{"id":516,"date":"2025-05-26T17:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T17:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=516"},"modified":"2025-09-07T12:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T12:43:11","slug":"ideological-criticism-rhetorical-artifacts-and-historical-context","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/chapter\/ideological-criticism-rhetorical-artifacts-and-historical-context\/","title":{"raw":"Ideological Criticism: Rhetorical Artifacts and Historical Context","rendered":"Ideological Criticism: Rhetorical Artifacts and Historical Context"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Chapter Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<p class=\"import-pf\">Students will:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify a rhetorical artifact suitable for ideological criticism.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Reconstruct the historical context for the rhetorical artifact.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 0pt;\">At the center of ideological criticism is ideology. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? Perhaps you associate it with ideas or beliefs, like those shared by a group. Maybe you think about the kinds of beliefs and values that drive extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan or Antifa. Or maybe your mind goes to the most recent political conflict between Democrats and Republicans as a clash of ideologies. Or perhaps you\u2019re simply unsure what to think.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In this chapter, we define an <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ideology<\/strong><\/span> as a set of shared beliefs and values that forms an interpretation of the world and suggests appropriate ways to act in it. We all adopt ideologies\u2014not just extremists or political actors. In fact, ideologies are so plentiful and common that we often overlook their influence in our everyday lives. That\u2019s where ideological criticism can be useful. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Ideological criticism<\/strong><\/span> is a method of rhetorical criticism that exposes the ideology communicated by a rhetorical artifact and interprets how the artifact uses the ideology to exercise power and control.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Ideological criticism aids democratic participation in several ways. It allows you to notice and think critically about communication. That includes recognizing how an artifact expands or contracts civil liberties. When you discover artifacts that restrict participation, ideological criticism provides you the ability to resist and even produce artifacts to counter that work. We\u2019ll more fully explain each of these benefits.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">First, by making ideologies visible in rhetorical artifacts, ideological criticism enables you to thoughtfully respond to such messages. Without conducting ideological analysis, you are less likely to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">notice<\/em><\/span> an artifact\u2019s ideological functions but just as likely to be <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">influenced<\/em><\/span> by them. Ideological criticism helps you recognize and investigate an artifact\u2019s ideological work.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_417\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-417\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361.png\" alt=\"Racist sign in a store window that says, &quot;We cater to white trade only&quot;\" width=\"375\" height=\"211\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Racist_sign,_Oregon.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Racist sign, Oregon<\/a> Oregon Historical Society via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Second, ideological criticism can illuminate how some artifacts communicate ideologies that limit democratic participation. For instance, a Black rhetor\u2014a speaker, singer, or public figure\u2014in the 1950s had few opportunities to participate civically due to the prevailing societal ideology of racial segregation (i.e., racism). That ideology was promoted in numerous artifacts at the time (films, novels, speeches, etc.). Consequently, ideological criticism can sensitize us to see which artifacts contribute to restricting some members of society from fully engaging in public life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_418\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-418\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362.png\" alt=\"Black protesters march while holding signs\" width=\"375\" height=\"256\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/demonstrators-walk-along-a-street-holding-signs-demanding-the-right-to-vote-and-equal-civil-rights-at-the-march-on-washington-U2F-bYmuEqU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March on Washington<\/a> by Unseen Histories via Unsplash, <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash License<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Finally, ideological criticism empowers the public to enact social change. We can resist artifacts that promote ideological messages that inhibit democracy. We can even produce our own rhetorical artifacts that communicate counterideologies that expand and strengthen democratic principles and enhance community engagement.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In this chapter, we will walk you through the first two steps of conducting an ideological critique of your own rhetorical artifact: identifying an appropriate artifact and reconstructing the artifact\u2019s historical context. The next chapter continues with three more steps: describing the artifact\u2019s ideological message, interpreting how the artifact uses the ideology to exercise power and control, and evaluating how the ideology strengthens or weakens democratic principles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.1 Ideological Criticism Steps<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Identify<\/strong><\/span> an appropriate <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">rhetorical artifact<\/span>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Reconstruct<\/strong> the artifact\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">historical context<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Describe<\/strong> the artifact\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ideological message<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Interpret<\/strong> how the artifact uses ideology to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">exercise power and control<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Evaluate<\/strong><\/span> how the artifact\u2019s ideology strengthens or weakens <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">democratic principles<\/span>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Identifying a Rhetorical Artifact<\/h1>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">The first step of ideological critique is to identify an appropriate rhetorical artifact. Recall from chapters 30 and 31 that a rhetorical artifact is an object of study in rhetorical criticism. It is a specific instance of rhetoric that was produced for an audience at a particular time.