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Johnnae Roberts
Dr. Michael Harker
English 3050
July 19, 2013
Persona Analysis: CTW
Beyonce Knowles has been said to be the queen of pop by many individuals. She has
won America and the world over with music since she was a teen because of her ability to
transform herself while being on stage showcasing her talent. Today, Beyonce has a child, a
husband, and anything she could possibly want and shes still on top of the music industry but
how does she do it? She has transitioned from a child to an adult before everyones eyes and her
persona is constantly developing with it. Throughout the years Beyonce, or King Bey as her
biggest fans call her has gained a reputation for being a talented entertainer in the performance
industry.
A persona is a role or character, a person plays in an attempt to create an image to an
audience different from what the immediate family and friends see. Beyonce has had years to
construct the way she wished to be perceived and by being Sasha Fierce on stage she does that.
Many rhetoricians have mentioned the way in which a stage presence impacts an audience.
Ciceros five canons of rhetoric explains this as, delivery, or the existence of preparedness with
presence, style, poise, power and grace (Herrick 103). She constructs this by looking at her target
audience and deciding what would be most appropriate for the atmosphere whether it be a
concert, or an awards event and upholding the image.
At any event Beyonce attends the audience expects her to be efficient in her delivery and
wow the crowd with her attire and show ethos. Ethos, one of the three appeal coined by Aristotle,
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means to show credibility, or persuasiveness, and trustworthiness (89). She has to be convincing
and by dressing and acting in a particular manner the audience believes that she is going to give
them a performance that reflects their assumptions about her as a performer. For instance, before
her performance at the Super Bowl, the media had sensationalized her performing but there was
still speculation since she had recently given birth and had not recently released music. To
continue to be credible she had a performance that was a topic of conversation for weeks and she
remained a reliable source for supporters.
Beyonce was a part of the girl group, Destinys Child, and when they decided to pursue
different paths, she used this time to devise a strategy of what the people wanted and how it
could be achieved. Destinys Child usual theme was women empowerment which carried into
Beyonces solo career. Hugh Blair, a Scottish rhetorician during the Enlightenment Period, uses a
rhetorical theory that Beyonce uses to gain sales called taste and style (193). As culture changes
so does Beyonces persona. She reflects the change in society in an effort to stay in the business
and understand her fans. Beyonce uses different factors to construct her persona such as what is
popular at that time, what will continue to make her a credible artist, and her delivery which
accounts for the number of fans she has today.