The Rhetorical Canidate

When looking at figure, one should recognize the certain technics in order convince their audience on their position, good or bad. That is what my class, Art of Rhetoric, is trying to understand. These technics being from context, rhetorical tools, rhetorical appeal and much more. We have also went into certain exhibits such as "Remembering MLK" or meeting Troy LaRavie in order to understand their rhetoric. My class and I were had an assignment where we needed to understand and analyze a text that our candidate (which we choose in the last unit) has done. Not only that, but try to conclude if it is successful. What was challenging about this project is the time frame that assignment had. What I enjoyed however was analyzing and stating my opinions on what my candidate meant. Still, I hope you enjoy.

Paul Vallas has been a controversial character since the beginning of his campaign, and challenged multiple people against his stances. From his thoughts on police, education, financial stability, and much more, he has found creative ways in order to achieve the budget for such projects. This is especially a prominent trait shown as he is running for Chicago mayor as of 2018, after Rahm Emanuel (prior mayor) dropped out from being a candidate. Paul, now determined, wishes to reconstruct certain aspects that Rahm’s campaign either ignored or had been work with it in a negative way.

Chicago Tribune, "Mayor Rahm Emanuel..." chicagotribune.com,
Chicago Tribune WebDate Unknown, Oct 17, 2018

During a speech in August, Vallus stated certain policies he wanted to take care of that Emmanuel handled poorly. One of these political issue is that city colleges are structured to teach a certain subjects within the school. An example would be city college Kennedy-King teaching hospitality and culinary, Malcolm X teaching nursing and medical, and many more. What Paul is arguing is due to transportation, time, and placement in the Chicago area limits certain citizens in job positions. He also argues on whether certain job positions taught by certain schools will even be around in 10 years.

Since Paul has been an advocate of schooling, his belief for the system is that there should be core programs instituted within all of city colleges. Giving out less of a identity but allowing access to certain communities. Paul believes that if this policy were due to effect, then it would allow certain unprivileged students gain higher chances of successful occupations within their community. Not only that, but could also help with bring up the application and attendance rate for city colleges.

Within Chicago Sun Times News website, a recording was shown dedicated to show Paul’s opinions on the subject and why Rahm's system must go. To give context, he and Rahm has had a back and forth political argument on the better system that should be used. Paul has also gained some criticism for his policy, such as not having a financial plan on how to pay for these core classes. Another argument against Paul being that Rahm has made improvements within these communities(though forced thanks to the Laquan McDonald incident) by investing in certain buildings or structures. Paul within the video talks about these problems and how he views the whole subject.

  

For this project, we will be talking about his rhetoric. Such being on how he handle himself in the emotion of the subject, the logic of the subject, and the ideas of trust the audience gains from this interview. We will also be talking about certain rhetorical tools used within his speak. Examples being analogy, metaphor, and much more. Finally, we will be analyzing if this speech was a success in rhetoric.

Here is the annotation of the speech itself.

"I think we should get elections every year, because then we get a quick response. You know, everything becomes a priority. In election year, right around election year. So that’s number one. Number two, this isn’t, this isn’t a redistribution of the wealth, this is a effective, infrared allocation of resources. “Yock, give me magic johnson and 10 million dollar contract,” it’s not MBEWE in my book. You know, giving money to the alternative schools network so they could serve more children, is the way you invest that money. Building a Wind-Trust Arena..su, for 175,000,000 dollars. While not investing in the, the a poles and roles area. So, uhm, it’s a question of, it’s a question of priorities, and it’s not a redistribution of the wealth strategy. There are areas of this city that are contracting and you see them. I was at Anglewood yesterday. Walking..you know, walking down the street. And, and the store fence, the store fence has been torn down or vacant, and I could find, at least in the section I was in, couldn’t find a hard price press to find a fast food joint-so that you can go find and get a cup of coffee. Or michigan avenue, gately people’s store has been shut down for three decades. I used to ride my bike in the five story high parking garage that they had. There deep tour around the parking garage. But, you know..the entire block is almost abandoned. So this isn’t a redistribution of the wealth issue. So you don’t wait until 2016 to allocate money, and you don’t allocate money just on the mero of wims. 250,000 dollars can be allocated without even cityconcil’s approval. You could just simply dispense the resources as you see fit. Usually driven by politics, not by me.”

Logos

For most of his speeches or talks,  its always seems Paul always decides on doing logos before anything else. We recognize this at the very ending of the recording, were the candidate talks about money being allocated. 

