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James Vinson

Professor Maple

ENG 101-03

24 September 2018

Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical appeals are devices used to make arguments more persuasive by appealing to

emotions, character, values and reason. The devices are split into 3, including: Ethos- a writer’s

ethics; Logos- reasoning and logic; Pathos- the appeal to emotion. In this paper, two songs and

their corresponding video will be analyzed and compared to demonstrate which is more

successful at showing the rhetorical appeals. The two songs discussed are I’m Sorry by Joyner

Lucas and Lost Ones by J. Cole. I’m Sorry is more successful at showing rhetorical appeals

through its great lyricism and music video to capture the raw emotions of those affected by

mental illness and the impact of suicide on loved ones.

In the song and video for Lost Ones, J. Cole addresses the controversial topic of abortion

by demonstrating the conversation between a young couple that are currently in a pregnancy

situation. The purpose of this song and video is to show the hardships of an unplanned pregnancy

and the hard possibility of abortion. The video is based on a conversation between a couple

where the female wants to keep the baby and the male doesn’t. The song also tackles the topic of

love. Love is a topic discussed because the child was made through lust and not love. The target

audience of this video is for the people that have gone through or are currently in the situation

that is being shown throughout the video and music. The song and video both work well to show

rhetorical appeals to the viewer and listeners.

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In the video, it begins by showing a strong element of pathos by showing the teary face of

the pregnant woman. Just by showing her face, the emotion of the song plus the combination of

the beat itself sets the feeling of this art. You will sympathize for her before knowing the topic of

the song or even her side of the argument. Her feelings will later be understood through the

lyrical conversation. This conversation features if the couple should keep and raise the child or

have an abortion. Many elements of this video attribute to pathos such as the lighting of the

video. The blue/cool tone of the video, plus a splash of warmth creates a more emotional

environment for this video. The actions of the two throughout the video creates more of a

dynamic also, in particular, the subtle things like the reaction the two have for what is being said.

The changes in the tone of the lyrics helps you feel when they are angry, sad or calm. The

scenery of the child playing on the playground as the father watches and eventually leaves

without saying a word creates such an impactful feeling that corresponds with the lyrics.

The logos in this song is that the couple is young and are not ready to have and provide

for a child, so they are debating on what they should do. Logos is shown in his line, “I refuse to

bring my boy or my girl in this world when I ain’t got shit to give ‘em….” He is supporting his

argument that they should get an abortion. He also says, “So, girl, you gotta think about how the

options weigh out. What’s the way out?” He says this to support his previous statement about

how he is barely over twenty and that they don’t have a place to live to raise and a child by

themselves. His argument for the abortion is simple, they are not ready for a child yet. On the

other hand, she is not willing to have an abortion and she wants to keep the baby. She states

many valid points. However, the most impactful thing she said included the guy’s very own life.

She involves how his father left him and his mother at a very young age and that he is practically

doing the same thing. This line alone had created more of a neutral argument where the man
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wanted an abortion but then again did not. Back to the topic of love, the lyrics address the fact

that he had only loved her physically but did not love her emotionally. He does not see her as

wife material, adding on to his reasonings for a possible abortion.

Although J. Cole did not go through this himself, he had stated that this has happened to a

close friend of his. This gives him credibility for this song and addresses ethos since he is writing

the story of his friend. In the video, ethos is also shown. It is shown in his line “Man, if that bitch

really pregnant, tell her to get a abortion, but what about your seed….”. This line shows that

even though they are at a conflict with if they should or should not keep the baby, he does not

want to lose his unborn child. This contributes to his ethics about his childhood and actually

wanting the baby. Another example is when the girl says “Tryna take away a life, is you God,

mothafucka?!”. This shows that he doesn’t have the authority himself to make that decision, it is

only God who can decide that.

In the song and video for I’m Sorry, Joyner Lucas discusses two other controversial

topics which are suicide and mental illness. In this song, Lucas shows the feelings of a man up

until he commits suicide and the results of his actions on his friend. This song is also a true story

that had happened between Lucas and his friend. The purpose of this song and video is to show

the affects of suicide and mental illness and the impact it had on Lucas himself. The target

audience is for those who are contemplating suicide and for the people who have lost someone

due to suicide. Many rhetorical appeals are shown in the song and video.

