answer to discussion prompt and then write reply to peer comments | Homework Helper

I’m working on a English exercise and need support.

Provide an analysis of this editorial media piece “The NFL Protests Are Patriotic” by John Legend.

• Audience
• Purpose
• Content
• Mood
• Style
• Structure

In addition to your main response, you must also post substantive responses to at least two of your classmates’ posts in this thread. Your response should include elements such as follow up questions, further exploration of topics from the initial post, or requests for further clarification or explanation on some points made by the classmates.

Comment 1

The article written by John Legend, calls for the masses and the government to act to bring change in the prison systems and police brutality. This is clearly done throughout the article as the author points out the importance of patriotism. The article is generally about the role played by protests in facilitating change in the American society. This clearly illustrated through the presentation of various protests. For instance the steelworkers and miners protest that changed the working conditions and improved wages of many Americans. The role of the NFL as such is taking that role in present society. Based on the tone used in writing down the article it is done in an enraged mood. The writer lament about how people claim to be patriotic yet fail to respect the ideals of the constitution. The mood reflects the need to act on social injustices to enhance the feeling of national identity. The writer has generally employed the use of various styles in order to clearly convey his message. He personifies the term “protest” by giving it human attributes as says that protest is patriotic. The use of rhetorical questions is employed in order to capture the attention of the general public. This meant to invoke the audience to try and decipher more about what is happening. The audience targeted by the article is the entire American population. This is considering that the article is calling for the end of police brutality as well as changes in criminal justice.

Comment 2

John Legend’s editorial about the NFL protests in Slate magazine included several literary devices to inform and persuade the audience. Slate publishes an online magazine that features commentary covering politics, tech, business and culture. They have large following encompassing people from various socio-economic backgrounds. I believe the targeted audience includes those interested in politics, civil rights activists, government officials, NFL supporters/affiliates and especially NFL players. The NFL is such a huge corporation that spans all over the world thus enabling this article to reach just about anyone. The purpose of the article is to inform the audience why some NFL players have been taking the knee and to also incite change and support for the protest. Legend’s language was very strong and deliberate as a tool to get his point across. He used terms such as “rabid Islamophobia” when describing President Trump to stir up feelings in the reader. The piece started out with a very aggressive attack on Donald Trump. Legend was giving his strong opinions of how Trump has allowed our national identity to deteriorate and how he violates the right of public protest. His intro paragraph set the tone for the rest of the article. His attitude towards the subject was felt as passionate, and assertive. It was clear there was bias with loaded language used as a technique. His informative style began with giving the history of how protests have made effective change for the greater good in the past. By providing the supporting evidence of past successful protests, he helped the reader see that social activism can lead us into a better future. He also used tools like similes to describe patriotism being a “form of a pledge-of-allegiance” and symbolism when saying “who has raised a fist”. Even though John Legend is a singer and not an athlete, he was successful in using his celebrity status to promote his most effective message that protesting IS a patriot act.