Valerie Casola

October 3rd, 2014

WR 220 The Art of Rhetoric
Analytical Paper
Hashtag America
Alex Sparks, a 23 year old from Dallas, has a message for young people: take your faces
out of your smartphones and look at the world around you. In his poem, Hashtag America, the
writer/film-maker points a finger in the face of the Americas younger generations, criticizing not
only the modern world they live in, but also the choices they make in it. A video performance of
this poem was submitted to Write Bloody Publishing, situated in Texas. This company believes
that great poetry and other forms of literature changes people for the better, and urges authors
who feel that they give all [their] blood and intensity to [their] writing, and feel [their] writing
can move people to submit to them, showing that this is a topic Sparks deeply cares about
(Write Bloody). His powerful performance of this poem is full of rhetorical appeals that work to
convey his important message; he employs delivery techniques such as hand gestures, changes in
voice inflection, pauses in speech, and videography to construct his ethos and arouse emotions in
his audience.
In the Spanish Journal of Psychology, researchers note that, Studies on gesture
perception have found that illustrators improve the addressees attention, accuracy of
understanding, and recognition and memory about the discourse content. Hand gestures keep
people involved in a speech, especially if it is long. Some help clarify a point or help create an
image. If a particular gesture resonates within a member of the audience or if a particular gesture
is just memorable, an individual is more likely to remember the words that are associated with it.
When Sparks says, I have seen good men fall for bed women, (0:35) he gestures to himself,
suggesting that he personally has experience witnessing this in his life. When he says, Keep
your keepsakes to yourself, (0:49) he pushes his arms away from him, reminding us they are

something he does not want. When he says, We hand our handguns to our fathers, (1:47) he
hands an imaginary gun over, creating a mental image to help the audience bring his words to
life. When Spark says, Welcome to America, (1:30) he shrugs, suggesting that what he is
talking about is something people do not find surprising. He also shrugs at the end of the poem,
suggesting that he has nothing further to say on the topic. Since he does not offer a solution, he
leaves people to think about what they could do to change what aspects of Sparks poem they see
in their own lives. All of these hand and body gestures are persuasive because they allow the
audience to absorb his words not only through its ears, but through its eyes. He is drawing the
reader in and creates appeals to pathos and to his own ethos. People have an easier time
connecting emotionally to images because they are more tangible than words are and Sparks
introduction of gestures pairs his words with these images. Sparks uses gestures to appeal to
ethos, his good moral character, by putting himself in his audience. In the second stanza of his
poem, Sparks mentions that younger people are growing up with attributes such as facial hair,
(0:21) dreadlocks, (0:22) and as he mentions nose rings, (0:23) he gestures to his own. By
choosing to gesture to his own face, he is relating himself to the subject of his poem, showing his
audience that he is like them, too. He is neither putting himself above nor below younger
generations, showing that he is no better than them because he is choosing to speak up.
Sparks also uses the way he pauses between words and the inflection of his voice to
appeal to his audience emotionally. When he says, so we get burned, (1:14) he pauses before
continuing, allowing a strong image of someone being responsible for his actions and facing
consequences for them to sink in. The small moment allows for a brief period of reflection. As
the poem progresses, Sparks begins to slow down when he speaks, particularly at 1:55, where he
begins to talk about what the younger generations of America consider themselves to be and how
he sees them to be. His slower pace not only allows the listener to process and reflect on the

words he is saying, but to establish a different tone for the rest of the poem. It is a signal to the
audience that the subject is becoming more serious and the words more important. This is key
because around this time, Sparks begins to shine a more critical light on his audience and really
wants to capture their attention. The change in pace also demonstrates that the tone has become
sincere as Sparks wants his message to powerfully resonate within his audience emotionally.
While he alters his pace, Sparks does maintain a strong sound throughout the poem, choosing to
drop it in certain places, such as when he says, We do not own bodies without holes in them
(2:25). He pauses gently before continuing, looking straight at the camera, making his audience
feel that he is being true in his words. He does this again where he says, Some of us from
writing prayers, and then Some of us from answering them (2:31). The slight pause also gives
the audience time to process what he just said, possibly allowing some members to think about
their own lives. The changes in pace and inflection allow the audience to take different
interpretations away from different parts of the performance.
Lastly, Sparks uses his role as director to appeal to the emotions of his audience. One
aspect he could control to affect how his message come across to his audience was his choice of
setting for the video. In a direct e-mail, Sparks states, I knew the feeling that I wanted to
capture. I wanted it to be sunset. I wanted it to be soft and warm. This soft and warm
atmosphere is emotionally persuasive because it makes the audience feel safe. A simple setting
allows for the words to pop off and be more present to the audience, while a busy setting would
draw the audiences attention elsewhere. Other aspects of his videography provide pathetic
appeal, such as the way the camera mostly focuses on himself. He is neither above nor below his
audience, but at eye level, and his poem is able to sound like a conversation. While this helps
strengthen his ethos by having him and his audience be equal, it also offers a pathetic appeal to
people that makes them feel like he wants them to hear his words. Again, Sparks is making sure

that his audience realizes he sees himself no differently than he sees them. Another striking
visual Sparks includes is the body of a dead bird that he moves around with the edge of a stick.
The bird appears at 2:53 as Sparks says, keepsakes from a time before we had lived lives
worth a photograph. The image of the bird at this moment acts as a pathetic appeal with the
words lived lives worth because it shows a contrast between life and death. Sparks is
suggesting that the lives of young people were like the dead bird, being dull and lifeless, when
they were not able to share with other people all of the fun they were having on popular social
media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. In the same aforementioned e-mail,
Sparks notes that the concept of the dead bird was a happy accident he was not planning to
incorporate it but took advantage of the opportunity as another way to connect with his audience.
People are more likely to consider the choices they are making when it is compared with
something as serious as death.
Sparks pulls of a moving and persuasive performance of his poem Hashtag America
that portrays him as a real individual voicing concerns of what he observes. Sparks believed he
had something important to say that people his own age needed to see and hear and chose to
spread it around the internet. He is successful in using elements such as body language, pace,
voice inflection, and videography to connect with his audience on an emotional level and to
hammer home his point in a way that is not offensive to his viewers.
Works Cited
About Us. Write Bloody Publishing. Write Bloody Publishing: American Made Poetry.
Web. 25 Sept. 2014.
Maricchiolo, Fridanna; Livi, Stefano; Bonaiuto, Marino; Gnisci, Augusto. Hand
Gestures and Perceived Influence in Small Group Interaction. The Spanish Journal of
Psychologly. 14.2 (2011): n. pag. Web. 12 Oct 2014.

Sparks, Alex. "2013 Write Bloody Submission Contest - Hashtag America." Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 5 May 2013. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.
Sparks, Alex. "Re: Question About Your Poem Hashtag America." Message to the
author. 29 Sept. 2014. E-mail.

Reflection: This assignment made me think about this poem in a way I havent
before. Alex Sparks easily convinced me of his message, but that may only have
been because I agree with him already. I never realized how much more thought
could go into a poem to convince people of a certain belief. The use of techniques
such as hand gestures and voice inflection are subconsciously absorbed and I dont
think a viewer really realizes the affect they have until they look as closely as I did
to write this paper. I always saw the words to be convincing the imagery,
repetition, sound but didnt consider the performance to be as powerful. I could
read this poem on paper and still be blown away and leave with Sparks message. I
really enjoyed getting the chance to realize that the performance can be just as
powerful.