author illustrates the threat towards the gay community. In a study by the Southern Poverty Law Center the author found that “after studying FBI law statistics, gay men and lesbian women are six times as likely to be physically attacked as Jews or Hispanics in America, and twice as likely as African Americans.” One person in in the article Open Minds, Open Economy, even called places like Wyoming “insular.” This illustrates why someone like Mathew fell victim to such brutality. A homosexual growing up in a society-where there are not many like him and those who may be are to afraid to come out-is easily going to be lured by others who are claiming to be homosexuals. A boy who is for so long ostracized and treated unfairly is going to be lured by false kindness. In The Hate Epidemic Op-ed author David Lovett thus contends that, “what was exploited was nothing less than a young mans trust and hope and eager longing if not for love, then at least for friendship, for camaraderie.” Its perhaps possible to conclude that if the social issues for gays were non existents: the fear, the prejudice, the uncertainty, the loneliness, the low self-esteem, we can presume that Mathew would not have been so easily lured in the hands of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. Some however, could also argue that Mathew’s death was also due to poor policy on the agency level. In the article Murdered for who he Was, according to the author in 1998, there was no federal standard that constituted a hate crime, nor was going to the police securing (2, The Hate Epidemic). In order for social justice to be achieved it must be evenly allocated to all individuals at the federal and state level in order for all groups of people to feel the same amount of comfort and security.
ReplyDeleteWhen Moises Kaufman first read about the beating of a gay college student in Laramie, Wyoming, he realized the severity of this event. He knew that such an event could have a serious impact on how the world looks at hate crimes. He set out with his company, the Tectonic Theater Project, in an attempt to capture responses from the small town of Laramie. With the whole world watching and grieving the tragedy of Matthew Shepard, Mosies Kauffmen and his company were able to tell the story of what happened that night and the toll it took on Laramie, Wyoming. This production put the widespread concern of hate in the country further into the news and mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteWilliam A. Covino and David A. Joliffe, in "What is Rhetoric?", describe the audience as "not simply the aggregation of people who listen to or read the text called forth by the exigence. More specifically, the audience comprises the who have a reason to be concerned about the exigence and who are capable of of acting on it or being acted upon by it" (11). As shown by the world wide attention given to the death of Matthew Shephard, it is clear that the audience in this text, the Laramie Project, is much broader than one may first anticipate. The quote states the audience is anybody who " have a reason to be concerned." With the growing attention to hate crimes, there are many people who are able to, even if only to the slightest degree, connect with the text. People are concerned with the amount of hate in the world today, especially towards factions of society that are tagged as "different". Having such a large amount of people shows the extent of the audience for the Laramie Project. The quote also goes on to say that the audience is somebody "who are able of acting on it". In the great country we live in, this comprises of every single adult. The democratic process of the United States allows for everybody to get involved and everybody to have the opportunity to make change happen. With such a large audience base of those who are against the violence and hate happening in the various crimes, using the resources of democracy it is easy for action to be taken.
In his paper Argument is Emergence, Rhetoric is Love, Corder explains his belief that every person is in effect their own argument and that every time they open their mouth their unconscious goal is to gather followers so that they can teach their beliefs to others. Because of this inherent argument Corder argues that every form of speech is an example of persuasion. Throughout his work he attempts to analyze the ways in which we use our powers of persuasion and the strategies that we must use in order to better work with others by reaching common conclusions and common ground. One of the methods that he proposes in order to help individuals to work together is to remember to love the person that they are speaking to. “In argument, the arguer must, with no assurance, go out, inviting the other to enter a world that the arguer tires to make commodious, inviting the other to emerge as well, but with no assurance of kind or even thoughtful response. How does this happen? Better, how can it happen? It can happen if we learn to love before we disagree.” (26)
ReplyDeleteIn The Laramie Project the father of Matthew Shepard is at one point asked to stand before the court and decide the fate of Aaron McKinney. The speech given by Matthew’s father is incredibly powerful for the sheer amount of rhetorical argument that can be found in its words as he tries to express the pain and sorrow that he has felt as well as his emotions towards the killer of his son. The most persuasive and powerful moment of this speech comes at it’s conclusion when Mr. Shepard issues his decision on whether he will recommend the death penalty or a life sentence for the murderer of his son. In this passage Shepard follows the words of Corder as he chooses to show McKinney the love that he failed to show to Matthew. With this choice to love instead of hate Shepard makes an even stronger argument then he could have hoped for as he simultaneously begins the healing process for Laramie as well as the reflection period that will dominate the remainder of Aaron McKinney’s natural life. Mr. Shepard’s speech is a key moment of The Laramie Project as it goes to show that the tragedy of Matthew’s death is not that he was gay, as the news media has portrayed it, but rather was a tragedy because Matthew loved so much and so many and in a moment of need he couldn’t get that love back from the people around him and because of that his argumentative rhetoric was silenced.