Fran Spielman "Mayoral challenger Paul Vallas unveiled..." chicago.suntimes.com,
Chicago Sun Times News, Web,  Aug 23, 2018, Oct 16, 2018

“ So you don’t wait until 2016 to allocate money, and you don’t allocate money just on the mero of wims. 250,000 dollars can be allocated without even city council’s approval. You could just simply dispense the resources as you see fit.” 

Notice that he references to the audience rather than Rahm himself. Almost as if he speaks about the common viewer, who doesn’t understand politics compared to politicians who do. From a certain understanding, Paul is stating that this position allows a person to personalize a project rather than help the city. The evidence to harden this idea would the line “as you see fit”, as well as the impression that Rahm has invested in the black communities only because he needed a better image. Thus, it make the logos of the conversation more impactful because it gives of the impression that the information stated could be personalized by anyone, and that it is already happening.

Pathos

The greatest source of pathos would be the middle of the speech with his grievances and distress within the lots of Chicago. 

“Or michigan avenue, gately people’s store has been shut down for three decades. I used to ride my bike in the five story high parking garage that they had. There deep tour around the parking garage. But, you know..the entire block is almost abandoned ” 

This text right works for two reasons. One being that it isn’t “I feel” or “I think”, but rather “I’ve been”. The idea that you experience the problem and compare it on how it used to be is strong. The reasoning being it gives of an idea that you, the speaker, have a story with this place. Thus, allowing the audience to be empathetic to you. The second reason this works is that it has a sense of logos with this in the information and the way he talks. These communities have been existing with this problem and giving a sense of urgency.

Ethos
Whenever one thinks about ethos, opinion states it cannot survive or doesn't exist on it’s own. That it needs a sense of either pathos or logos in order for it to work. Going back to the quote from pathos, one could get an idea that Paul came to look at the city first hand, and state grievance from it. Thus, showing our trust in him as he actively goes out into his community trying to stop this.

There are also an analogy that helps with his ethos

“Yock, give me magic johnson and 10 million dollar contract,” it’s not MBEWE in my book”

This analogy is especially important because it shows that Paul has researched certain figures within the communities he his talking about, and is to the eyes of said communities not completely blind. Thus gain trust through not only one specific communities, but multiple who can appreciate those who have taken the time to research. 

Stylistic Devices

Allusion

“Yock, give me magic johnson and 10 million dollar contract,” it’s not MBEWE in my book”

In this quote, Pual references a famous pastor within the African-American community, Conrad Mbewe. He also talks about another well known African-American title, Magic Johnson. All to mainly emphasize the point that Rahm isn’t using his resources to the community in a correct way. Rather, is giving out money to the areas and specialities he believes will benefit him. This could also be considered a metaphor since Rahm hasn’t endorsed Magic Johnson, or hasn’t given out million dollar contracts. It still brings a good connect to what Rahm has been doing to the city overall.

 Craig Wall "Candidate for mayor Paul Vallas..." abc7chicago.com,
ABC7, Web,   Aug 23, 2018,Oct 16, 2018

Analogy

“I used to ride my bike in the five story high parking garage that they had. There deep tour around the parking garage. But, you know..the entire block is almost abandoned”

Rather than comparing two different cities and taking the ideas that Chicago isn’t as great as one city, he talks about the comparison of the past and present. This, one could conclude, is better than talking about two different areas. It gives of an idea that the city used to be good, or at least functional. But now, thanks to a certain force, it is ruined. It better rhetoric because it alludes to a current problem without saying it and  also gives off the idea that it’s possible to return the community to its original form.  Finally, it gives an idea that it will either spread or get worse unless the city takes action within the long term.

Repetition

“it’s a question of, it’s a question of priorities”

“this isn’t, this isn’t a redistribution of the wealth”

“to allocate money, and you don’t allocate money just on the mero of wims”

Though some people would find these repetition of words sloppy, one could find it has good rhetoric. For what it does is it gives of the impression that the speaker had isn’t pre-researched. Rather, it is something that the speaker genuinely cares about, and shows he/she is confident to keep talking even after mistakes one could criticizes Thus, bring in a good idea of ethos that is subtle, but can go a long way.

Conclusion

The reason I chose this text was mainly because Paul talks about one of the few good policies I agree with. Even though it is expensive, I believe there should be different core classes to open opportunity for different students rather than to force them to travel or pay extra expenses. Not only that, but this speech shows that Paul understands what is needed in order to gain his rhetoric to a certain audience. Using logos, ethos, and pathos perfectly and making seem as if it was all from his personality. Even with the policies I find disagreement in, I still find Paul Vallas rhetorically successful.

Citations

Fran Spielman "Vallas wants to dismantle Emanuel’s City Colleges makeover" chicago.suntimes.com

Chicago Sun Times,  Web,  Aug 23, 2018, Oct 16, 2018