RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

AnalysisofPrinceEasWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd
SarahHarp
SUNYFredonia
RhetoricandCriticism


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd
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Introduction
InPriceEasWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEndvideohesays,Morepeoplewant
15secondsoffamethanalifetimeofmeaningandpurpose(Ea,2014,stanza3).Themusic
videowaspublishedtoYouTubeonSeptember8,2014.Inthisvideo,PrinceEaistryingto
convincethemillennialgenerationtochangetheirwaysthroughpowerfullanguageand
examplesofhowtheworldhaschangedsuchasthequoteabove.Themillennialgeneration
referstotoindividualsbornbetween1981and1997(Bump).PrinceEausesFeminineStyleto
demonstratewhytheworldneedstochange.Thisessaywillexplorethehistoricalcontextofthe
musicvideo,FeminineStyle,howPrinceEausesFeminineStyletopersuadehisaudience,and
theimplicationsofanalyzingthisartifactthroughfemininestyle.
HistoricalContext
PrinceEaisgrewuponthenorthsideofSt.Louisin2010(Cox,2011).Hegrewup
dislikingschoolandhisparentsevenwonderedifhispoorperformanceinschoolwascausedby
amentaldisabilityhowever,rapmusic,whichwasbannedfromhishome,becameEaspassion
whichinturncreatedanewfoundpassionforeducation(Cox,2011).Eatendstocreatehis
musicbasedontopicsthatmainstreammedianeglectstocover(Cox,2011).Dislikingschool
andwantingtorebelagainsthisparentsaddstoPrinceEasrelatabilityasarhetorwiththe
millennialgeneration.
PrinceEawasabletoreachthemillennialgenerationandhaveapositiveeffectonthem.
ThisspecificvideowasonlypostedonYouTube,sotheaudiencewouldbethepeoplewhouse
YouTubeandsawthisvideo.Sincethetargetaudiencewasthemillennialgeneration,YouTube
wasagoodplaceforthisacttohappen70%ofthemillennialgenerationlogsontoYouTubeat


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

leastonceamonth(Klima,2014).Theaudienceseemedtolikethisactandhadverypositive
commentstowardthevideo.Thevideoreachedover4millionviewsandabloggerthatgoesby
thescreennameaccidentallyreflectivewroteapostaboutthevideowhichstatedhesays
everythingthatIwouldwanttosayonthesesubjects,butmoresuccinctlyandeffectively
(accidentallyreflective,2014).
SincethevideowasonlypostedtoYouTube,peoplewithoutYouTubemaynothave
seenit.Therearestill30%ofmillennialsthatlogontoYouTubelessthanonceamonthand
possiblynotatall.Moreover,justbecausethemajorityofmillennialsoftengoonYouTube,it
doesnotmeanthattheysawthisparticularvideoeveryminutethereareover100hoursofvideo
uploadedtothesite(Klima,2014).YouTubeissetupsovideossimilartotheonesyouare
watchingpopuponthesidebarofthesite.Thismeansthatonlypeoplewhowatchvideossimilar
toPrinceEasvideosorpeoplewhoweretoldaboutthevideohaveseenit.Becauseofthis,the
videomostlikelydidnotreachthetargetpopulationinitsentirety.
Thereareseveralseveralthingsinthisworldthatcouldcausepeoplenottopracticewhat
PrinceEasaysinthissong.Hesays,itseasiertofindaBigMacthananApple.PrinceEais
sayingthatweshouldbeeatingtheappleinsteadhowever,LauraDonnellysays,eatinghealthy
costthreetimesasmuchasconsumingunhealthyfood(Donnelly,2014,para.1).Sincefast
foodissoaccessibleandcheap,peoplearelikelytochoosethatoverhealthier,moreexpensive
food.
FeminineStyle
Femininestyleconsistsoffivedifferentcharacteristicsthatareusedwithinarhetorical
act.Thesecharacteristicsareaninductivestructure,personaltone,addressingtheaudienceas