Social justice is a concept that is fluid and always changing, always morphing to become a suitable definition for current society. According to David Miller, a basic explanation of social justice is equal opportunity and distribution of goods for everyone regardless of their race, beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation. However, the concepts of equal opportunity and equal distribution of goods are difficult to define, especially in today’s global society. What may constitute a social injustice in America or other developed countries can be considered plentiful in developing countries like Gabon. However, writers of The Laramie Project worked to illuminate an injustice so large that no matter in what context you consider it, the actions which took place in Laramie were a clear violation of social justice. On the most basic human level, every person has the right to live freely. On an almost primal level, this fact establishes equal opportunity for people to live a full and long life. Writers of The Laramie Project also explored the idea that persecuting someone because of their lifestyle was a social injustice. They began communicating this to the audience by making it clear that Matthew Sheppard was targeted and killed for his sexuality. They then showed clips demonstrating the anti LGBT sentiment widespread in Laramie, as well as clips of friends and family of the assailants personally testifying to their anti-gay tendencies. This established credibility with the audience that Sheppard was indeed killed because of his lifestyle. They then effectively argue that this persecution was a violation of the social justice by showing that the act of violence fit into the three different assumptions Miller argues must be filled to classify something an injustice. Writers demonstrated that Laramie was a close, tight knit town, that there were institutions in the town that could impact the social injustice (the university, the Catholic church), and that there was an agency capable of changing the status quo. Writers depicted the local parish as being sympathetic to Sheppard, indicating that it could be a source of change. Mentioning that the University theatre was putting on a showing of Angels and Demons also showed that it was working to change the stigma the LGBT community had in Laramie, proving that this event was actually an injustice that could be prevented in the future. By carefully assembling the story of how Matthew Sheppard’s death affected the town of Laramie, writers of The Laramie Project successfully depicted not only a great social injustice, but how a town was working to correct it.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge to efficiently discuss ideas and argue is the message in Corder's work Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love. He recognizes and attempts to reconcile the limits of rhetoric in solving issues of disagreement and conflict arising from differing perspectives and narratives. The constraints of rhetorical efficiency arise from the inability to empathize and appreciate another's perspective, thus limiting the potential change that another's perspective on an issue may have on one's own preconceived one (Corder 23). In The Laramie Project, the issue of closed-mindedness on effective communication and discourse is very prevalent in its creation, as there are some citizens of Laramie that were extremely unwilling to participate in giving the theater company any kind of interview on the incident at all. But perhaps it is this process, the act of a group of people who shared the same trait of homosexuality that got Matthew Shepard murdered, that creates the film's effective means of communication of the far-reaching scope that a hate crime has on a community.
ReplyDeleteCorder writes that one must both stand alone and provide personal stories and examples from one's past when attempting to successfully argue (30-31). The Laramie Project used these means in its logos to create an emotional response and thus cause for thought in its audience. The use of personal interviews with actual citizens conducted by people standing alone, potentially putting themselves in harms way in a community that outwardly appears to be violently opposed to homosexuals makes the whole situation seem very real. The inclusion of interviews by members of the community both for and against the gay community also helped to create a whole-picture perspective that the audience could choose what to think about the situation rather than take a strictly one-sided and authoritative stance on it form the start. This action would have potentially weakened the power of the film, as a perspective not open to interpretation and disagreement is a reason Corder cites for an inefficient argument (29). Because the film was both based on fact and presented in a way for the audience to garner a meaning for themselves, the Laramie Project was a highly persuasive production in making people realize the potential for destruction that hate for difference can have between human beings.