Jeff Aycock
September 11
September 11, 2001 was one of the greatest tragedies that America has ever experienced. After that tragedy many artiest tried to write songs to explain what happened, what we should do, or just to help people realize what happened. Right after the attack there was a lot of emotions going through everyone’s head and I believe that the music industry tried to do their best to use their music to calm the American Citizens minds. One of the greatest songs that was written after September 11 was a song by Alan Jackson called “Where Were You When the World stopped turning.”
In this song Alan Jackson is talking directly to the American Citizens about what happened on September 11, and how they feel about the war that is going on. He starts the song out by asking questions. He wants you to think about what you were doing ,feeling, and thinking at the time of the attack and just reflect on how you feel about the war that is going on right now. You will definitely realize this in the first stanza of the song. In the first stanza he wants you to think where you were when the attack actually happened.
In the first stanza he uses the logos by giving specific examples of where people might have been. For example the second and third lines of the song states “Out in the yard with your wife and children working on a stage in LA.” Those first two lines of the song could definitely be places where an American citizen could have been. Then he goes on for 4 more lines to give a couple more possibilities of where people might have been. When you hear the first stanza it makes you stop to think about where you actually were when the towers fall.
In the second and third stanza he uses ethos by singing about the emotion that you might have had felt. For example in the first line of the second stanza says “Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones,” which is talking about the families that had lost their families or closest friends in the attack. Then in the third stanza he changes the emotion from weeping, crying, and sad to being proud. He was able to do this by saying “Did you burst out in pride for the red white and blue.” Now the mood of the song changed and instead of being sad now he wants you to feel proud to be an American.
In the next stanza the fourth he uses logos and pathos by giving examples about himself and how he’s a leader in a way. He is trying to convey to the reader or the listener that he is not the most intelligent man but he knows what is right and what is wrong. In the second t line of the fourth stanza it say “I’m not a real political man I watch CNN but I’m not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran But I know Jesus and an I talked to God.” Then the last two lines of that stanza says “And I remember this from when I was young faith hope and love are some good things he gave us but the greatest is love.” Throughout those lines he is trying to tell us that he is not sure of all the details but as long as we believe in God he will help us though this rough time in country.
In the fifth stanza he kind of resembles the first stanza by using logos again and asks the reader or listen questions about where were you, and what were you doing. The only difference in this stanza is that he gives a lot more places and things that people could have been doing. He does this to reiterate the fact that he wants you to remember exactly where you where and what you were feeling so that you will not forget about what a terrible tragedy it really was, and so you will not lose pride in our country.
In the last couple stanzas which I believe are the most important is just like the fourth stanza word for word and the only this that changes is three lines at the end of the song. He defiantly uses pathos again, I say this because he is trying to lead the reader or listener to believe that as long as you believe in God he is going to get us through the down fall that the country has taken because he Loves us. How I know this is because the second to last stanza talks about what God has given us and in the last stanza all it says is “The greatest is love The greatest is love.”
He ends the song with one line and that line is the title of the song “Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day.” This is probable the most powerful line in the song because when the song ends it just kind of just leaves you hanging and stunned and makes you just think about what really happened to our country that day and how it affected you. By us that line in for the last line of the song it makes you go back and think about the entire song over again in your head.
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4 comments:
Two things I saw that I thought were good in this paper were how you explained each part of the song very well. I also thought you did a very good job explain why you thought he was writing directly to the American people. I think you could add a little more in the paper about what the song means to the American people, and not so much about what each stanza means literally. I think you could focus a little more on why Alan Jackson wrote this song. I also think he could have focused a little more on the war and why this song was written directly to Americans.
The first paragraph does not make your opinions seem strong. By using words like “believe” you weaken your claims. Also try not to use words to often like “try”. The second paragraph again does not seem strong; some re-wording would clear up what you are really trying to say. Adding examples as to what questions he asks the listeners. The third paragraph says that the artist uses logos to reach his listeners but it is unclear how he does this though you say that he uses examples of where people are it is still abstract as to how this relates to logos. Think if your reader did not know what logos was, it needs to be explained. The first sentence of the third paragraph has a grammar problem when you say “have had” it is unnecessary to use both, “have” alone would suffice. The same problems appear throughout your essay you seem to use the wrong words and have scattered grammar mistakes. You seem to understand the song fairly well but are not able to successfully present it to the reader. More explanation of what logos, pathos, and ethos are will help to clear up your paper. Also you never state who the speaker is, remember that it may not always be the artist.
Dear Jeffey,
I think that is would be best if you talked about what happened in the September 11 attacks. Give some background and say why you think the terrorists decided that they had to resort to violence and attacked the United States. In the second and the beginning of the third paragraph you say “in the first stanza” way too much. Once again at the end of the third paragraph you said when the towers fell. At the beginning of the third paragraph you should say “logos” not “the logos”. You need to give some background of what the Twin Towers were. In the fourth paragraph when you talk about children weeping for their families also talk about how there was a nursery and many children died. You kind of just change from weeping and crying to being proud. Give an example of how weeping and mourning together can unite a nation and make people proud. Also in the fourth parapgraph you say “He was able to do this by saying “Did you burst out in pride for the red white and blue.” Now the mood of the song changed and instead of being sad now he wants you to feel proud to be an American.” Say how this would make someone feel proud to be an American. In the second to last paragraph do not say what I believe because it takes away the formality of the paper. All in all this was a really good paper you explained the song thoroughly.
Jim McKenzie
In your paper, you do a great job of pointing out where he uses ethos, pathos, and logos. I would make sure you identify the speaker more clearly. You say it is Alan Jackson but you do not talk about what time of person he is. For example, is he just playing the part of a regular American talking to other Americans in the song? There are also some lines in the song that you do a great job of explain the importance of why Alan Jackson put that line in the song. One big thing I would work on in your paper is placing comas where they are needed. There are many run-on sentences throughout your paper. I would also make sure you aren’t too repetitive. For example, there are multiple times where you talked about how the American people just needed to believe in God.
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