The piece
of writing that I chose for this specific journal is an article from USA Today
that relates to the situation with Collin Kaepernick and him dealing with the
aftermath of not standing for the national anthem prior to the start of each
NFL game. Essentially, the article does not take a specific side to the
argument. The article does a fairly decent job of explaining the two sides of
this controversy, mainly through primary sources (interviews of friends,
family, and former coaches of Collin Kaepernick from his hometown).
I think
that Bitzer would think that the fact that there are articles, along with other
various types of media coverage of this topic, is making this into an issue,
which is basically creating the rhetorical situation itself. Since the
influence of mass media coverage can potentially change the way are dealing
with the reason behind Collin Kaepernick kneeling in the first place, police
brutality and unfair treatment of African Americans in the United States of
America, this means, in the eyes of Bitzer, that this situation is rhetorical. This
specific situation is rather big, mainly due to the fact that the audience is
essentially anyone who watches or reads any type of news medium, which also
lifts the constraints on who this situation is referring to, mainly because it
is bringing up generally understood topics like Patriotism and Constitutional
rights.
Edbauer
would argue that the way this situation is being presented to the general
public, heavily influences the way people will interpret it. Edbauer would
argue that this article itself, will not create the situation, however, it will
help evolve this rhetorical situation by using the comments from the people
from Kaepernick’s hometown. And it’s the job of the audience to take it one
step further and open up a dialogue of what’s the real issue behind Kaepernick’s
actions. Depending on which side you support,
this article neither helped nor criticized Kaepernick’s stance, mostly since
everyone that the interviewer interviewed, decline to comment on this topic,
including his parents.
The main
idea that both Bitzer and Edbauer is the construction of the three constituent parts
that make up this entire situation; mainly regarding the problem itself, and if
it can be changed by other people, which depending on which side you’re on, may
differ. Also, Bitzer and Edbauer would agree that the audience, along with the
constraints that this specific audience presents, which in this situation, isn’t
a lot.
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