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Expressions of ideology pervade nearly every aspect of human society; they are present in our social and religious rituals, our political lives, our intellectual commitments, our economic choices, and our forms of entertainment. This means you might find rich artifacts among advertisements, popular music, social media posts, video games, or political cartoons\u2014just to name a few possibilities.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have found, though, that artifacts best served by ideological criticism tend to meet the criteria in box 34.2.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.2 Guidelines for Selecting an Artifact<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Uses <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">verbal<\/strong><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">nonverbal<\/strong><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">visual<\/strong><\/span>, or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audio<\/strong><\/span> symbols\u2014or a combination.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Elevates<\/strong><\/span> or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">challenges<\/strong><\/span> a common way of seeing the world.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Attempts to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">persuade<\/strong><\/span> an audience to live or act in a certain way.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>May be familiar to your audience, but your <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audience has not reflected on its ideological assumptions<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Uses Verbal, Nonverbal, Visual, and\/or Audio Symbols<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">An appropriate rhetorical artifact for ideological criticism can use any combination of verbal, nonverbal, visual, and audio symbols (movies, television episodes, songs, viral videos, commercials, etc.).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Elevates or Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">A second criterion to consider for ideological criticism is finding an artifact that elevates or challenges a common way of seeing the world (or both!). Let\u2019s briefly consider each possibility.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Elevates<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Many artifacts elevate widely held sets of values and beliefs. Sometimes that ideological work is hard to notice, however, because we\u2019ve become blind to it. Think, for example, of the video game that reinforces militarism or a music video that upholds heteronormativity. Push yourself to observe how everyday artifacts might promote ideological messages.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Challenges<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Some artifacts challenge common ways of seeing the world by calling them into question. These may be easier to notice because they \u201ccall out\u201d a widely held perspective, such as the example in box 34.3.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.3 An Artifact That Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2800\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2800\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--1024x1024.png\" alt=\"tv set picturing a sitcom living room\" width=\"375\" height=\"375\" \/> Image made using Google Gemini 2.5 Flash.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nHave you seen the pilot episode of AMC\u2019s 2021 television series <em>Kevin Can F**K Himself<\/em>? It first appears to be a typical sitcom: Kevin McRoberts and his friends are in a brightly lit living room where they tease his wife Allison while we hear canned laughter. However, when Allison leaves the living room, the show quickly becomes a disturbing drama. It focuses on Allison\u2019s pained expressions. It features an ominous soundtrack and dark lighting while using a single camera (as versus the traditional three-camera setup). If the pilot episode was your artifact, it would probably grab your attention! Its scenic contrasts seem to challenge the casual sexism encouraged by sitcoms when women are consistently the butt of the jokes.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Elevates and Challenges<\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Sometimes artifacts both elevate and resist common ways of seeing the world at once. Consider the example in box 34.4. Such artifacts can provide rich grounds for an ideological criticism, though you must recognize its multiple functions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.4 An Artifact That Elevates and Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2723\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2723\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c.jpg\" alt=\"red and blue Republican Elephant &amp; Democratic Donkey illustrations\" width=\"375\" height=\"188\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/donkeyhotey\/6262122778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republican Elephant &amp; Democratic Donkey<\/a> by DonkeyHotey via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nYou have likely seen advertisements for US political candidates that promote American patriotism while challenging the conservatism or liberalism of an opposing candidate. In these cases, a commonly held value (patriotism) is upheld, while a widely held set of beliefs (conservativism or liberalism) is called into question.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The bottom line is that the best choices for ideological criticism are artifacts that reinforce a widely accepted way of seeing the world, challenge that widely accepted way of seeing the world, or both.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Attempts to Persuade<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Additionally, identify an artifact that tries to persuade an audience to live and act in a certain way. Such persuasion might appear explicitly or implicitly. A political ad, for example, might<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">explicitly<\/em><\/span> critique liberalism by telling viewers the opponent is \u201ca liberal\u201d while writing that word across the screen in large, red letters or<\/li>\r\n \t<li>simultaneously promote patriotism <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implicitly<\/em><\/span> by showing the candidate dressed in red, white, and blue and standing beside waving American flags.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Steer away from artifacts that are informative or educational in purpose unless you can find implicit persuasive statements related to communal thought or action. Otherwise, you may become frustrated because you can find little about ideology to critique in the artifact.