The task at hand for phase 2 was to incorporate three songs of our choosing and convince the audience that they belong in a cohesive mixtape.

Cover Letter

David Zhang

November 9, 2022

English Composition 11000

Cover Letter For Rhetorical Analysis

After this Rhetorical Analysis assignment, I probably won’t listen to the songs in the mixtape of my own volition. Trying to read the intentions of an artist can be complicated without a direct quote or citation from the artist themselves, so a more intricate interpretation must be made from the finished product. This does allow for many more interpretations and may even give more meaning to the piece of music or writing. This process has made me question the intention of my own writing. The general reason can be summed up as “I’m doing this for an assignment”, but any interpretation can be seen with enough reasoning and rationale. I can even justify that the objective of my writing is to describe an insecure relationship I had with anything or anyone with the purpose of relating to anyone who had a dilemma with committing to a relationship whether it be casual, personal, or academic.

Other than making me think introspectively about my own piece of writing, this assignment has coerced or forced me to revise my approach to researching topics, especially what defines a genre and the many sub-genres that each holds. Keywords become the saving grace when categorizing a song into any genre. Although this gets complicated when trying to define or even confine any artist to a singular genre or style. Researching the context behind songs or even albums can also get troublesome as well when nothing other than the narrative becomes the core reason behind the creation of the song. Looking at interviews and even digging old album reviews proved to be somewhat useful in providing unique insights into the intentions of the artists. This then becomes a game of linking and combining what information is gathered to form any cohesive attribute or identifier that can show the likeness shared between the songs. 

Which then leads to learning to understand the composition of songs and the rhetorical devices they use. Identifying such rhetorical devices sounds easy on paper ( and it was ), but the challenge for me was to identify how the artist’s use of those rhetorical devices conveyed meaning to their audience. This eventually boiled down to “rhyming, repetition, and harmonic placement of words make the song sound good”. Although part of me still is convinced of the existence of a higher understanding of the topic.

Overall, completing this assignment was enjoyable ( to an extent ) and allowed me to gain useful experience and insight for the future if I ever decide to look into the background of artists and their albums and songs or even any topic in the future.

Rhetorical Analysis

David Zhang

November  5th, 2022

English Composition 11000

PART 1:

Ghenghis Khan by Miike Snow, a Swedish pop band, was produced in 2015 for their album iii. The song has a catchy beat filled with elements of electropop and slight hints of modern rock. The song is a narrative of the conflicting desires of the singer on committing to a relationship. This narrative of indecisiveness is shown through allusion to the late Mongolian conqueror, Ghenghis Khan, who was known to be controlling and possessive of his power and many concubines. This comparison to Genghis Khan is mentioned throughout the lyrics through many repetitions of “I get a little bit Genghis Khan, I don’t want you to get it on, With nobody else but me, With nobody else but me”. This also plays into the narrative of indecisiveness as the singer says they only “ get a little bit Genghis Khan” which understates the effect of the comparison. The song also uses many examples of assonance where harmony and euphony are created. The first verse holds three separate forms of assonance where a long “o” sound can be heard repeated in the first 2 lines. This is followed by a repeating short “i” sound in the next two lines. This is also paired with a rhyming scheme where every two lines sync with each other.“I know there’s no form, And no labels to put on, To this thing we keep, And dip into when we need, And I don’t have the right, To ask where you go at night, But the waves hit my head, To think someone’s in your bed”. This narrative of irrational commitment with the catchy pop beat works to create a well-done song with an upbeat mood despite the differing message in the lyrics.

Grenade by Bruno Mars was produced in 2010 for the album  Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The song has heavy hints of R and B with the main pop beat and tempo. This song plays hard into a narrative of one-sided commitment in a relationship with many hyperboles of extreme acts of devotion: “ I’d catch a grenade for ya, Throw my hand on a blade for ya, I’d jump in front of a train for ya”. This exaggeration of commitment plays into the high energy of the singer which creates a less somber mood that instead feels more of acceptance rather than anger or denial. This gets further promoted as the singer uses both Assonance and Consonance to create a form of harmony and euphony: “Cause you never, ever, ever did, baby”. Although the idea of acceptance is presented in the song, the idea of commitment never disappears as the chorus repeats at both the start and end of the song: “I’d catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah), Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah), I’d jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah), You know I’d do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah), Oh, oh, I would go through all this pain, Take a bullet straight through my brain, Yes, I would die, for ya, baby, But you won’t do the same”. This creates a more extreme narrative of commitment without acknowledgment.

