caitlynpm

[caitlynpm]

*Gender and Rhetoric*

In this entry, I will examine the critical question(s): What gender/sexuality norms are constructed or undone in this artifact, how is it rhetorically done, and/or how does it promote a dominant ideology over a marginalized group or push back against the ideology or gender norms? Is it productive/unproductive (ethical/unethical)?

To investigate these questions, I examined ��Role Model-A-Rooney” from Disney Channel’s television show Liv and Maddie, which is geared toward young children and teenagers, as my rhetorical artifact. Liv undoes the gender norm that believes boys and girls are only interested in cars and fashion, respectively, by insisting that girls can build a woodblock car and eventually beat the boys in a derby race using visual and spoken language. This is productive for society because Liv undoes broad gender norms which teaches young children and teenagers that they do not have to believe the stereotypes portrayed on television and can excel in and embrace anything.  

Liv and Maddie is a show geared toward children and teenagers of both sexes. It follows parents, twin sisters Liv and Maddie, and two brothers as they navigate their way through relationships, high school, jobs, and more. In the last season, they move in with their cousin, Ruby. Liv and Ruby land an acting job for the fictional television show Sing it Louder and Liv is found standing up for what she believes. In the episode, “Roll Model-A-Rooney,” Liv teaches Ruby and her friend, Priya, a valuable lesson about gender norms. The writers of the show Sing it Louder wanted the boys to win the woodblock derby race, just like how it was on their previous show. Whereas the boys receive an actual wood block car, the girls receive a bright pink high heel with wheels full of sparkles. This causes Liv to speak out for what she believes as she is upset being reduced to a gender stereotype (Keene, 2017). 

Judith Butler describes what it means to undo normative conceptions about sex and gender. Restricting gender norms can be freeing, but also can lead to undoing one’s personhood. Butler states that “social norms that constitute our existence carry desires that do not originate with our individual personhood.” (Butler, 2004). When we are born, we are assigned a sex, male or female, but gender is socially constructed. Over the years, society has decided what constitutes “boy” and “girl” hobbies, so a person can not decide what they desire because it has been instilled in them since the day they were born. Butler encourages readers to critique the conditions in which how we relate sex and gender (Butler, 2004). 

Liv defies the gender norm by standing up for gender equality after seeing the high heel car the girls receive, which encourages the viewers to not passively accept the norms instilled in them. After Liv sees the girls car that the producers made for the woodblock derby race, she decides to confront Zach, the producer of Sing it Louder. She wants to know if the girls will win the race this time, since the boys won on the previous show, Sing it Loud. Zach’s intention for having the boys win at a masculine activity is limiting to girls and affects them. Girls may think that they will not be able to like or do “boy” things if it is not portrayed on television or in society. After Liv asks if the girls win, Zach proceeds to say “No! Get this! The boys win again, solidifying their domination!” (Fandom, n.d.). Zach implies that boys are superior to girls and should always dominate them in a derby race, presumably a “boys” interest. Zach wants to portray the boys winning because it is more realistic since the norm is that boys are more inclined to complete activities involving cars. Liv suggests that he switches things up to which he responds “it's about cars, and girls aren't really into cars. It's science and engineering. You know, guy stuff.” (Fandom, n.d.). The gender norms were set into place at the beginning of the episode when Zach said this. He thinks that boys can only be interested in cars, science, and engineering. These qualities are associated with men because it is shown in society, TV shows, and movies. He limits the girl's potential and choices by saying that there is “guy” stuff. Liv wanted to stand up for equality, so she suggested that they each build a car and the boys and girls can have an actual derby race. Zach agrees as he thinks bloggers will like that. Liv knows that girls are more than their gender norm, so she takes a stand and fights for what is right. This shows girls that they can do anything they want, no matter if it defies gender norms. Although the girls were allowed to build their own car, this did not come without struggles.

Liv, Ruby, and Priya build their own car to show viewers that girls can like and succeed at masculine hobbies. After Liv stood up to Zach, the girls were allowed to build their own woodblock derby car to race against the boys. Liv says “we will be turning this little block of wood into a super-fast, gravity-powered, woodblock-derby-winning, stereotype-smashing speed machine!” (Fandom, n.d.). In the scene of the girls building the car, it is evident that the girls do not know how to operate the power tools as they sand a wood block to wood fibers and frantically try to drill a hole. After failing and trying again, the girls build a woodblock car all by themselves, showing that persistence and teamwork pays off. Perhaps the most important part of this scene is the lack of men. Instead of other boys or the producer jumping in and teaching the girls how to build a car, Liv guides her friends (Disney Channel Central, 2017b). Ruby and Priya seemed surprised that Liv knew how to use tools, to which Liv replied “do not judge a book by its very well-manicured cover” (Fandom, n.d.). Ruby and Priya assuming Liv doesn’t know how to use tools gives more evidence of how prevalent gender norms are. Liv shows the viewers that they can still know how to use masculine things, like tools, while also embracing their feminine side with painted finger nails, skirts and jewelry. This scene also gets into the deeply entrenched issues that all girls face. Gender norms have caused women to feel powerless, which can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The girls struggling, but persisting through a task can demonstrate how it has been a struggle for society to see both sexes as equal. Not only does persisting through a difficult task show the audience to never give up, but also the visuals of them building the car. Liv, Ruby, and Priya have jumpsuits decorated with colorful gems, which shows that they can still like sparkles and pink while engaging in masculine activities. Also, the car is painted green, showing that they are not limited to “girl” colors like pink and purple (Disney Channel Central, 2017b). The girls built a woodblock derby car by themselves, while still embracing “girl” things which shows the audience that they can do the same thing. 