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Familiar but Not Reflected Upon<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Finally, you may find it particularly fruitful to look for an artifact you believe is familiar to your audience but that your audience has not yet reflected on its ideological assumptions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Perhaps the lyrics of your favorite rap musician are violent toward women, yet you see friends rapping along without thinking about what messages they are coming to view as normal.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Maybe you notice friends laughing at a particular Super Bowl commercial that presents a newer, more expansive view of masculinity. You might help them look past the humor to see what is compelling in the message.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The key idea is that it\u2019s likely your audience has missed these messages or given little thought or attention to them or the artifacts themselves.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.5 #IfTheyGunnedMeDown as a Rhetorical Artifact for Ideological Criticism<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAn example of an appropriate artifact emerged in the days and months following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed eighteen-year-old African American man in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Brown was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in a confrontation on a residential street that had few witnesses and no video footage.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In the days that followed the fatal shooting, tension emerged about how Michael Brown was portrayed in the media:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>His family and friends stressed he was a recent high school graduate and a good kid who was about to begin college classes.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Police spokespersons, however, released video footage that appeared to show Brown stealing cigars from a convenience store on the morning of his death, and they suggested he had physically attacked the police officer who shot him.[footnote]See, for example, Mark Berman and Wesley Lowery, \u201cPolice Say Michael Brown Was a Robbery Suspect, Identify Darren Wilson as Officer Who Shot Him,\u201d <em>Washington Post<\/em>, August 15, 2014, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2014\/08\/15\/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2014\/08\/15\/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Our rhetorical artifact is a Twitter (now X) campaign under the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown that was most immediately a response to a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId758\" href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">photo of Brown that NBC News tweeted the day after his shooting<\/span><\/a><\/span>.[footnote]NBC News (@NBCNews), \u201cUnarmed Missouri teen killed by officer after \u2018physical confrontation\u2019 nbcnews.to\/XaZEd1,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/NBCNews\/status\/498526729728565250. This post is archived at \u201cMichael Brown\u2019s Death\u2014Image #809, 359,\u201d Know Your Meme, <a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death<\/a>.[\/footnote] The photo portrayed Brown without a smile, in front of a brick building, with a hand gesture that some have said was a peace sign and others interpreted as a gang sign. In other words, in the photograph, Brown could be read as unfriendly and even aggressive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Corrected Link: Unarmed Missouri teen killed by officer after 'physical confrontation' <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/JITP7e9iJa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/t.co\/JITP7e9iJa<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/t4CNLdq6C4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/t4CNLdq6C4<\/a><\/p>\r\n\u2014 NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCNews\/status\/498526729728565250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 10, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">To protest this media representation of Brown, many Twitter (now X) users, particularly young people of color, started tweeting photographs of themselves under the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. They each posted pairs of photographs of themselves. One photo depicted the subject as partying, smoking, making an offensive hand signal, or looking at the camera in an especially provocative way. In the second photo, the same subject was shown in their military uniform, wearing their graduation cap and gown, caring for their children, smiling or looking friendly, or perhaps reading a story in an elementary classroom. The visual contrasts were striking, and they made powerful statements about the choices news outlets make when they select and publish photographs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Yes let's do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IfTheyGunnedMeDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Ng0pUlxWhr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Ng0pUlxWhr<\/a><\/p>\r\n\u2014 C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CJLawrenceEsq\/status\/498537843170353152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 10, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">These photo pairs tweeted for the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown social media campaign meet the criteria for an appropriate artifact for ideological criticism:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>They used <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">verbal and visual symbols<\/strong><\/span> by combining two photographs, the hashtag caption, and often a version of the question \u201cWhich picture would the media use?\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>They <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">challenged a common way of seeing the world<\/strong><\/span>, of viewing news photographs of Black people that are racially biased as unbiased reflections, while <strong>elevating another perspective<\/strong>, of the humanity of people of color.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>They clearly <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">attempted to persuade viewers<\/strong><\/span> to scrutinize more closely how people of color are represented by the media.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>For <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audiences who had not previously reflected on images like the one publicly shared of Brown<\/strong><\/span>, an ideological critique of the photo pairs would help listeners recognize and consider their ideological messaging.