Trenton Harvey

Dr. Jessica OHara

CAS 137 Section 016

13 October, 2016

Rhetorical Essay Analysis

In the United States, mass shooting has become a household term. A mass shooting

is defined as a violent event in which four or more people, not including the perpetrator, are

killed in a single shooting event. Going by the definition given, there were 372 mass

shootings in the United States in 2015 alone (PBS) . On June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire

in the Orlando, FL Pulse Nightclub, killing forty-nine people and injuring fifty-three (CNN).

As a result, people not only across the nation, but across the world sprang into action. The

image of three women protesting and the music video for The Greatest by Sia are both

powerful reactions and responses to the shooting, through their demonstration of ethos and

pathos, as well as the rhetorical tool of Kairos.

Mass shootings occur so often that most U.S. citizens are quite familiar with the

cycle that follows, first there is the initial outrage, there is constant news outlet coverage,

secondly comes the moral outrage and demand for change, and finally after about two to five

days (depending on the severity of the event), everybody forgets about it and life returns to

normal. This awful cycle that we have all become so familiar with is a perfect example of

Kairos. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Kairos is a time when the

conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action; the opportune and decisive
moment. (Merriam-Webster). Kairos is a Greek term used to describe and analyze a

rhetorical situation, such as the image of women at a protest and The Greatest music video.

When one looks at the image of three women protesting, you see a sign being held that

simply states Stop homophobia and gun violence NOW (International Business Times).

The statement of that sign shows that the issue of homophobia and gun violence are present,

not only present, but brought to attention by the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting. These

three women pictured (and many more) rightly used the awful event that occurred to push the

agenda of equality and also gun law reform.

The music video for the song The Greatest by singer/ songwriter Sia is also a direct

result and response to the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting. At the very beginning of the

video, the featured dancer in the video, Maddie Ziegler, is shows visibly upset and rubs her

face, to give the illusion that she is crying rainbows (SiaVEVO). The rainbows are indicative

of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting because Pulse Nightclub was a predominantly

LGBT club and the rainbows refer to the gay pride flag, which symbolizes unity and support

to the community. By the giving the illusion of crying rainbows, Sia and Ziegler are showing

support and sadness for the gay community due to this awful tragedy. Sia and Ziegler also

refer to the Pulse Nightclub at 3:32 when the scene changes to a large dark room resembling

a nightclub where you can later clearly see bullet holes in the walls, referring to the Pulse

Nightclub after the shooting (SiaVEVO). Additionally, at 4:41, the dancers in the

nightclub seem to collapse, as if they were killed, alluding to those who were murdered

during the shooting (SiaVEVO).

The rhetorical analytic tools of ethos, pathos, and logos are greatly demonstrated in

the image of the three women at the vigil and protest, and equally demonstrated in the music
video for The Greatest by Sia. In the image, ethos is targeted by the individuals present.

The three women pictured are all attesting to their character the traits of determination and

compassion by being present at an event caused by the Orlando Nightclub shooting. From a

moral standpoint, when such a horrific shooting occurs, one feels the civic duty to take

action, resulting in the mass amount of support towards those closely affected, and large

support of social change. Ethos is also heavily present and targeted in the music video for

The Greatest by Sia. This is shown by Zieglers actions in the video, at 2:01 the other

dancers in the video appear to be collapsing and Ziegler is seen waking them back up and

making them continue to dance, symbolizing her lifting their spirits. By making the dancers

continue, Ziegler is helping them continue their mission to fight and pushing for change, the

phrase being sung Ive got stamina also symbolizes that the people have the stamina to

continue and cannot just give up, despite their exhaustion (SiaVEVO).

When one looks at the image, their eyes are drawn to the faces of the women pictured.

This targets the rhetorical tool, pathos. Pathos is targeted when looking at the face of the

three women because it is a natural human emotion to feel sympathy when we see others in

pain. Looking at the faces of the women, all three have tears running from their eyes down

their faces, resulting in the show of pain, sadness, and grief. The blatant show of raw emotion

triggers any normal humans emotions, and touches their inner conscience. This is also

shown in the music video for The Greatest by Sia when Ziegler is seen to be crying

rainbows. The video also shows pathos by Zieglers violent movements at the beginning of

the video. The movements show emotions like anger, sadness, and grief due to the very

frustrated nature of the movements. Ziegler is seen throwing her arms around in a

momentary scene of the emotions, one can even say resembling a tantrum created from
frustration caused by the shooting. Throughout the video, it can be seen that Zieglers pathos

is targeted when she is trying to almost lift the spirits of the other dancers in the video. The

other dancers signify those that are beaten down by the Pulse shooting and those similar,

while Ziegler is trying to convince them to keep fighting and keep going, while Sia is

repeatedly singing phrases like Dont give up and Ive got stamina (SiaVEVO). Lastly,

pathos is shown towards the end of the video (from 5:24 until the end) when the camera is

only showing Zieglers face and showing tears coming from her eyes and running down her

face. The tears run over the rainbows on her cheeks, showing the sadness for the LGBT

community after the horrific event. The silence in the background also makes the viewer pay

close attention only to Ziegler and her face, showing the seriousness and emotion of the

scene, resulting in the same feeling from the viewer.

After closely examining these two texts, I can conclude that both the image of the

vigil and the music video for The Greatest by Sia are rich in rhetorical tools. The image

and video clearly use the tools ethos and pathos, in addition to Kairos to be a powerful and

memorable response to a terrible tragedy, the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando,

Florida.
 Works Cited

"2015: The Year of Mass Shootings." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

"49 Killed in Florida Nightclub Terror Attack." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d.

Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

Http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/reporters/lydia-smith. "LGBT Muslims Speak up about the

Orlando Shooting - 'Owen Jones Was Right to Walk Out'"International Business Times RSS.

N.p., 14 June 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.

SiaVEVO. "Sia - The Greatest." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Sept. 2016. Web. 16 Oct.

2016.