Liv, Ruby, and Priya portray that girls can succeed in “boy” things when they win the woodblock car derby race, thus crushing the gender norm and encouraging the viewers to embrace their interests. After the girls won the race against the boys, Liv told Ruby and Priya “Don't let anybody tell you that there's boy stuff and girl stuff 'cause really there's just stuff.” (Fandom, n.d.). Liv is implying that interests are not labeled by gender norms, which allows the viewers to try anything they want. The viewers of this show will more than likely be children older than 7 and obtain ideas about gender roles and norms from television. Disney Channel portraying this gender norm being “crushed” shows girls that they can like cars, but more importantly any stereotypical “boy” thing. One might ask why it is important to portray this on television where many viewers can see it. In a study by Judith Owen Balkemore, it was revealed that children's knowledge of gender norms and flexibility about violating them increased with age in three to eleven year olds. The children rated whether breaking a norm was seen as negative, neutral, or positive. The data showed that “boys wearing girls’ clothing was seen as very negative” and “boys playing with Barbie dolls'' was seen as less negative (Owen Blakemore, 2003). These are some of the most prevalent gender norms seen on television and in everyday life. Boys receive confused and disgusted looks if they dress like a girl or play with Barbie dolls because those are “girl” things. Worse than that is when people try to suppress children’s individuality by taking away the doll and replacing it with an action figure, or vise versa. This is seen in “Roll Model-A-Rooney” where Zach gets the girls a high heel car without considering what kind of car they would want (Disney Channel Central, 2017a). Also, “girls were evaluated more negatively when they played loudly and roughly than boys who played quietly and gently and when they played football as compared to boys who played jump rope.” (Owen Blakemore, 2003). This also portrays gender norms that boys are expected to engage in rough, sometimes violent, play and girls in passive, quiet play. This article shed light on many gender norms that are viewed as negative, which shows that this is still common and something that should be addressed. Liv and Maddie portraying girls winning against boys at a wood block derby race encourages girls to not let other people dictate their actions. This is an important message because at the beginning of the episode Ruby thought that girls couldn’t be into cars by saying “That’s how it is on TV and movies.” (Fandom, n.d.). Now, Ruby and the viewers know that they can undo the gender norms by not even winning against the boys, but being involved in a masculine activity. 

“Roll Model A Rooney'' is overall productive for society because it shows girls that they do not have to be restricted to feminine interests. This is an important message to portray because gender norms are prevalent in society and is shown on media and television. Girls believe that there are certain things that they can not do because of these norms, such as liking cars. This is limiting girls and not allowing them to reach their full potential because they assume they can not do certain things. This episode shows girls that they can defy gender norms and be happy when doing masculine activities. Whereas undoing gender norms is overall productive, there are a few instances where the show inadvertently reinforces gender norms. For example, Liv, Ruby, and Priya are wearing pink, light blue, scarves, and skirts, typically seen as more feminine clothing (Disney Channel Central, 2017a). In the scene where the girls are building the car, Ruby and Priya do not know how to use the power tools, which reinforces the belief that girls don’t know how to use tools (Disney Channel Central, 2017b). While these moments are sprinkled in the episode, they do not serve the purpose to reinforce gender norms. Instead, the clothing shows that girls do not have to change their interests, even if they are feminine, for men. The girls not being able to build a car right away shows persistence. Furthermore, instead of having a boy come in and “rescue” them by showing them how to use the tools, Liv helps. This scene is empowering and shows girls that they can achieve things without men. Despite these few scenes where it may look like Liv and Maddie is reinforcing the gender norms, the show, and the episode in particular, is rhetorically doing more to undo them. 

Liv, Ruby, and Priya are shown undoing the gender norm that girls and boys should have specific interests by winning a wood block derby race against a group of boys, which is productive for society because it teaches girls to embrace their true interest. “Roll Model-A-Rooney'' uses visual and spoken language to show children they can succeed and like more masculine activities. From the girls’ feminine outfits, to their jumpsuits with gems on them, to struggling to use power tools, to winning the race, it all shows how Liv and Maddie undoes gender norms. 

                                                     References  Butler, J. (2004). “Introduction: Acting in concert.” In Undoing gender (pp. 1-4). New York: Routledge. 

Disney Channel Central. (2017a). Liv and Maddie Cali Style - Roll Model A Rooney - Exclusive Clip [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk138cMtM1I 

Disney Channel Central. (2017b). Liv and Maddie Cali Style - Roll Model A Rooney - Clip [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r22d1cFrgQ 

Fandom. “Roll Model-A-Rooney.” https://transcripts.fandom.com/wiki/Roll_Model-A-Rooney. Accessed 17 April 2021.

Keene, J. (Writer), Garner, L. (Director). (2017, January 13). Roll Model-A-Rooney (Season 4, Episode 8) [TV series episode]. In G. Hampson. (Producer), Liv and Maddie. Oops Doughnuts Productions; It’s a Laugh Productions. 

Owen Blakemore, J. E. (2003). “Children’s belief about violating gender norms: Boys shouldn’t look like girls, and girls shouldn’t act like boys.” Sex Roles, 48(9-10), 411-419. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023574427720

[caitlynpm]

*Rhetoric as Division*

In this entry, I will examine the critical question(s): How is Burke’s notion of the unification device evident in this artifact? How are each of the components at play? How is this unproductive/unethical for society?

To investigate these questions, I examined Donald Trump’s speech he gave at the “Save America Rally” in the Ellipse park. Donald Trump uses the unification device to assure his supporters that his fight in the election is not over, using inborn dignity and symbolic rebirth to give the protesters the pride and boldness they need to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, ultimately scapegoating the media and election fraud and selling himself for president. This is ultimately unproductive for society because Trump uses this powerful unification device to instill hatred and fear into his supporters that arguably led to the U.S. Capitol building being damaged by radical Trump supporters. 

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, served one term from 2017 to 2021. He ran for his second term in the 2020 presidential election against Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, but lost. On January 6, 2021, Trump gave a speech at the “Save America Rally” in the Ellipse park near the White House and U.S. Capitol building. Before his speech, Trump knew that Biden was in the lead and claimed that the election was stolen from them and wanted to assure his supporters that this was not the end. In December, the public knew that Joe Biden was the President-elect and that he would more than likely become the next President. Society knew this because on the same day as speech, the White House formally counted the votes casted by the Electoral College. A candidate must have 270 votes to win, and Biden had 306 votes and Trump had 232 votes, causing Biden to become the President-elect (Calera, 2021). The formal count by the White House was more important than ever in light of the allegations of voter fraud. (“It's official”, 2020). The afternoon of his speech, while the Congress was counting the votes, the U.S. Capitol building was overturned by rioters from the Trump Rally and five people died. This also caused the official count of the votes to be delayed. (Petras et al., 2021). 

