April 14, 2017

There are many articles on the Internet that either support or object to the protests held on Presidents Day. An interesting observation about the two articles that I have found in my search is how they persuade their intended audience. Both articles opened my eyes to differing viewpoints about the “Not My President Day” rallies and if the rallies were a success or just complete failures.    

The first article in my search discussed how the “Not My President Day” rallies dishonored Presidents Day. This article persuades the reader that Presidents Day is an honorable day.  The article states that during the Great Depression Presidents Day reassured the nation all would be okay. The reader is lead to believe that Presidents Day honors the leaders that inspire us through good and bad times. The next persuasive effort that is used in this article is the transition to the second paragraph. The author reflects on the important past of Presidents Day and transports the reader to present day showing how times differ. The reader is convinced that Presidents Day is now disgraced. Another persuasive tactic wants to separate the anti-Trump population for the rest of the American population. The author claims that these protesters are just a group demonstrating their dislike for Trump. This article would offend non-Trump supporters but encourage Trump supporters showing that this article is right leaning. The article then expands on all protests that have occurred during and after the Trump election in a belittling way. This is persuasive to a reader because the author is not just saying these specific protests are unsuccessful but also the whole anti-Trump movement in general is a failure.

            The next article that I discovered was a right leaning piece that supported the “Not My Presidents Day” protests with an interesting use of language. This article described the protests as an “artistic resistance to the Trump administration”.  A reader can relate to this catching statement, therefore making it persuasive. This article does not only target anti-Trump supporters; it targets anti-Trump supporters who are artists, musicians, and musicians. This is an interesting persuasive technique because the author is not just targeting the general group but a specific group within the ant-Trump population. The article persuades other artists to join the movement by explaining how the protests help people express their feelings through art. Finally another persuasive technique found in the article and many other right leaning articles is to encourage various groups to join in the Presidents Day rallies by communicating the various rallies locations. If a person reading this piece feels inspired they are one click away from joining the anti-Trump movement.

            Both of these articles differ in their viewpoint about the protests that were held on Presidents Day and use interesting techniques to persuade. The main point of the first article was not only were Americans disgracing their current president in addition to the President Day holiday in general. In the second article the author persuades the reader by targeting a specific group in the general anti-Trump population. Both of these articles did an exceptional job in persuading their target audiences.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/not-my-president-rallies-dishonor-presidents-day/article/2615320
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/02/16/not-my-presidents-day-artists-and-performers-resist-trump-feb-20-events

            There are numerous conflicting opinions across the nation and on social media when it comes to Donald Trump being elected as president.  Recently, anti-Trump activists seized the President‘s day holiday to organize “Not My Presidents Day” rallies in cities around the country. In the past, this holiday has always been a designated day to celebrate our past and present presidents.

            In the leftwing leaning blog entitled “How to Celebrate “Not My President’s” Day” the author is trying to appeal to a more liberal viewpoint in multiple ways. First, the blog title implies that the article will provide insight to the reader on how to celebrate “Not My President’s Day”.  In addition having a comedic visual of former President Obama and Joe Biden also appeals to liberal Americans by further highlighting the former administration lack of support for President Trump during the election. Also this visual’s underlying message conveys President Obama’s continued lack of support for Donald Trump. Therefore it is assumed that Obama supporters will not support President Trump as well.

            Social Media now plays a key role in politics but for this specific rally it was a major tool. The blog previously highlighted states the specific name of the Facebook group where people can go to gain more information on the rallies. This persuasive technique influences anti-Trump readers to visit the “Not My President’s Day” page, research the rallies on this Facebook page, and then possibly compelling the reader to partake in a local rally. The Facebook group inspires unity for all rally participants and clearly states rally locations.

            In contrast, “Limbaugh: ‘Not My President’s Day’ Protests an Abject Failure” is a right leaning blog site. The first sentence of this article states that the “Not My President’s Day” protests were a failure. People who have more conservative views and who did not partake or support the rallies will be convinced that the protests failed.  The use of statistics is a persuasive technique utilized greatly by the author.  Limbaugh explains although that the headlines claimed that thousands of people rallied, the actual  break down of protesters by each city show points out that each rally individually only had about seven hundred participants.  These hard facts further sway the reader because the numbers illustrate concrete evidence that the rallies were actually relatively small in size. 

