Audience and Neo-Aristotelian Analysis

October 2, 2022

 Audience Analysis: An Analysis of Hispanic Californian Voters in the 2020 Election

-

An analysis of Hispanic Voters in the 2020 election, one of the most divided elections our lifetime. Description of this election and voter population comes from Univisión Communications, Inc. In this election between Democratic candidate Biden and Republican Donald Trump, we see an increase in the number of hispanic voters, as well as claiming a 3% increase in total voter turnout; 2018 saw Hispanics claiming 23% of the voter turnout, versus 26% only two years later. Of this 26%,  39% were aged 18-24, only a single percentage difference from the prior election. A majority of Hispanic voters in California leaned towards Biden, with 32% claiming Democratic Party affiliation, and 17% claiming Republican. 26% claimed independent. Though these numbers seem relatively far apart, younger voters made up a large portion of Democratic-leaning voters, while older generations made up a larger portion of Republican leaning Hispanics. 

This is indicative of the different mindsets brought about during this election, and with the addition of younger and older generations usually disagreeing on certain points, polarization and division was only much more increased. During this election, people found it much more important to state their opinion and 'stand by one side', mostly defending their side of arguments with passion. For Hispanics, the decision of Biden versus Trump among family and friends lead to plenty of fallout among family and friends. Specifically, some of the most polarizing arguments surrounded topics such as abortion, immigration, migrant treatment, citizenship, and of course, the border wall. Many more people felt the need to make their presence and opinions known and heard in this election. 

During this election, I remember the feeling of shock when finding out so many of my family members had voted for Trump, as well as hearing their various reasons and rational for why they leaned Republican. Despite having family born in Mexico and coming to America, some spoke out for the need for proper immigration as well as the need for a border wall, as well as shrugging off the various issues people might be facing in their places of origin. Because of the polarizing opinions, I felt the need to alienate myself for a bit from some family as well as time away from media all together; the rifts that were apparent in my family were pertinent and poignant to majority of families in the state.

Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of Harvard Psychologist Dan Gilbert's TED Talk: The Psychology of your Future Self

Link to TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_the_psychology_of_your_future_self

Context

-Rhetor: Dr. Dan Gilbert, Harvard Psychologist. Known for his humorous but intellectual conversations about human happiness and what we believe will get us there. 

-Occasion: TED Talk. This was a recorded talk that was saved amongst a catalog of other talks from Gilbert on similar topics. 

-Audience: TED Talk Audience. The audience is engaging with Gilbert's jokes and points of interest, and paid close attention to what the Rhetor has to say. 

Cannons

-Invention/Arguments: The support provided for his arguments are graphs and statistics, as well as research provided by himself. His visual appeal, with witty and silly images and graphical evidence, helps to give credibility to his argument. He uses ethos to gain audience support, with graphs showing similar plotting numerous times to drive home the point of how humans believe their lives change over time, versus the reality of what how they actually change. 

-Organization: Gilbert's organization is: Regrettable decisions, graphic and research analysis, supporting details and statistics, supporting arguments, conclusion. Gilbert's organization of starting with points focused on how humans currently see their future and providing context after the fact is important for people to really understand how we think and what to change. 

-Style/Language: Articulate and well-spoken language, and uses humor and witty images and comparisons to lighten the mood and make the topic easier to grasp. 

-Memory: Spoke from the moment, was not memorized in total but rather the  themes overall. 

-Delivery: Gilbert talks quickly but is very articulate. He always looks up at the audience, using his hands to exaggerate feelings when necessary. He uses language that can be widely understood, and is thought provoking in his details. 

Effects

The speech itself was well informed and well delivered. Gilbert's light-heartedness and use of imagery plays a crucial part in getting and keeping audience attention, and makes psychology more relatable by focusing on content that is most relevant to anyone of any age. He does this by asking this question; "But what is the name of this magical point in life where change suddenly goes from a gallop to a crawl? Is it teenage years? Is it middle age? Is it old age? The answer, it turns out, for most people, is now, wherever now happens to be." His arguments are easy to understand and are made very easy to be supported. 

My Opinion on Neo-Aristotelianism 

 - There is a lot that can be understood from using this method of speech analysis. It is general in terms of what is being looked at, but provides plenty in terms of what is important. 

- The problem, then, is it does not fully dive into the picture or the content itself, which is the basis of why the speaker is speaking in the first place. 

-Overall, Neo-Aristotelian Analysis is a good means of a beginning analysis, but still requires a bit more to fill in what is missing.