 Kenneth Burke describes the components of a unification device that a rhetor can use. The four components to this unification device are: inborn dignity, projection device, symbolic rebirth, and commercial use. The speaker must give a specific group a quality that separates them from the rest of the population, thus making them superior. This quality is thought to be within one’s “natural born” dignity that shows through the right way of living and thinking. The projection device is more simply known as scapegoating someone for their wrongdoings. The purpose is to purify the speaker's image by dissociating themselves from their past actions that caused controversy, harm, etc. These two features give the audience a “positive” view of life as they are told they are superior and their wrongdoings are scapegoated onto someone/something else. Symbolic rebirth builds on this positive attitude and can involve moving forward together toward a common goal. The last component, commercial use, involves the use of selling something/someone (Burke, 2005). All of these together are very powerful, but equally unethical for society. 

Trump displays his belief that all Republicans have patriotism and love for our country through the inborn dignity piece of the unification device. Trump says “Many of you have traveled from all across the nation to be here, and I want to thank you for the extraordinary love...for this amazing country.” (Associated Press, 2021). He is amazed that the crowd goes past the Washington Monument and sees about 250,000 people. He is reminded of how many supporters he has and their desire to support him. He specifically shares their love for the country because it is one thing the audience has in common. Claiming that all of his supporters are patriots places the inborn dignity that suggests that Republicans are superior to everyone. In this speech, Trump thinks only Republicans have the correct way of thinking because he is part of the Republican Party and he has great faith in his supporters. This is shown by him saying “We will never give up, we will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.” and “We’ve created the greatest economy in history. We rebuilt our military. We get you the biggest tax cuts in history.” (Associated Press, 2021). ‘We’ is referring to only Republicans because Trump has placed them with the qualities of patriotism in order for them to pride themselves. This pride causes his supporters to believe that they can do anything to make a difference, which becomes increasingly important in a later component.

Trump uses the projection device and scapegoats the media for his loss in the 2020 presidential election. In the first few minutes of the speech Trump said “The media is the biggest problem we have as far as I’m concerned, single biggest problem. The fake news and the Big tech.” (Associated Press, 2021). He refers to the media as reporting fake news multiple times throughout the speech because he believes they do not cover him or the Republicans fairly. This tactic helps keep the blame off of him by scapegoating the media as one of the reasons he did not win. He does not admit that his policies or beliefs are the reason people didn’t vote for him. Trump described a specific event that occurred during the election revolving around the media. The Washington Post/ABC Poll announced that Trump was losing by seventeen points in Wisconsin to encourage people not to vote. A real pollster described this as a “suppression poll” because it is aimed to suppress people’s votes. If the headline were to read Trump was down by five, then people would think their vote could help him win, whereas seventeen votes is a big difference. Interestingly enough, Trump did win Wisconsin despite the news headlines saying otherwise. He also claims that Republicans get shadow banned from social media, which causes some of their content and posts to not reach a wide audience. Trump mentioned how his tweets get flagged, even if they are correct. He wants his supporters to realize that the media is a big part of why he might lose the election. He points out of the negative aspects of the media and partly blames it for him not being in the lead. Even though the media was a big part of his speech, it was not the only thing that Trump scapegoated.

Trump uses the projection device to also scapegoat election fraud as the reason Joe Biden was in the lead. To state his argument broadly, “In every single swing state, local officials, state officials, almost all Democrats, made illegal and unconstitutional changes to election procedures without the mandated approvals by the state legislatures.” (Associated Press, 2021). Instead of thinking that his campaign was not strong enough or that his ideas were not matched by the majority of Americans, Trump blames election fraud for his probable loss in the election. He wants his supporters to be angry at the election fraud and make them want to take action toward Congress and officials instead of him. He does this by saying that the Democrats made unconstitutional changes, which can cause people who believe in and live by the constitution to dislike Democrats. Trump described many examples of election fraud in multiple different forms and states to show how prevalent it was. In Pennsylvania “Over 8,000 ballots…were cast by people whose names and dates of birth match individuals who died in 2020 and prior to the election.” and “Over 10,300 ballots in Georgia were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match Georgia residents who died in 2020 and prior to the election.” (Associated Press, 2021). These are two examples of election fraud that appeared in two swing states. In addition, Wisconsin counted over 170,000 votes that were illegal in accordance to the state guidelines. There were also multiple kinds of election fraud happening in Arizona in which Trump shed light on. Also, Nevada lowered their signature verification machines so the correct signature didn’t need to be signed (Associated Press, 2021). Trump gave these examples, plus more, of election fraud so people would be more likely to believe him. He is giving many examples of this because he believes that these illegal changes caused Biden to secure more votes. He held election fraud accountable for his anticipated loss. By doing so, he avoided the hate and disapproval from people and was still seen as a reputable man. 

After Trump gave them the sense of patriotism and scapegoated the media and election fraud, the audience had a positive outlook on the future which allowed him to use the symbolic rebirth component. Trump remains confident and positive throughout the whole speech to show the audience their greatness and to encourage them to move toward a common goal together. He says “Our exciting adventures and boldest endeavors have not yet begun. My fellow Americans, for our movement, for our children, and for our beloved country.” (Associated Press, 2021). This gives the audience the determination and hope to fight for what is right and a new sense of the future. Trump needed his supporters to believe in him and the future of the country in order to have them listen to him. Near the end of the speech, Trump says “So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.” (Associated Press, 2021). The purpose of walking down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol building was to give the Republicans in office the courage to stand up for what is right, meaning that Trump wanted them to send votes back to the state to have them re-certified (Associated Press, 2021). Re-certifying the votes would possibly uncover election fraud, which was Trump’s motive behind his supporters marching to the Capitol. The audience listened to him because throughout the speech he instilled patriotism and scapegoated the reason why he might lose the election. This made the Republican supporters think that they are the greatest and can do anything. After the speech, most of the audience walked to the Capitol and a riot took place that led to damages of the U.S. capitol where several people died. 

Trump uses the last part of the unification device, commercial use, to sell himself as a reliable person who should be the next president and remembered. He includes his accomplishments to remind the audience of what he did during his first term of presidency. He said “Many of the Republicans, I helped them get in, I helped them get elected... I could name 24 of them…” and “We got you the biggest regulation cuts.” (Associated Press, 2021). These are just a few examples of how he sold himself. He shows that he is powerful and respected by getting at least 24 republicans elected. The regulation cuts show how he is reliable and can make long lasting, impactful, helpful decisions. Also, he mentions that he, with the help of Republicans, “...took care of our vets, our vets…” and that “Our military has been totally rebuilt…” (Associated Press, 2021). It was smart to mention how he helped the veterans and the military because people support veterans and military personnel regardless of their political affiliation. While he wants to ensure Republicans still support him, he wanted to show the Democrats why they should respect him. Trump was aware that Congress was officially counting the votes that day and wanted one last chance to display his accomplishments as well as the election fraud that took place in hopes that Congress would confront the allegations. Trump knew that there was little hope for him becoming president, which makes his commercial use two-fold. Whereas he wanted to sell himself for president, which would still be possible if Congress decided to confront the allegations, he also described his accomplishments during his presidency so people would not forget about him and still respect him. He wanted to make a lasting impression and ensure he had a good reputation before he left the presidency. 