In this video and song, they both hit you emotionally from the start. The song itself, the

mournful hums of the beat produces a somber environment for the listener. On the other hand,

the video starts by showing a peaceful scenery, then pans over to a man in his house about to

hang himself. This hits you right away and already sets the mood of the video. These are
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examples of pathos already in the few beginning seconds of the piece. In this video, strong

emotions are created such as anger for the sharpened tones of the lyricist, sadness from the tears

and motions of the actors and many more. The viewer will feel nothing but sadness and shock,

especially when the man is shown kicking the chair from underneath his feet. The director of this

video hits the viewer hard when we see the man shoot himself in the head and Joyner turn around

from the blow of the gun only to view the spot his friend had killed himself at. This strikes

sadness on the viewers like a match being ignited. Many more examples of pathos are shown

throughout the video such as the sorrow and anger Joyner has during the funeral.

The logos in this piece is depicted through two different perspectives, Joyner and his

friend’s. The friend’s logic is that he is too depressed to the point that he does not want to live

anymore. His reasoning for committing suicide is shown in many lines such as “ But I’m

depressed as fuck, stressed as fuck. Ain’t no medicine that could cure what’s the test as drugs. I

mean, I need extra love and that ain’t even enough…”. This quote is pretty self-explanatory for

his reasoning to kill himself. Another line is “ I’ve been suicidal since the day I was nine, shit.

Okay, the day I was nine I’ve been tired of being bullied, couldn’t stay out the fire.”. This line

addresses both logos since he has been suicidal from that young of an age and also addressed

pathos since you feel sympathy since he’s been wanting to kill himself since he was 9. From

Joyner’s perspective, it shows that even though his friend was depressed, he was still praying for

him to be happy and that he is saddened he killed himself. This is shown when he says “ I hope

you got what you wanted. I hope you finally happy, it’s too late for you. Been going out of my

mind, you don’t know how many times that I done prayed for you.”. Joyner shows he is upset

about his decision and that he is grieving by his line “I hate the fact you think the world is better

off without you and my mind’s spinning, this is the line finish. Truth is, I don’t care how you feel
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about my feelings and I’d be lying to you if I told you I’m fine.”. Throughout the song, many

lines show their true emotions about what is happening.

As for ethos, Joyner Lucas is very creditable since this is what has happened in his life.

Ethos is also shown in the video since he is playing himself and doesn’t have an actor portraying

his emotions. His friend’s ethics are also shown. The man knows that suicide is not the answer to

his problems, however he just cannot deal with his feelings anymore. This is shown through the

main chorus of the song “Just make sure you tell my family it’s okay, I’m sorry. But it’s too late,

I’m Sorry.”. Another touch is that at the end of the video, he includes the suicide prevention

number for anyone who is feeling that way.

For the two songs and their corresponding videos it is hard to compare the two since they

are two completely different topics. However, they both do a great job conveying their message

and are great songs in general. In both, you are given many rhetorical appeals that make them

good videos from the visuals to the actual lyrics itself. They do a great job at getting the viewers

and listeners to feel how they want them to feel. Although the video for Lost Ones is very good,

I’m Sorry had conveyed rhetorical appeals in a better fashion. There is more credibility to Joyner

since this is his actual story. He does a better job engaging the viewers and showing the people’s

raw emotions. This song helps the general viewers more than Lost Ones helps it’s viewers.

Joyner had stated on a Facebook comment “I hope this video gave you some closure and perhaps

a new perspective on suicide.”. Between the two I’m Sorry has the better rhetorical appeals.
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Works Cited

“J. Cole- Lost Ones (Video).” YouTube, uploaded by J. Cole, 25 October 2011,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vQ_VsTkn0.

“Joyner Lucas- I’m Sorry (508) 507-2209.” YouTube, uploaded by Joyner Lucas, 12 August

2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjKbw1Cqpt0.