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

peers,personalexperiences,andempoweringtheaudience.Throughthefivecharacteristicsof
femininestyle,criticsareabletoidentifyandassessthepersuasivenessofarhetoricalact.
Femininestylepersuadesanaudiencebyusingintimacyandlengthy,tentativeremarks
(Levasseur,Sawyer,&Kopacz,2011).Insuffragemovements,thefemininestyleofrhetoricwas
usedsuccessfullytopersuadeamaleaudiencewhohadmorepowerthanthewomenspeaking
(Hayden,1999).Rhetoricianscanusethisstyletopersuadeapowerfulaudiencethatconsistsof
agentsofchange.
FemininestyleisagoodchoiceforanalyzingthismusicvideobecausePrinceEa
demonstratesallfiveofthecharacteristicsofthestyle.Thereasonbehindthisvideoisto
empowertheaudiencewiththeuseofcommonexperienceandpersonaltone.Analyzingthe
videoandlyricsthroughthisstylewillbebeneficialbecauseitwillshowhowPrinceEawasable
toconnectwithhisaudiencethroughthissongandtheuseoffemininetheory.PrinceEausesthe
fivecharacteristicsoffeministtheorytoovercomethechallengeofconnectingwithanaudience.
Byusingthecharacteristics,PrinceEawasabletocreatearelationshipwithhisaudienceand
empowerthem.
Analysis
PrinceEastructuredhissonginductivelybyprovidingstoriesandsituationsfrom
Americansocietythroughoutthesong,whichthenleadstoaconclusionofwhatchangesneedto
happeninthecountry.Inductivestructurecanbedescribedastherhetorusingstoriesorspecific
situationstocreateanarrativethatlaterleadstoaconclusion(Levasseur,Sawyer,&Kopacz,
2011).PrinceEaopensthesongbysayingtheworldiscomingtoanend(Ea,2014,stanza1).


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

Hethengoesontotalkaboutpollutedair,corruptpolice,andlyingpoliticians(Ea,2014,
stanzas1,4).Onespecificstory,orpieceofinformationPrinceEasharesis,itseasiertofinda
BigMacthananappleandwhenyoufindtheappleit'sbeengeneticallyprocessedand
modified(PrinceEa,2014,stanza4).Thesepartsofthesongdemonstratethecreationofa
narrativethroughstories.
PrinceEaalsodrawsaconclusionbasedonthesestories,whenhesayssoyes,theworld
iscomingtoanendandthepathtoanewbeginningstartswithinyou(Ea,2014,stanza15).
Thesetwoaspects,thenarrativeandtheconclusion,arewhatmakesthissongorganized
inductively.Formattinganartifactthiswayallowsthereadertoprocesswhatisbeingsaid.By
havingthebeginningandtheendofthisstyleconnectandrelatetooneanother,theaudienceis
abletohaveexamplesthatprovesthattheconclusionistrue.Inthiscase,theexamplesofhow
theworldiscorruptshowsthattheconclusionoftheworldneedingtochangeisaccurate.
Havingexamplesbeforetellingpeoplewhattheyshoulddoalsogivesyourconclusion
credibility.
PrinceEausespersonaltonethroughoutthesongbyspeakingaboutcertaintopicswith
emotion.Personaltonecanbedescribedas,therhetorspeakingtotheaudiencewithempathy
andemotion(Levasseur,Sawyer,&Kopacz,2011).Althoughitmaybehardtofindalotof
empathyandemotioninthewordsthemselves,itisseenwhenheperformsthepiece.Inthe


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

beginningofthepiece,PrinceEaissittingdown,buttherearecertainpointswhenhestandsup
and/oruseshandmovement.Duringthesetimes,heisdoingthistoemphasizehispoint.Thisis
thesameaspersonaltonebecausetheuseofmovementandtheactionofstandingupshowsthe
rhetorispassionateoremotionalaboutthatstatementinparticular.
ThefirsttimeweseethisiswhenPrinceEatalksabouttechnology.Whilesittingdown,
PrinceEasaystechnologyhasgivenuseverythingwecouldeverwantandthenhestandsup
andopenshisarmstosay,andatthesametimestoeneverythingwereallyneed(PrinceEa,
2014,1:26).PrinceEaholdshishandsout,putsthemdown,andlookrightintothecamerawhen
hesaysthesewords.TheseactionsshowthatPrinceEareallycaresaboutwhatheissaying.
Thereisanotherpointwherehesays,ourrolemodelstoday60yearsagowouldhave
beenexamplesofwhatnottobewhileheissittingdownwhileheisrubbinghistemples
(PrinceEa,2014,2:02).Thisshowsemotionbecauseyoucanseehowupsetthistopicmakehim
byobservinghisbodylanguage.Usingapersonaltonehelpstheaudiencepickuponwhatpoints
arethemostimportant.Italsoshowstheaudiencehowpassionatetherhetorisaboutthetopic.
Throughoutthesong,PrinceEaaddressestheaudienceasequaltohimself,oraspeers.
Thischaracteristicoffemininestylecanbedescribedastherhetoraddressingtheaudienceas
peerswiththeusewordssuchasweorus(Levasseur,Sawyer,&Kopacz,2011Hayden,
1999).TherearenumeroustimeswherePrinceEausesthistypeoflanguageanduniteshimself