Trump appeals to a wide audience using the commercial use component. The majority of Americans can understand his language he uses in his speech because of its accessibility. Orly Kayam described Trump’s readability and simplicity in his debates and interviews, thus analyzing his expressive language. Twenty transcripts were analyzed using three different readability formulas. It was revealed that Trump’s language, specifically in spontaneous speech, was at a fourth grade reading level. In other words, a person with at least a fourth grade reading level could understand his speech. The results also indicated that, in general, the Democratic candidates had a higher readability level than Republican candidates. This fact could cause more people to support Trump because they understand him better. Simplicity was measured by the word length, sentence length, and the number of syllables in words. Trump’s average sentence length was about seven words below the other candidates. Trump’s language is part of his rhetoric because it “...enables him to address significantly broader audiences.” (Kayam, 2018). His commercial use was even more effective because it allowed more people to understand his messages and support him, thus selling himself to more people. An example of the readability and simplicity of Trump’s language is shown in “States want to revote. The states got defrauded, They were given false information. They voted on it. Now they want to recertify. They want it back.” (Associated Press, 2021). The sentences are short with understandable words for people who may not have a good reading level. Repetition is also used as part of his rhetoric, which helps the readability of his speech. He said “I helped them get in, I helped them get elected. I helped Mitch get elected. I helped.” (Associated Press, 2021). Repeating ‘help’ four times decreases the level of readability and reaches more people. Trump’s readability and simplicity is part of his rhetoric which helps him gain a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, which in turn helps his commercial use because more people will be able to understand and possibly support him. 

The unification device is unproductive for society because of its four components. First, it separates society by placing a superior quality to one group. Secondly, it scapegoats something else for the speaker’s wrongdoings. Then, it takes advantage of the positive place the audience is in and tries to get people to work together toward a common goal and to renew their beliefs. Lastly, the unification device wants to sell something. All of the components promote unethical behavior. Trump purposely taking the blame off of him and then listing all his accomplishments and why he should be the next president is unethical behavior. He could not stand up and admit his mistakes like a President should. The symbolic rebirth component arguably caused the greatest unethical behavior. He instilled a sense of patriotism in the Republicans inborn dignity and anger while discussing the election fraud. This led to Trump encouraging his supporters to march to the U.S. capitol. At the end of his speech, he said “We’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” (Associated Press, 2021). The rioters showed their boldness as they destroyed the Capitol and injured and killed many people.  Although a riot may not have been his intention for the response to the speech, he caused it by following the unification device.

Donald Trump uses the unification device in his speech at the “Save America Rally” to assure his supporters their fight isn’t over. The audience was filled with bravery when Trump described their inborn dignity quality as being patriots and listed what they should be proud of. The projection device component allowed Trump to scapegoat the media and election fraud for his upcoming loss in the election. This led the supporters to march to the Capitol building and start a riot. The simplicity of his speech caused a lot of people to understand, listen, and respond unethically to his speech. His use of the unification device, as shown in his speech, is unethical and unproductive for society. 

References 

Associated Press. “Transcript of Trump's Speech at Rally Before US Capitol Riot.” U.S. News, 13 January 2021, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-01-13/transcript-of-trumps-speech-at-rally-before-us-capitol-riot. Accessed 5 April 2021.

Burke, K. (2005). The rhetoric of Hitler’s battle. In C. R. Burgchardt (Ed.), Readings in rhetorical criticism (3rd ed.) (pp. 188-202). State College: Strata Publishing, Inc. (Original work published in 1974)

Calera, Camille. “Congress is set to certify Biden's election win Jan. 6. Here's what to expect.” USA Today, 1 January 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/01/congress-count-electoral-votes-jan-6-formalizing-bidens-win/4086513001/. Accessed 10 April 2021.

“It's official: Joe Biden confirmed as president-elect by Electoral College.” Business Standard, 16 December 2020, https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/electoral-college-votes-joe-biden-with-clear-majority-as-next-us-president-120121500088_1.html. Accessed 11 April 2021.

Kayam, O. (2018). “The readability and simplicity of Donald Trump’s language”. Political Studies Review, 16(1), 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929917706844

Petras, G., Loehrke, J., Padilla, R., Zarracina, J., Borresen, J. “Timeline: How the storming of the U.S. Capitol unfolded on Jan. 6.” USA Today, 9 February 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2021/01/06/dc-protests-capitol-riot-trump-supporters-electoral-college-stolen-election/6568305002/. Accessed 10 April 2021. 

[caitlynpm]

*Aristotle: Ethos and Logos and Pathos*

In this entry, I will examine the critical question(s):“What is the main purpose of this artifact's message and how are ethos, pathos, and logos used in this rhetorical artifact to achieve that purpose? Is the way that these rhetorical appeals are used ethical?”

To investigate these questions, I examined Ronald Reagan’s 40th Anniversary of D-Day speech. Ronald Reagan used ethos, logos, and pathos to argue that D-Day heroes should still be remembered and honored, which is overall ethical because, as a society, we should continue to value our veterans and fallen troops since they sacrificed their lives for us. 

D-Day, June 6, 1944, was when Operation Overlord took place. This was part of the Battle of Normandy in France during World War II. The operation, originally planned for June 5, had to be delayed due to bad weather (History.com Editors). Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the invasion, which was the largest invasion force in history. D-Day has been regarded as the greatest military achievement due to its stake for the future and strategy (Wenzl, 2019). The Allies persisted through marshes and hedgerows and claimed victory at the end of August 1944 when Europe was liberated. Forty years after D-Day, June 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech to the world leaders and veterans to commemorate the veterans and lives lost during the Battle of Normandy. The speech took place at the site of the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, the same place where the battle took place 40 years prior (History.com Editors). 