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Reconstructing the Historical Context<\/h1>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Once you have located a suitable artifact, the next step in ideological criticism is to reconstruct the artifact\u2019s historical context. The context helps you understand why the artifact looks and sounds the way it does, which will aid your analysis later. It assists you in recognizing how the artifact was a product of, as well as a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">participant<\/em><\/span> in, its time, place, and culture.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">To determine the artifact\u2019s historical context, find answers to the questions we established in chapter 31: who, why, what, to whom, when, and where? Use box 34.6 for guidance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.6 Questions to Ask About Historical Context<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Who<\/strong><\/span> was the rhetor for this artifact\u2014that is, the person or entity most invested in how the artifact looks, sounds, and was received by audiences? Is there anything compelling in the rhetor\u2019s biography that led to the creation of this artifact?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Why<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact created? What social, economic, or political realities prompted its creation? If there are earlier or historical references in the artifact, what connection might the rhetor have hoped audiences would see between the past and the artifact\u2019s present?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">What<\/strong><\/span> type of artifact was created? What were its major characteristics?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">To whom<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact addressed? What visual or textual clues in the artifact hint at the target, implied, and implicated audiences? Whom did it reach? Who was the direct audience, and were they discrete and\/or dispersed?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">When<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact\u2019s timing? That is, what date was it delivered, produced, or published, and what was occurring politically, socially, or economically that may have influenced audiences\u2019 response to the artifact? How did the artifact compare with or differ from similar types of artifacts that preceded it?<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Where<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact\u2019s location? In other words, what was the specific place it was delivered or disseminated, and\/or through what medium did it circulate?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWho?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image334-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"106.666666666667px\" height=\"106.666666666667px\" \/>Who was the rhetor for the artifact? In previous chapters about rhetorical criticism, we have defined the rhetor as the author(s) or creator(s) of the rhetorical artifact under examination. Depending on the artifact, the rhetor might be obvious. However, artifacts such as photographs, popular songs, video games, or television commercials can make the rhetor harder to pinpoint. Your rhetor may be the photographer, the songwriter, the production team, or the director, for instance. Who was most responsible for the rhetorical artifact\u2019s production?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.7 Rhetors of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown Posts<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe rhetors for the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown posts are the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Twitter <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">(now X) <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">users who posted<\/strong><\/span> pairs of photos of themselves. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId760\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"import-url-b\">C. J. Lawrence<\/strong><span class=\"import-url\"> sparked the trend<\/span><\/a><\/span> one day after Brown\u2019s death,[footnote]C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq), \u201cYes let\u2019s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/CJLawrenceEsq\/status\/498537843170353152, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE<\/a>.[\/footnote] but many more X users quickly followed his model.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Having said that, Lawrence\u2019s tweet caught on because it was retweeted by people with large followings, so it\u2019s possible to think of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">those who retweeted<\/strong><\/span>\u2014possibly while adding their own additional messages or photos\u2014as rhetors as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The question of \u201cwho\u201d the rhetor is can be potentially complicated if you choose social media artifacts, since audience members can resend posts and alter or comment on them (thus, creating a slightly different artifact). Ultimately, think of the rhetor as the person or entity most responsible for the artifact\u2019s creation and intending to influence others\u2019 thinking or behavior.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhy?\u201d and \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image337-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"97.7777427821522px\" height=\"97.7777427821522px\" \/>Second, answer \u201cwhy\u201d by looking for the specific social, economic, or political events that led to the creation or circulation of your rhetorical artifact. This is where you ask why the rhetor made the arguments they did in the ways they did. If possible, unearth the rhetor\u2019s goal. Third, answer \u201cwhat\u201d by clarifying what type of artifact the rhetor produced in response to the events that prompted it and by naming its major characteristics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.8 Prompts for, and an Account of, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Why:<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId761\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">In an interview<\/span><\/a><\/span> about #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, Lawrence\u2014who posted the original tweet\u2014explained his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">motivation<\/strong><\/span>: \u201cThe questions began to resonate in my mind that, how are people being convinced that the prey is the predator?\u2026And then I decided that it has to be directly attached to appearance. So I began to think about, what type of social commentary can be jarring to the extent that we can begin to challenge the narrative, that whether I look one way or the other, you cannot capture or embody who I am as a human being on a snapshot.\u2026The point was to disrupt people mentally.\u201d[footnote]Ethan Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later, and Just as Vital\u2014an Interview with Activist C. J. Lawrence,\u201d <em>Ethan Zuckerman <\/em>(blog), June 5, 2020, https:\/\/ethanzuckerman.com\/2020\/06\/05\/iftheygunnedmedown-six-years-later-and-just-as-vital-an-interview-with-activist-c-j-lawrence\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF<\/a>.