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

withAmericansbysayingwe.Throughoutthe15stanzas,PrinceEausesthewordwe20
timesandthewordusfivetimes.OneparticularmomentwhenPrinceEausesthewordwe
iswhenhesays,wepasseachotheronthestreetsandifwedospeakit'smeaninglessrobotic
communication(PrinceEa,2014,stanza2).
Atimeheusesusiswhenhesays,presidentslie,politicianstrickus(PrinceEa,
2014,stanza4).UsingthesewordsallowstheaudiencetorelatewithPrinceEa.Heissayingthat
heisnotbetterthanhisaudienceheistellingthemthatheisalsotrickedbypoliticians,which
putshimonthesamelevelashisaudience.Thismethodshowsthatheissimilartohisaudience,
whichmakeshimrelatable.
PrinceEausesreallifeexamplesandpersonalexperienceinthissong.Usingpersonal
experiencesinanarrativeisanotherwayfemininestyleischaracterized.Itisdescribedasthe
useofpersonaltestimoniesinarhetoricalactconnectstherhetorwiththeaudience(Levasseur,
Sawyer,&Kopacz,2011Johnson,2005).Thissongisbasedoffofreallifeexperienceandwe
canassumethatPrinceEahasexperiencesthesethingseitherfirsthandorthroughsomeonehe
knows,especiallywhenheusesthewordsweandus.PrinceEasays,therearestateswhere
peoplecanlegallybediscriminatedagainstbecausetheywerebornacertainway(PrinceEa,
2014,stanza8).AlthoughPriceEamaynothavebeenpersonallydiscriminatedagainst,he


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

knowsthistobetruebecausehelivesintheUnitedStates.Heusesthisknowledgeaspersonal
experiencebecauseheknowsithappensduetohisproximitytothediscrimination.
Healsoisdrawingfrompersonalexperiencewhenhesays92%ofsongsontheradio
areaboutsex,kidsdontplaytag,theyplaytwerkvideos,theaveragepersonwatches5hoursof
televisionadayandit'smoreviolenceonthescreenthaneverbefore(PrinceEa,2014,stanza
5).Althoughthisstatementusesstatistics,PrinceEaisdrawingfromtrendshehaswitnessedto
showtheaudiencewhattheworldhasbecome.Thistoolisusedtoconnectanaudiencewiththe
rhetorandtomaketherhetorreliable.
Thissonghasaveryempoweringmessagethroughtalkingdirectlytotheaudience.
Accordingtothefemininestyle,thefifthcharacteristic,andgoalofarhetor,istoempowerthe
audiencebyinvitingaudienceparticipation(Levasseur,Sawyer,&Kopacz,2011).PrinceEa
inviteshisaudiencetohelpchangetheworldandthenhetellsthemhowtheycandothat.He
firstinvitestheaudiencetoparticipatewhenhesays,Sowhatcanwedointhefaceofallofthis
madnessandchaos(PrinceEa,2014,stanza10).Byusingthewordwe,PrinceEainvitesthe
audiencebytellingthemthattheycanhelpchangetheworld.
Afterposingtheabovequestiontohisaudience,hesaysyoucanlove,loveeachother
fromthemomentwewakeuptothemomentwegotobed.Performanactofkindnessbecause
thatiscontagious(PrinceEa,2014,stanzas1011).Here,insteadofusingwe,therhetoruses