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, studied and taught rhetoric, which he believed was an art. He identified three technical or artistic proofs as a way to answer what a rhetorician studies and what it teaches. The three proofs were logos, pathos, and ethos, which all accomplished different things in a speech. Logos refers to the study of reasoning and logical arguments, which have to be explicitly told or inferred in order for the audience to understand. Aristotle defined pathos as using emotional appeals to put the audience in the right frame of mind to persuade them to take action. Ethos is when a speaker shows their personal credibility and character through the speech. The character can be broken down into three parts: “phronesis (intelligence, good sense), arete (virtue), and eunoia (goodwill).” (Herrick, 2013). This element should not be overlooked when the speaker knows his audience. These proofs can be used in any of the three types of speeches: deliberative, epideictic, and forensic (Herrick, 2013). Ronald Reagan’s speech is known as an epideictic speech because he is celebrating the veterans for their courage on D-Day. 

Reagan uses an ethos appeal by referring to faith and God throughout his speech. A quote that inspired the audience to listen to him was “What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief.” (“Ronald Reagan”). Faith is part of most people’s lives in one way or another. We all may trust in different things, but the majority of us believe in a higher power that gives us hope and faith. Reagan references faith and God multiple times throughout his speech to get the audience of veterans and leaders to believe and trust in him. Reagan did not want to over-shine the veterans by stating he is the president and therefore has the authority to give this speech. Instead, he references God to show his selflessness. He says “We're bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs.” (“Ronald Reagan”). The traditions and beliefs that united the soldiers were made possible by God. Reagan does not give himself credit that he is the reason the veterans are bound and strong. He did not say that the former president or an event caused them to risk everything to defend the country, but faith. It is smart to use faith and God because it is rather hard to disagree that God was not a part of any of the success and most people generally accept that. Near the end of the speech, Reagan vows to remember the dead and shows that by reciting this Bible verse; “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” (“Ronald Reagan”). The world leaders and veterans were more inclined to listen and accept the vow because the verse resonated with them and reminded them of the promise God made. It is ethical and moral to do as God promised and remember and honor the veterans. 

Reagan uses a logos appeal, primarily facts, to remind the audience that what the troops did 40 years ago is still honorable and relevant today, which encourages them to still remember and honor the veterans. The facts he includes are “The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon.” and “Two hundred and twenty­five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.” (“Ronald Reagan”). One way to encourage people to remember an event or person is to list facts of what happened and the qualities that person possessed. Throughout the speech, Reagan states facts about D-Day that show why the events and veterans should be remembered. He opens the speech with a visual of what the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc would look like. Reagan wanted the audience to picture what the atmosphere was like and realize this was no ordinary day, but one that was filled with violence, loss, and victory. Less than half of the soldiers came out of the battle alive, which shows how there are many lives to be remembered. The word choice in “Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion” also reveals how D-Day should still be remembered (“Ronald Reagan”). He wants the audience to know that Operation Overlord was not just any mission, but the most difficult and daring and he used superlatives to achieve that. The harsh reality of D-Day will help the veterans remember and honor the soldiers. Reagan’s memorable last line in his speech, “let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.” left the audience encouraged to remember the veterans who died and to honor them by standing for ideals, such as democracy (“Ronald Reagan”). Since the soldiers died standing for the ideals, it is logical for the audience to defend them and continue to honor the fallen soldiers. Reagan stated the facts he did to remind the audience that what was done 40 years ago is still honorable and the greatest military achievement should not be forgotten.

Reagan chose to present his speech at a specific location, which uses a logos appeal and motivates the audience to remember the heroes of D-Day. After the speech, Reagan “unveiled memorial plaques to the 2nd and 5th U.S. Army Ranger Battalions.” (“Ronald Reagan”). Memorials are given to those who made an impact on our country and sacrificed their lives for us. He chose to reveal the memorial to encourage people to remember the heroes of D-Day. One purpose of memorials is for people long after the event to remember what people did before us that made America how it is today. Also, the physical location of the speech, on the northern coast of France, is where the battle began 40 years ago. Immediately, before Reagan started speaking, the veterans could have logically remembered all of their brothers they lost based on the physical location of the speech.

Reagan uses a pathos appeal to encourage the veterans to be prideful of what they accomplished and remember their brothers who fought beside them. He states what they should be prideful for when saying “All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.” (“Ronald Reagan”). Reagan wants the veterans to be proud of themselves because they sacrificed their lives and fought for what they believed was right and just. Several times throughout his speech Reagan highlights things that the veterans did, such as free a continent, fight against tyranny, and fought for life. These are all huge accomplishments that some veterans might be humble about and dismiss off as being a team effort or believe “I did what had to be done.” Although both those things are true, Reagan pointed out what was accomplished to remind the veterans that what they did 40 years ago still matters and impacts today's world. He refers to the veterans as champions while saying “These are the champions who helped free a continent.” (“Ronald Reagan”). That word refers to someone who is brave, dedicated, and fought for a cause. The veterans should feel proud after hearing the President say they are champions. Reagan shows respect and pride as he says “Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor.”” (“Ronald Reagan”). His choice of the word ‘gentlemen’ has an impact on the veterans. It implies that he is proud of them, respects them, and recognizes that they have grown since they fought at Normandy. It has a different connotation than ‘men’ and ‘boys,’ which were the words he used to address them previously in the speech. The rhetorical question “What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs?” shows the momentous decision that the veterans made. He acknowledged that the veterans made the life-changing decision to put themselves in harm's way for their country. Asking a rhetorical question is more powerful than stating a fact because it makes the audience pause and think about the sacrifice the veterans made. Reagan is proud of the veterans for making an unfathomable decision to risk everything. 

Reagan instills determination into the audience when using a pathos appeal to get the audience to remember and honor the veterans. He briefly describes what the veterans endured in “the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing.” (“Ronald Reagan”). One honorable characteristic in people, and especially in soldiers, is determination. Reagan believes that this is an important quality to display so he shows the veteran’s determination while fighting in Normandy. He wanted to remind them that their dedication and persistence led to the victory in Normandy and that the same mentality must continue in order to keep America safe. The soldiers did not doubt the reason they were fighting or kept fighting because they knew what had to be done in order to liberate Europe. Not only were the soldiers determined during the war, but also after. There were lives and nations that had been destroyed and had to be reborn. The Allies found strength in their faith, loyalty, and love and “rebuilt a new Europe together.” (“Ronald Reagan”). There was still sadness and unwanted Soviet troops after the war and during the time of this speech which meant the allied forces still had to protect and defend democracy. There was not a moment when the soldiers were not fighting for our freedom which shows a tremendous amount of determination. Reagan wants the determination to continue in order to keep America safe so he reminds the veterans of what they had accomplished 40 years ago. This also helps the audience remember and honor the veterans of D-Day because determination is a memorable characteristic.  