            Once again social media is employed as a compelling persuasive tool to influence a person’s point of view. The blog site inserts the actual radio broadcast so the reader can hear Limbaugh’s passionate vocalizations along with actual videos of the rallies. However the only the comments featured are made by Trump supporters. The article acknowledges that “Yes there was a crowd of people rallying” but that not everyone there was supporting the rallies. The viewer is persuaded to believe that in the numbers not all of the people present were against Trump. This point further accent the fact that rally supporter numbers were actually small in size.  At the end of the article there is two buttons present, so that in one click the reader can share this article to Facebook or Twitter therefore making this blog easy to be shared and communicated.

            Each of the articles discussed have different viewpoints and employed social media to communicate information about the rallies that were held on President’s Day. Both of these articles used persuasive techniques to influence their target audiences. Ultimately, the media plays a huge part in getting both sides of the issue out to the public. There has been numerous protests for and against Donald Trump however the “Not My President’s Day” rallies are particularly interesting and depending upon your viewpoint can be viewed differently.

Blog 1: "Not My President's Day"

            Every year, on the third Monday in February the nation comes together to honor our past and present presidents.  This year due to the election of Donald Trump as President, the day took on an unusual meaning with the holiday being labeled “Not My President’s Day”.  Rallies were held in more than two-dozen cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Many participants carried signs reading “Not My President” and “Resist” while chanting, “No Ban, No Wall”. Protesters were expressing their discontent for the President’s un-built wall on the Mexican border and his executive order on travel by immigrants.

             On my search about this event I came across an article that targeted anti- Trump supporters. This article begins with the sentiment, “If it’s one thing President Trump has done in his short time in office, its change they way millions of Americans enjoy what was once leisure time.” So from the start, this article is already has a negative attitude about President Trump. The author of this article is using tactics that evoke strong feelings towards our new president. The article talked about a “Not My President’s Day” Facebook page that was created showing unity among anti-Trump supporters.  The blog also uses a picture from a tweet of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden saying, “We’re cancelling President’s Day”.  This visual image suggests that if you supported Obama than you should be against Donald Trump. The article later lists every location of every rally being held on President’s Day. Ultimately this article used the appeal of being a part of a group. The Facebook groups and visuals of Barack Obama, are utilized to entice the reader to want to be a part of this group.

            In contrast the article titled, “Not My President’s Day Protests an Abject Failure” communicates a different perspective about the rallies being held around the country. The article title clearly expresses the author’s view that the rallies are a failure in contrast to the first article which regards the rallies as successful. The demographic audience is geared towards Trump supporters and protestors that are seeing no success in their efforts. The article looks down upon the hype of the rallies stating that the over zealousness of news stories are leading readers astray. Many headlines about the rallies stated, “Thousands of Demonstrators Across U.S. Say‘s Not My President’” but the article illustrates that in each city there was only a small number of protestors. This tactic shows that the rallies did not have as huge of an impact as the public was lead to believe. For example, in Washington, D.C. only about 700 people marched against Donald Trump. When the numbers are broken down, 700 people marching seem like less of an impact than thousands. The number of the anti-Trump extremist, according to the blog, is dwindling down. The author explains that the public will grow tired of rejecting President Trump by learning to accept his policies. The author believes that ultimately the protests are not going to affecting Donald Trump’s presidency. The author uses fear and compliancy to urge protesters to give up.

            The two articles highlighted about the President’s Day rallies clearly exhibit two different opinions. It is up to the reader to decide which article is more compelling. 

Sources: How to Celebrate. (2017, February 19). Retrieved February 23, 2017, from https://www.good.is/articles/not-my-presidents-day-calendar

20170, J. P. (2017, February 21). Limbaugh: 'Not My President's Day' Protests an 'Abject Failure' Retrieved February 24, 2017, from http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/02/21/limbaugh-not-presidents-day-protests-abject-failure/