Posing as Lori Lightfoot

Rhetoric is an Integrated Humanities class in GCE. In my Rhetoric course, we learn about the art of persuading different audiences through writing and speaking techniques. For this unit, we studied the way important figures in history interacted with others using a rhetorical analysis. In a rhetorical analysis there is the speaker, audience, genre, occasion, and purpose. When rhetorically analyzing something, you can also use Aristotle's 3 appeals : Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. In this unit we applied rhetorical thinking to hands-on projects and Field Experiences. In the beginning of the unit we had to analyze a Fender Guitar AD and make a slideshow on how it was rhetorically successful. We took that project to a new level by actually getting to see Fender Guitars along with several other instruments at the Chicago Music Exchange, a music equipment retailer. Getting the opportunity to see these instruments and the way retailers sell them demonstrated how people use rhetorical thinking. Our action project for this class is focused around a political figure. The mission is to convince an audience that they’re a trustworthy candidate through a speech. Our job was to select a mayoral candidate in Chicago. I chose Lori Lightfoot and wrote a scripted speech, acting as if I were her in an interview. The speech is supposed to include logos, pathos, ethos, and effective oratory. You then have to take a video of yourself reading the interview question you made up with the answer to it, posing as your candidate. Later on we will get the chance to read these speeches at a people’s assembly.