Ronald Reagan used good, ethical, and appropriate appeals that the immediate audience and people long from then would accept and not criticize. He referred to God multiple times which was appropriate because many believe in faith and do not question what God said or did. Facts was a conservative way to appeal to logos because people can not argue and dispute facts. Since this was an epideictic speech, Reagan wanted the audience of the veterans and world leaders to feel pride and determination, non-controversial feelings that usually boost a person’s mood. The majority of the speech was praising the veterans and urging the audience to remember all the heroes of D-Day. While this is good and fitting for the type of speech, it poses a few limitations. Reagan does not mention anything specific that could have been improved and only gave glances at what the veterans endured through the Battle of Normandy. One reason for this is because part of the audience was veterans who probably did not want to relive that day. He did not criticize the mission or speak about the U.S. policies because that could have been seen as disrespecting the veterans and world leaders. This does not make the speech unethical because Reagan was giving an epideictic speech, which should praise and celebrate people. Although he did not address specific issues, he admitted “not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned.” (“Ronald Reagan”). The soldiers' successes and best efforts were enough to liberate Europe but caused some harmful effects after the war. Reagan briefly stated that America learned from the past two world wars to be prepared to defend the country at all times, but does not want to enter another war. He states that he would welcome reconciling with the Soviet Union since it would lessen the risks of war. However, he did not address what effects that this may bring. Throughout the speech he does not address any U.S. policies or his opinion on war, rather he uses the speech to celebrate, honor, and remember the veterans which is ethical for the specific occasion of the 40th Anniversary of D-Day.

Ronald Reagan’s 40th Anniversary of D-Day speech used ethos, logos, and pathos appeals to encourage the audience to remember and honor the veterans who served in the Battle of Normandy. This is ethical because society believes it is important to remember and honor veterans and instills that in young children. Reagan referenced faith and God as an ethos appeal to defer the attention from him since this speech was meant to speak highly on the veterans. Facts was a logical way to get the audience of world leaders and veterans to remember all the violence, loss, persistence, and victory in Normandy. The rhetorical proof that was arguably used the most in this speech was pathos, appealing to someone’s emotions. Reagan wanted the veterans to be proud of themselves for their victory in Normandy and to feel determined to continue fighting to defend the country. This speech was ethical and productive despite the minimal discussion of policies and further decisions to enter war because it was an epideictic speech that served the purpose to remember and honor the veterans of D-Day.

                                                     References

Herrick, J. J., (2013). The history and theory of rhetoric: An introduction. Hope College. 

History.com Editors. “D-Day.” A & E Television Networks, 5 June 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day. Accessed 14 March 2021. 

“Ronald Reagan On the 40th Anniversary of D-Day.” The History Place: Great Speeches Collection, https://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-d-day.htm#:~:text=We're%20here%20to%20mark,reclaim%20this%20continent%20to%20liberty.&text=Here%20the%20Allies%20stood%20and,the%20northern%20shore%20of%20France. Accessed 14 March 2021. 

Wenzl, R. “How D-Day Changed the Course of WWII.” A & E Television Networks, 5 June 2019, https://www.history.com/news/d-day-important-world-war-ii-victory. Accessed 15 March 2021. 

[caitlynpm]

*Rhetoric as Narrative*

In this entry, I will examine the critical question(s): “What central narrative(s) does this artifact tell through its rhetorical elements? In doing so, what values does it promote and ignore (who does it include and exclude)? In which ways is this narrative (ethically) productive for society, in which ways is it limiting, and is it more productive or limiting?”

To investigate these questions, I examined a specific episode of Liv and Maddie (“Rate-A-Rooney”), a television show geared toward young teenagers on Disney Channel. “Rate-A-Rooney'' uses narrative to show girls that they do not have to change who they are for men by using visuals, song, plot, and characters which teaches girls from a young age that values such as individuality and self-empowerment are important qualities. Overall, this is productive because it is important for society to have women that are confident, unique, and empower themselves and one another. 

Liv and Maddie, a television show on Disney Channel, is enjoyable to watch, but also positively impacts society. It is about twin sisters, Liv and Maddie, who face struggles in high school and learn many life lessons through it. Liv is a Hollywood actress and singer that moved back to Wisconsin to complete high school with her sister. Maddie, on the other hand, is the MVP on her basketball team. The show also follows the parents and two brothers, but this entry will focus on the relationship of the sisters and their friends in high school and the struggles they face. Liv and Maddie’s friends are Willow and Lacey. One episode in particular tugs at the viewer's heart strings as we see how men can treat girls in high school. “Rate-A-Rooney” is an episode that involves the men at school rating girls on their appearance on a scale of one to ten. At the beginning of the episode, Todd, a popular man in school, addresses Maddie by saying “What’s up number seven?”. Maddie is confused as her number on her basketball shirt says five. Willow and Lacey then inform her that Todd and his friends have been rating girls on their appearance. This episode’s narrative is about Liv, Maddie, and their friends as they try to take down Todd’s rating system and find confidence in themselves.

Narratives are defined simply as at least two events in a time sequence. They are told through stories that teach lessons, inform public life, and reinforce morals (Palczewski et al., 2012). Narratives are judged on several levels, such as authorial intent, empirical truth, social truth, and aesthetics. The main analysis of “Rate-A-Rooney” will be based on aesthetics, which has two components, plot and character development. Plot deals with the story line and chain of events, which are all related either chronologically, understood at the end, or incorporated through flashbacks. This aspect is important because it captures the audience's attention and relates the meaning of events through the story. Another feature of aesthetics is character development, which describes the actions and relationships of characters in a story. The narrative might not be well received if the characters partake in actions that would not be expected. The plot and characters need to display just as much complexity to get the message across, without giving too much. Too little or too much complexity can lead to the narrative not being accepted. Throughout the episode, the plot and character development showcases the narrative productiveness and rhetorical features.

