Ani DiFranco's "Self Evident" Analysis

Ani DiFranco’s poem “Self Evident” is a politically provocative work to say the least.  The speaker fights the status quo of what our culture thinks about 9/11 and its repercussions.  The speaker of the poem seemed to be someone who was in obvious anger over how America perceives the events of the infamous day. The speaker is someone who strongly believes that Americans are being fed some type of propaganda from the media and the government in order to satisfy its hunger for retribution on other nations. It’s like the creator sees mainstream America as slaves to our newscasters and presidents.

                I think this poem mainly appeals to Americans that don’t have strong ties with one of three things: the formal news media, George Bush, or the democracy of the time.  People that were Republicans for instance were probably pissed-off by the poem; the speaker was just so direct by saying that the election was a phony and that George Bush isn’t president.  The speaker would mostly appeal to Liberals and people in the middle of the political road the best. I think that the speaker is trying to get these people to feel angry and to take a stand against the supposed deceptions behind the media and the government about terrorism. I think the main reason for this stand is to get our troops out of Iraq and to not allow us to be fooled by “the man”.

The speaker at least uses two of the rhetorical appeals in the poem. Logos is displayed when the speaker uses facts about September 11^th. The poem as a whole appeals to pathos because most people get emotional when you just mention 9/11. There might be some ethos in there somewhere but I couldn’t find it. I don’t know if it’s effective or not. I mean, it’s nothing like we haven’t heard about this topic a thousand times before since 9/11. I bet this poem was made shortly after that day because then it would be effective many times over. The very fact that I’m reading this poem instead of hearing it probably dictates my view of it not be as effective as it could be. Hearing the voice of the speaker would help me truly gauge how he/she feels (I say “he” because the speaker might be male; the poem doesn’t specify).

This analysis compares to the other exercises in class for several reasons. Firstly, it was political. Secondly, I kept asking “why” when I was reading the poem to help with my own analysis. Thirdly, I found different elements of the poem that demonstrated two different types of rhetoric.

*NOTE: Sorry for using the term “The speaker” over and over. It’s just hard to find a decent pronoun for that.

Ideal Citizen on Facebook page

I decided to make my “ideal citizen” a Ms. Pepper Mint Patty, a senior lady from Tibet. I chose that name she always “has the sensation” of being on top of the world. Her father was stationed in Lhasa, China during World War Two where he met her mom. Pepper spent her younger years in an ancient Monastery. It was here where she learned to put others before herself and wanted to dedicate her life to doing just that. I thought that Pepper going to Florida State University would demonstrate her intellect. She majored in social work in order to help others: I guess growing up in a monastery didn’t impede on her people skills. She used to have a problem with being “too social” with some people in her college days and has several kids to show for it, but she’s cool with that because that makes her seem motherly.

I said that Pepper likes to play the piano and bingo because those seem like typical things that a woman her age would like to do. She is also Republican like her peers. She also likes to watch Matlock, listen to The Rat Pack, and loves the Pride and Prejudice movie featuring Colin Firth (she isn’t so crazy about the Keira Knightley version). Young kids looking to vandalize know not to mess with the block that Pepper lives on. She happens to be on the Neighborhood Watch and mastered three martial arts while in the monastery and know how to take care of business; she even killed a guy with her big toe. What makes Pepper so unique is that she also likes to watch True Life, listen to Kanye West, and loves the Spiderman Trilogy. This shows Pepper’s willingness to try new things and allows her to relate to those much younger than herself.

Pepper also has an ideal view on life. One of her favorite quotes is, “Never take life to seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.” She sure does live by those words seeing how she is an avid skydiver and performs standup comedy at the local comedy club. Her other favorite quote is, "We do not change as we get older; we just become more clearly ourselves." Pepper realizes that just because she is old doesn’t mean that she has to abandon her fun-loving self. That’s probably one of the most important things that make her such a model citizen.

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