I’ll Find a Way by League of Legends ( Feat. TELLE) was produced in 2021 in promotion of the Sentinels Of Light in-game event for League of Legends. This song is a narrative that follows Viego, a fictional character from League of Legends, on his journey to resurrect his dead wife. Viego as a character was designed to be a complicated villain with a virtuous goal but ill-intended means. The background of the narrative plays a  major part in setting the mood and pacing of the song through a powerful bass-like EDM backdrop that coincides with a strong voice to create a cold ominous tone in the song. This tone sets a certain connotation for the phrase “I’ll Find a Way” to lean towards one of madness rather than pure devotion. The change is noticeable in the volume of his voice as it shifts throughout the song from a quiet grieving to a louder and more violent tone. This shift in tone also becomes noticeable as the beginning uses consonance as a way to create a soft verse (“And I’m chasing whispers, before they all just fade”) and changes to using cacophony in the later parts of the song to create a more harsh violent feeling (“This porcelain mirage, may start to break, Each piece a reminder, every single little mistake”). This change and contrast in the song create a strong narrative of madness in devotion.

PART 2:

This mixtape seeks to combine all songs into a type of anthology of insecure relationships through the deviations of a common first-person narrative and differing emotions. All three songs carry similar genres stemming from the popular style of modern pop, and they also have their own unique tone and emotional backdrop. This variety of emotions and tones of the songs allows for multiple interpretations and narratives centering on the dynamics of commitment in a relationship. Combining these songs allow for many views on how many relationships in our life can be lacking or abundant in commitment.

 “Genghis Khan” made in 2015 by Miike Snow is a song that uses its upbeat and catchy beat to downplay the seriousness of the narrative of not being willing to commit to a relationship. This feeling of wanting to achieve a goal without putting in the effort can be associated with the narrative given in the song. This narrative of irrational commitment with the catchy pop beat works to create a well-done song with an upbeat mood despite the differing message in the lyrics.

This narrative of commitment can then be observed in the song “Grenade” made in 2010 by Bruno Mars where it depicts a narrative of a one-sided relationship where many exaggerations and hyperboles of sacrifice can be heard throughout the song nearing madness and absurdity: “ I’d catch a grenade for ya, Throw my hand on a blade for ya, I’d jump in front of a train for ya”. It questions if the commitment was placed in the appropriate place. This paired with the r & b style music creates a more melancholy vibe compared to the energetic upbeat style seen in “Ghenghis Khan” 

This transition to a more somber mood fits well into the last song “I’ll Find a Way” made in 2021 by League of Legends ( FEAT. TELLE). This song features a narrative of the loss of a loved one but still having lingering attachments and commitments. This loss can be analogous to the issue of what ifs and could haves that plague many people who have lost the timing to commit. In contrast to the prior songs by Miike Snow and Bruno Mars, this “I’ll Find a Way” doesn’t use upbeat or catchy beats but instead utilizes a slow dark bass-filled EDM style to complete the transition from an upbeat vibe and light commitment to a more mournful vibe and heavy commitment.

PART 3:

For the composition of my mixtape, I focused heavily on making a cohesive spectrum focusing on the narrative of commitment and vibe to create a chronology of depreciation from cheerful to somber. This focus on narrative did overshadow any deep analysis into the use of rhetorical devices to form a cohesive interpretation for a mixtape. This critique was brought up in one of my peer reviews from Emily Jospesh to incorporate a mix of rhetorical devices to explain the link found between the songs in the mixtape. Although there were some similar uses of rhetorical devices like cacophony and euphony, the connection using these devices wasn’t strong enough to combine the songs into a mixtape. This led me to look into similarities of cultural importance, their audience, and even the intentions of each artist. This proved to have no significant effect as each song was made in its own unique genre with no real comparable past or influence. This left the emotions and narrative the songs conveyed to be the most concrete justification for the songs to be connected within a mixtape. Overall, the three songs I personally chose for the mixtape don’t have particularly similar audiences or styles but have this unique theme of insecurity and commitment in everyone’s relationship whether they be with another person or anything in your life.