Research
Below are samples of finished research projects completed for coursework at Auburn University. The first sample is a rhetorical analysis of the anti-vaccination community’s methods of communication in relation to those of the scientific community, the second sample is a study focusing on the identity of the American working-class identity as seen through popular media and music, and the last sample consists of a hybrid literacy analysis of Reggae music and tradition. Full versions of the projects are available for review in PDF format.
Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric
Like a Plague: Exploring the Causes, Actors, and Methods that Allow the Spread of Bad Science
This case-study seeks to understand the different approaches to communication as witnessed in the scientific community and the general public. To this end, this piece serves as a type of rhetorical analysis, comparing scientific literature that disputes a causal link between vaccines and autism against literature in the public sphere that supports a causal link. It ultimately suggests that the reason for the explosive spread of anti-vaccination sentiment (and the spread of bad, quasi-scientific information in general) lies in the fact that the communication methods common in the scientific community do not carry the same rhetorical “weight” as do the communication methods in the public sphere. Though communication approaches like passive-voice sentence structure, hedged claims, and calls for additional research carry weight in the scientific community, these same cues serve to more or less weaken the impact of scientific rhetoric in the public sphere, opening a door for rhetoric based in fear and anecdotes to control popular opinion. Indeed, scientific rhetoric has historically struggled for acceptance in the public sphere – one need only look at the current debate around climate change for an example – and even vaccines have seen harsh criticism from as far back as the 1900s. This case-study therefore attempts to address this struggle through the perspective of the anti-vaccination debate.
Also available at the right is a brief article that condenses and simplifies the results of the full case study for a non-expert audience.
Rhetoric of American Working Class Identity
The Scarecrow: Rock & Roll and John Mellencamp as Rhetorical Narrative of Working-Class Identities
This review addresses the prevailing image of the working-class identity as seen in American popular media. It suggests that 1) this identity is a fabrication that neither accurately nor ethically portrays a true group-identity for the working class; 2) Rock & Roll, when viewed as a rhetorical narrative, serves as an effective image of the working-class identity; and 3) John Mellencamp’s lyrical themes espousing community, family, and a strong work ethic are more in-line with a true working-class identity. In arguing this point, group identity theory from Burke, Freud, and Marx is brought into conversation with current scholars like Rose, Levison, and Gorman in order to establish a framework through which Mellencamp’s lyrical themes may be shown to accurately portray a working-class identity in the popular media. Contemporary rhetoricians and scholars have delved into Rock & Roll as a popular channel through which a working-class identity may be realized, but their arguments center heavily on Springsteen’s portrayal and relation to the working class identity. It is suggested, through a lyrical analysis, that imagery and themes from Mellencamp’s music delivers the most accurate portrayal of a working-class identity in popular media.
Reggae Music and Tradition: A Literacy
Hybrid Literacies: When Heritage Literacy and Critical Literacy Combine to Make Reggae
Reggae as a musical genre has existed arguably since the late 1950’s, originating on the island of Jamaica and developing out of the Rastafarian faith. Inspired by R&B, Jazz, and Soul music from the United States, it has acted as a mouthpiece for the poor and lower-class citizens of Jamaica, largely made up of the descendants of former slaves from West-Africa. A group that, since the late 1950’s, has suffered innumerable offenses both on social and cultural levels at the hands of western and euro-centric influences. In its time, however, Reggae has been appropriated, misaligned, misrepresented, and portrayed as little more than music associated with Bob Marley, Dreadlocks, and Marijuana use. I argue in this paper that Reggae offers something more on a cultural, social, economic and literate level than just Caribbean-spirited music. Through a hybrid lens of Freirean critical literacy and Rumseyean heritage literacy, I believe that we may be able to see, and more deeply appreciate, Reggae music as cultural mouthpiece, a literacy for a demographic that portrays their struggles, desires, values, and heritage. I also look to current scholarship from Kuebrich and Nordstrom who cite case studies of literacies realized in oppressive contexts as tools for citizens to “challenge domination…and confront manipulation” in the words of Freire.