The narrative promotes individuality and self-empowerment when Liv and her friends reject the rating system through her song “What A Girl Is” and a scene where they engage in a protest. Lyrics from “What A Girl Is” that capture the meaning are: “On a scale from one to ten, I am perfect like I am I don't need your number” and “We are flawless in our skin, your words don't mean anything” (Dove Cameron Lyrics). The main rhetoric in this song is within the word choice. Liv uses the word “scale” to describe the rating system that Todd uses. Objects get measured on a scale, just like Todd was measuring girls’ attractiveness on a scale from one (least attractive) to ten (most attractive). The girls felt like they were objects when they were being called numbers instead of their names. Also, rating girls on a scale puts them in a little box with others, limiting their potential and ignoring their individuality. Liv is resisting the rating system by saying she, or other girls, do not need the men’s rating numbers. Liv’s choice of the word “flawless” is important because girls can relate to it. Girls easily can pick out flaws in themselves, whether that be their hair, skin, nails, body, personality, etc. Girls think they should be flawless because the media and magazines have promoted the ideal women for many years. Liv chose to use “flawless in our skin” (Dove Cameron Lyrics) to show the girls they should be proud of who they are and not change anything. The girls are reminded that they are unique in their special way and should embrace that. Liv encourages her friends to not care about what men think. The words “I” and “our” represent all the girls who are being labeled, whereas “your” represents the men who label and degrade girls. Liv’s song is not the only piece of the narrative that helped the girls find individuality and self-empowerment though. Liv and her friends wanted to show the men at school that they were not going to buy into the rating system, so they staged a protest. Liv’s friends, besides Willow, wore a garbage bag and a bag over their head and confronted Todd and his friends. Maddie said “We are all tens but if you can’t see that we’ll all be ones.” (Just Jared Jr., 2015). Liv and her friends showing up to school with garbage bags on and covering their faces showed that they did not care what number they were. It was their way of telling Todd that they were not going to let the numbers they received change their attitude and how they feel about themselves. The use of the trash bags being worn shows how some girls felt after being rated. They felt useless, like nobody, and frankly, like trash. Everyone looked the same to bring unity and show togetherness because many voices are more powerful than one. Unfortunately, this protest did not take down Todd’s rating system as Willow did not participate. The plot of the narrative continues as Liv and her friends come up with a new way to defeat Todd.

The narrative also uses plot to allow the characters to develop from being afraid to be who they are in fear of being judged, to embracing who they are and realizing they do not need to change. Willow is a basketball player who usually wears athletic wear, like sweatpants and sweatshirts, or casual wear, like jeans and a nice shirt (Keen et al., 2015). She has never second guessed the way she looks because she is confident in who she is. Her self-confidence faded when Todd rated her a five at the beginning of the episode. She confessed to her friends that she felt like she needed to look like women from magazines, presumably thin, beautiful, with perfect skin, hair, and clothes. While Liv and others showed up to school in a garbage bag, Willow showed up in a dress, high heels, makeup and hair curled. She told Liv that the world will not change and men will always rank girls, internally or externally. She bought into Todd’s rating system by saying “I want guys to like me. I don’t want a five, Willow wants a seven.” (Just Jared Jr., 2015). She continues to dress up and receives a rating of nine from several men (Disney Channel, 2015). Initially, the rating made her feel good and she smiled, but then she immediately looked confused about why she had to change her looks for men to give her a higher, rather subjective rating. Eventually, she realizes that she should not change the way she looks for men, so she resumes wearing jeans, no makeup and her hair in a ponytail and physically takes down and rips up the paper that the guys are holding that says five. Willow walks away smiling, while the guys look at each other with a confused look wondering why their rating did not affect her. Willow pushes the narrative along by her character development and the way she acts and dresses. She was less confident in herself after receiving a five and felt the need to dress up because of society. As a society, a person with no makeup, hair up, in sweatpants and a sweatshirt is not the image that would be on the front cover of a magazine and deemed attractive. She decided to dress up in a dress, high heels, etc. because society associates attractiveness with those features. Not long after she dresses up and receives the rating of nine, does she feel bad and possibly second guess that she changed her appearance for men. Like many people, she realized she has done something wrong after committing the act. The next time she walks past Todd and his friends and receives a rating of five she is not phased. Instead, she takes the signs out of the men's hands to symbolize letting go of what other people think. This scene shows that Willow is confident in herself for who she is. She smiles while ripping up Todd’s sign and walks away confidently because she knows that she is a ten on the inside and outside. She specifically rips up Todd’s sign because he was the instigator and always putting girls down. The visual of her ripping up the sign and smiling is powerful to the narrative. Todd and his friends are confused and frustrated when Willow did not let the number they gave her affect her attitude. Since Willow did not buy into the system, it had no power to harm her and gave the men no satisfaction. Many people, especially girls, can relate to changing their appearance or belief in something in order to impress somebody. Willow’s character development portrays the struggles of high school, but ultimately teaches young teens that individuality and confidence are important qualities that should be admired. The narrative in “Rate-A-Rooney” also highlights Lacey, Liv and Maddie’s quirky friend. Although Lacey does not appear much in the show, she plays a big role in “Rate-A-Rooney.” While Lacey is dancing along to Liv’s song, the men are walking and then stop to look at her (Disney Channel, 2015). They exchange looks and shake their heads in disapproval. When she realizes she has an audience she stops dancing and immediately walks the other way in embarrassment. At the end, it is shown that she, along with the men, are dancing together and being themselves. Lacey was allowing her emotions of excitement and happiness to take over and she danced like no one was watching. Randomly dancing in public is not considered the norm, so the men judged her based on her dancing and the way she looked. Lacey looked embarrassed because society has instilled in us that when others chuckle and make a face at each other it is usually something negative. In this instance, the men were making fun and questioning Lacey’s dancing, but she made the mistake of letting men dictate her actions. She did not continue dancing and ignored them because she was embarrassed because she assumed she was doing something wrong, even though she was not. At the end of the episode, it is shown that Lacey embraced her uniqueness and started dancing in front of the men confidently. The men eventually joined in and they were all dancing together, not caring what anyone else thought. Again, Lacey’s development showed girls it is okay to be who you are and it also showed men to not judge, but empower others. Overall, Willow and Lacey’s development leads society to empower one another and support each other’s uniqueness. Young girls who watch this show are reminded that they do not need to stop being who they are for anyone, especially men. “Rate-A-Rooney” captured that important message to society through the visual displays of Willow and Lacey’s character. It shows us the importance of staying true to yourself and is a visual reminder to not let men dictate what you look like or feel. 

