Rhetorical Analysis Mary Tyler Moore

I never knew who Mary Tyler Moore was until she died this past January. As the world continued to grieve over Moore and other such celebrities who tragically passed away in the last twelve months, I found myself surreptitiously Googling her to get some context for all the accolades people gave in memoriam. I had never heard of her solo show, or how groundbreaking it was for feminism, but when my Entertainment Weekly magazine came in the mail, I got a further glimpse into television history. As Dan Snierson observes in his article “Mary Tyler Moore, 1936 – 2017”, that beyond any other role Moore played, “it was her seven-season turn (1970 – 1977) as spunky TV producer Mary Richards on CBS’ The Mary Tyler Moore Show that Moore burned brightest,
Pullman Distinguished Professor Emeritus in English and Writing award recipient, both describe rhetorical situation as a balance. Lunsford explains the rhetorical triangle as the audience, writer, and subject material, which are all “dynamically related in a particular context,” meaning that triangular harmony is essential and changes for every different piece of writing. In his book The Rhetorical Stance, Wayne Booth further illustrates this point by describing three bad, or out-of-balance stances: Pedant, Advertiser, and Entertainer. Relating back to our in-class discussion, the Pedant is too focused on the Logos aspect of writing, the Advertiser on Pathos, and the Entertainer on Ethos. These “corruptions” are not purely balanced and while they may be successful in certain situations, they will not achieve what Booth calls the ultimate goal of rhetoric: changing someone’s mind. In Booth’s view “[the author] can do so only if he knows more about the subject than we do, and if he engages us in the process of thinking – and feeling – it through.” Again, this concept applies directly to the use of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos in the rhetorical triangle. By saying that the author “knows more about the subject than we do” Booth verifies that they must have established credibility, or Ethos. Engaging the reader “in the process of thinking – and feeling” refers to Logos, and the application of facts and logic to an argument, and Pathos, the
According to them, genres are simply “recurring kinds of texts”. This simple explanation applies to things like parking tickets, book summaries, gossip magazines, news headlines, and so much more. As a writer, a genre outlines a general template to follow. For instance, writing a résumé for a job application, or a lab report in Biology 101. As a reader, genres tell the reader what to expect from the writing in front of them. In other words, people who read mystery novels don’t want a non-fiction essay all about the secret life of butterflies. Wardle and Downs also draw parallels between genres and maps, calling genres “maps to new situations”, since both help people navigate in a new situation, whether being lost on the road or reading through new text. Additionally, they state that maps change based on new knowledge or technology, and similarly, genres are “maps that you should not rely on rigidly without thinking for yourself about what to do in any writing situation.” I find this advice particularly helpful, because similarly to the templates available in “They Say/I Say”, genres are general guides but not absolute