Author's Note Final Draft

This is the final draft of my paper. I like this draft because of the way the the analysis of each article builds on the next. The analysis covers and builds on all appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) and is thorough. This draft is the result of the progression from thorough research to the selection of good sources and making sure they support the controlling argument of the case study to the development to expanding on this argument through the analysis of the rhetoric used in the sources. Overall I feel this is a solid draft and I hope reading it proves to be informative.

Author's Note

Author’s Note

1. This is the third draft of this paper.

2. I like this piece because it deals with a topic that interests me a great deal. I am worried about this piece because I don’t want it to sound too much like a research paper and not like a rhetorical analysis.

3. Please note if the transitions between sources are not smooth.

Development of Rhetorical Case Study

This draft is definitely more in-depth than the previous drafts. There is more explanation of each article and parenthetical citation as needed for these explanations. Also, this draft contains a great deal more analysis of each source and identification of the rhetorical devices used by each writer. Now, it reads – I hope – more like a rhetorical analysis and less like a research paper.

Also, it was necessary to dig for the correct ways to cite my electronic sources – especially the interview. MLA is constantly updating itself; however, sometimes the updates answers how to cite the source in the bibliography and not in the paper itself, or visa versa. It’s all a bit tedious and time consuming, sometimes more than writing the paper itself.

The effect of the record industry's decline on the local community

The record industry's old model collapsing impacts TCU students and Fort Worth residents in several ways. Due to the sharp decline in record sales and profits record labels are reticent to sign and develop new talent which is obviously detrimental to local musicians. However, musicians are not the only ones feeling the effects of falling album sales; local music retailers are suffering and in many cases barely staying afloat. Both major chains and mom and pop stores are having a hard time selling music in a format (CDs)that is quickly becoming irrelevant to our generation. In some cases stores are forced to close their doors which affects college students who work at these stores. There is another issue that correlates with the industry's decline that hits close to home with college students, piracy. The collapse of the record industry's collapse is tied directly to piracy, and a large portion of the music pirated is pirated by college students. If the record industry does not find some way to fight this then it is only a matter of time before the coming of the end.

Author's Note rhetorical case study

This is the first draft of my rhetorical case study. I know there are a few places where things need to be clarified, and that I need more analysis to go with the examples given. I am mostly concerned with my citations and whether they were done correctly, but the ratio of analysis to summary is also a concern.

Preparation of body sections

When writing my body sections and analyzing the rhetorical strategies used by the authors, the first thing that caught my attention was the differences in strategies employed by the authors who focused on the topic from the industries' perspective and those focused on the artists' perspective. The most obvious difference was that the authors focused on the industry tended to us pathos and logos to persuade the reader and the authors focused on the artists tended to focus mostly on ethos. This reinforces what I expected to find when researching the topic most music journalists look at the issue as record company bad, musicians good.

How my perspective on this topic has delveloped through researching and analyzing my sources

Prior to researching and analyzing my topic, I already had a solid understanding of my subject; however up until now I never quite realized how far album sales of have dropped. Through analyzing my sources I have come to look at the subject from other angles other than: record company bad, musicians good. When looking at the topic from the perspective of those in the industry you start to think about how many salaries are being paid through album sales (it's not just those execs who are dependent on the success of the products they are putting out) which in turn makes you think about all the music that is being pirated. More importantly through the analysis of my sources I have been able to find strong common threads running through all the sources despite the different angles the sources are coming from.

Research Experience

After extensive research on the library databases and the interweb I was able to find some good primary resources for paper. My topic is the collapse of the record industry and it's effects on musicians and record store owners. At first I was going to focus my paper solely on the effects it had on local musicians and store owners; however, I soon realized that if narrowed my topic to that extent I would mostly be relying on dated articles and personal interviews. So naturally I decided to focus on the effects the collapse is having on larger bands and major record chains as well as those closer to home.

My sources cover the topic from two perspectives. One perspective is that of the industry insiders and the other from the musicians or record store owners. Most of the sources present both perspectives at some point in the article which is emphasized depends on the source. The sources that are national publications tend to focus on the industry first and those effected second whereas the sources from local media outlets tend to focus mostly on those effected.

Rhetorical Analysis Proposal

My proposal for my rhetorical analysis will deal with the collapse of the traditional record industry. The effects of downloading music and its easy access online have had a negative effect on the traditional model of how the record industry functions.

I plan on developing my ideas through the evaluation of interviews with store owners, local bands, and current record sales statistics as primary sources. In addition, I will be able to utilize current articles and reviews as secondary sources.

This subject interests me because I’ve always had an interest and knowledge of music, and I’ve never looked at this subject within my own community. Major chains are always closing, but you never hear about the effects on our local “Mom and Pop” stores or the bands in this area. I hope to broaden my perspective and perhaps shed some light on an important issue stemming from these tough economic times.