RunningHead:AnalysisofWhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEnd

thewordyou.Usingyouinsteadofwemakestheaudiencefeellikeheisspeakingdirectly
toeachaudiencememberindividually.Heusesyouagainattheendofthesongwhenhesays,
soyes,theworldiscomingtoanendandthepathtowardsanewbeginningstartswithinyou
(PrinceEa,2014,stanza15).Here,therhetorendsonthewordyou,leavingtheaudiencewith
thethoughtofthemselvesbeingabletomakeachangeintheworld.
ItisimportanttonotethatPrinceEadoesnotusethewordyouwhenheistalking
aboutwhatpeopledowrong,heonlyusesyoutotellthepeopletheycanhelpmakeachange.
Ifyouwasusedinthepartofthesongwhenhewastalkingaboutsocietyswrongdoings,the
audiencewouldfeelliketheyarebeingblamedorcalledout,whichwouldmakethemlesslikely
totryandmakeachange.Invitingaudienceparticipationisusedtomaketheaudiencefeelas
thoughtheycanhelp.Ifanaudiencefeelsliketheycanactuallydosomethingaboutaproblem,
theyaremorelikelytotryandsolveit.
Implications
PrinceEassonggivesnewinsighttothefemininestyleofrhetoric.Peoplemayhave
assumethatusingapersonaltonemeantthattherhetorhadtospeakinacertaintoneoruse
specificwordsthatmaybeknowasempathetic.ThroughtheanalysisofWhyIThinkThis
WorldShouldEnd,anewaspectofpersonaltonewasfound.Nowartifactswithavisual
componentcanbeanalyzedbylookingatthemovementoftherhetor.PrinceEacreateda
personaltonebyconveyingemotionthroughstandingupandtheuseofhandmovements.There
wereseveraloccasionswhenPrinceEawouldstand,waghisfinger,orjustmovehisarms
around.Theseweretheaspectsofthesong/videothatgaveoffthemostemotion.Artifactscan


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nowbeanalyzedbyusingthisformofbodylanguagetoanalyzepersonaltonethroughthe
femininestyleofrhetoric.

Analyzingthissongthroughfemininestyleisimportantintherealworld.Sincesongsare
allaroundus,itisimportanttoknowhowtherhetorususingrhetorictopersuadetheiraudience.
Thiscanbedoneusinganarrayoftheoriesincludingfemininestyle.Itisalwaysgoodforthe
generalpublictoknowthedifferentstylesrhetorsusedinordertopersuadebecauseitmakes
someonelesslikelytobetricked.Femininestyleputsanemphasisonmakingsurethereare
examplestobackuptherhetorsconclusion.Thisisgoodforanaudiencetoknowbecauseifa
songorotherartifactdoesnothaveexamplestobackitupitprobablyisnotaverygoodpieceof
rhetoric.Anaudienceshouldbeawareofwhyarhetorismakingaconclusioniftherearenot
anyexamplesgiven,whyshouldanaudiencebelievetheconclusion?This,inturn,tellspeople
thatiftheywanttocreateapieceofrhetoric,theyshouldprovideexamplesbeforegivingtheir
audienceaconclusion.
Analyzingthisartifactthroughfemininestyleisimportantfortheacademiccommunity
aswell.FemininestylehasnotbeenusedtoanalyzeaYouTubevideobefore.Byanalyzing
PrinceEassong,femininestylecanbeseeninanewlight.Femininestylehasbeenusedto
analyzealotofspeechesandessays,buttheseartifactsdonothaveavisualormusical
component.Femininestylecanbeusedinthefuturetoanalyzemusicvideosbasedonbody
languagealongsidewhatisbeingsaid.Inthefuture,personaltonemightalsobeusedtoanalyze
themusicinthebackgroundofthewords.Althoughitwasnottalkedaboutinthisessay,artists
choosethemusicthatgoesbehindthelyricsforareason.Femininestylecouldbeusedto


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analyzeaspectsofthereasoningbehindmusicchoicesomedayalongwithfurtheranalysison
bodylanguageinanartifact.

Conclusion
Thismusicvideowasanalyzedusingfemininestylebecauseitdemonstratedallfive
componentsofthetheory:inductivestructure,personaltone,addressingtheaudienceaspeers,
personalexperiences,andempoweringtheaudience.PrinceEacreatedthisartifacttopersuade
hisaudiencethattheworldneedstochangeandthathisaudiencecanhelpchangeit.Analyzing
WhyIThinkThisWorldShouldEndwithfemininestylewaseffectivebecausePrinceEawas
abletocreatearelationshipwithhisaudiencebyusingthefivecomponentsofthestyle.Inlight
oftheinformationpresented,considerlookingatrhetoricalmusicinmoredepthbylookingat
howtheartististryingtopersuadehis/heraudience.


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