Looking at the aesthetics of plot and character development are not the only ways a narrative can be analyzed. There are sometimes certain levels to a narrative. Algis Budrys described a short story, which is a type of narrative, in seven different points (Alberski, 2012). According to Budry, a short story consists of a character (one) in a situation (two) who has a problem (three) and tries to solve this problem (four). They repeatedly fail (five), but then make one final attempt and either succeed or fail (six) and then conclude with a clear result (seven). These steps align with the narrative portrayed in “Rate-A-Rooney.” The first step is simply the character(s). The prevalent characters that propel the plot along are Liv, Maddie, Willow, Lacey, Todd and his friends (Keen et al., 2015). Todd and his friends put Liv and her friends in a situation by rating each of them on their looks. This creates a problem because Liv and her friends are seen as objects and must decide what they want to do. They decide that they will protest and stand up for themselves, so they go to school in garbage bags and a bag over their faces. This fails because Willow shows up to school in a dress and high heels, giving Todd’s rating system more power. This makes Tood and his friends confident as they see that girls are changing their looks based on their ratings. Liv realizes that she will have to make another attempt to break Todd’s rating system. At the climax of the show, Liv decides to write a song and introduces it by saying “you don’t have to change who you are to fit someone else's idea of what a girl is supposed to be.” By the end of the music video, it is shown that the song has inspired the girls to be who they are because many girls are holding a sign that says “10.” This empowers the girls and implies that they do not need anyone telling them who they are because, in their eyes, they are all tens. Following this specific outline provided the writers a chance to show that girls should embrace their individuality and empower one another. As part of the outline, one important step is the characters failing during an attempted solution, making the problem worse. This furthers productivity by portraying what happens in reality. In real life every problem is not solved within the first attempt. The viewers know the importance of individuality, but also determination and persistence after watching “Rate-A-Rooney.”

Although this episode empowers women and promotes individualism, it also ignores some things. For example, there is little representation of BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) characters in the series, let alone a singular episode. Also, it only shows men rating girls, which is a very prevalent gender stereotype. The viewers are seeing one side of the story where men rate girls, but it does not show girls rating men. Although this is problematic, the narrative is still productive because girls are more likely to be judged on appearances by society and this episode helps girls see that they do not have to listen to everyone telling them they are not good enough. The most prevalent criticism in “Rate-A-Rooney” is the exaggeration of men characters. These exaggerations may cause society to see men for worse than who they actually are. Men do rate girls on their appearances, there’s no doubt about that, but they do not do it so publicly and continuously like Todd. Todd continues to rate and judge the girls each day. Even while the girls were protesting with the garbage bag and bag over their head he said, “I’d say this is a hot mess, but there's nothing hot about this.” (Just Jared Jr., 2015). He made a point to associate the protest with their attractiveness and mention how they are not “hot.” Throughout the episode, he continuously makes references to girls' appearances. At school, he confronts another classmate and says “If your sister’s a four, she’s a four. Tell her to smile less until the braces come off.” (Just Jared Jr., 2015). He cares only about appearances and believes that it is the sole contributor to their attractiveness. Todd’s character is exaggerated which is shown through his actions, and especially his words. Society must ask if exaggerating the men’s shallowness is worth showing the value of self confidence and individuality within girls. In this situation, Disney Channel thought yes, it was worth it. Although this narrative is unproductive for society when following the gender stereotypes and exaggerating men’s actions toward girls, it has many positive qualities that will benefit the viewers. Liv and her friend’s stance on the situation shows viewers to take action for what is right. The girls wanted to prove that they did not care what rating they received by wearing a trash bag to school (Disney Channel, 2015). This powerful protest failed in the light of Willow dressing up in clothes that she would not usually wear in order for the guys to like her. The producers did this because, unfortunately, the world we live in puts pressure on women to look like the front cover of a magazine. Even if society can not change the world and how men act, girls can change what they think about themselves. Girls can embrace who they are and know that it is how they act that matters most to society. Overall, this narrative is productive because it shows girls standing up and changing what they believed was wrong and dehumanizing. Sacrificing the men’s exaggerated characters and relying on gendered norms does not compare to what viewers, especially girls, will gain from this powerful narrative. 

The narrative in “Rate-A-Rooney” is productive for society because it promotes individuality and self-empowerment through song, visuals, characters, and plot to show girls they do not need to change who they are for men. Liv’s song, “What A Girl Is” and the protest at school were ways to take down Todd’s rating system. The rhetoric in Liv’s song tells listeners that they should be confident in themselves because they are flawless. Not only will watching “Rate-A-Rooney” change people’s attitudes, but also the song will remind girls to be confident and not let a subjective rating number affect them. Willow and Lacey’s actions throughout the episode displayed what girls feel, think, and act when they are feared of being judged. Liv and Maddie successfully showed society that you do not have to change who they are in order to fit someone else's idea of what is attractive. Every episode of Liv and Maddie follows a narrative, but the rhetoric and values shown in “Rate-A-Rooney” portrays a narrative that is productive for society.

                                                   References

Alberski, W. (2012). Selected functions of narrative structures in the process of social and cultural communication. Styles of Communication, 4(1), 7-24. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=a9d0b3db-6ccf-4194-a089-4bc66b20c388%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=112079872&db=ufh

Disney Channel. (2015, February 15). “What a Girl Is” | Music Video Clip | Liv and Maddie | Disney Channel Official [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IbDoUDNwsA&t=11s

Dove Cameron Lyrics. AZLyrics. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dovecameron/whatagirlis.html 

Just Jared Jr. (2015, February 7). Liv and Maddie "Rate-A-Rooney" Exclusive Clip [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DutG6yjpBI 

Keene, J. (Writer), Weissman, A. (Director). (2015, February 8). Rate-A-Rooney (Season 2, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In J. D. Beck, R. Hart, A. Fickman, B. Sullenger, & J. Peaslee (Executive Producers), Liv and Maddie. Beck & Hart Productions; Oops Doughnuts Productions; It’s a Laugh Productions.

Palczewski, C. H., Ice, R., & Fritch, J. (2012). Narratives. In Rhetoric In Civic Life (pp. 117-146). State College, PA: Strata Publishing, Inc.