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">What:<\/strong><\/span> Lawrence created the original social media post and uploaded it to his Twitter (now X) feed. In it, he paired two very different photographs of himself: In the first, he was speaking outdoors at a graduation ceremony with President Clinton laughing in the background. In the second photo, Lawrence was inside a house or apartment, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses while holding up what looks like a liquor bottle. Lawrence paired the photos with the caption, \u201cYes, let\u2019s do that. Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.\u201d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Answering \u201cwhat\u201d is much easier than explaining \u201cwhy\u201d an artifact was created. If you cannot find a credible source that explains the rhetor\u2019s goal, that\u2019s OK. Knowing the rhetor\u2019s goal is not necessary for ideological criticism. You can, instead, identify the social, economic, or political realities that may have motivated the artifact\u2019s production and circulation. For example, imagine we did not find the interview with Lawrence (highlighted in box 34.8) to identify his goal for #IfTheyGunnedMe Down. Without that, it would be fairly easy to conclude that the social and political contexts for the Twitter (now X) posts were established in reaction to Brown\u2019s death <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">and<\/em><\/span> the ensuing media coverage. Knowing why an artifact was produced can help you notice and later analyze rhetorical features chosen by the rhetor(s).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cTo Whom?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Third, consider who the audience was for the symbolic action. Recall in chapter 10 (and chapter 32) we differentiated the following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">direct audience<\/em><\/span> (those who are exposed to and attend to the rhetoric)<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image325-2.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"109.333333333333px\" height=\"109.333333333333px\" \/><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">target audience<\/em><\/span> (those the rhetor hopes to reach)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implied audience<\/em><\/span> (those who are represented in the message)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">i<\/em><em class=\"import-i\">mplicated audience<\/em><\/span> (those who will be affected by the message if it is successful)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">We also considered whether the audience is<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">discrete<\/em><\/span> (limited to those who show up for an event at a particular day and time) or<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">dispersed<\/em><\/span> (unlimited by location and\/or time).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">Researching and understanding audiences can help you later analyze how the artifact\u2019s ideological messaging might have functioned similarly or differently for each.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.9 Audiences for #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong>\r\n\r\nReturning to our artifact, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown posts were initially viewed by a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">dispersed<\/strong><\/span> audience of Twitter (now X) users. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId763\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">According to Lawrence<\/span><\/a><\/span>, it was fellow members of \u201cBlack Twitter\u201d\u2014a vibrant subset that communicates about race-centered issues\u2014who retweeted his post, causing it \u201cto catch a fire.\u201d[footnote]Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d[\/footnote] By the following day, the hashtag had been used so many times\u2014over 168,000[footnote]Tanzina Vega, \u201cShooting Spurs Hashtag Effort on Stereotypes,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em>, August 12, 2014, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/13\/us\/if-they-gunned-me-down-protest-on-twitter.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/13\/us\/if-they-gunned-me-down-protest-on-twitter.html<\/a>.[\/footnote]\u2014that a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId764\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Tumblr blog was created<\/span><\/a><\/span> to collect the tweets[footnote]\u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d Tumblr, August 11-12, 2014, https:\/\/iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU<\/a>.[\/footnote] and several major news organizations reported about the hashtag campaign.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_426\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"375\"]<img class=\"wp-image-426\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367.png\" alt=\"A pile of newspapers\" width=\"375\" height=\"231\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/62693815@N03\/6276688407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newspapers <\/a> by Jon S via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Consequently, while the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">target<\/strong><\/span> audience was Twitter (now X) users, the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">direct<\/strong><\/span> audience ultimately encompassed a much wider group of news media consumers and companies. Interestingly, this reach matched the posts\u2019 <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">implied<\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">implicated<\/strong><\/span> audiences: the news media (for selecting photographs of the subjects they report), news consumers (to become more aware of these choices), and Black Americans (who too often were depicted negatively by the news media).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image338-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"107.533333333333px\" height=\"107.533333333333px\" \/><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">The next step is to consider the artifact\u2019s timing. In chapter 32, we explained that timing includes both the specific date and time for the artifact and the time period in which the rhetoric was situated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>What date was the artifact produced, delivered, or published?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What was happening politically, socially, or economically that may have influenced how audiences responded to the artifact?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How did the artifact relate to similar types of artifacts that preceded it or to other types of commentary on the issue it addresses?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">Understanding how your artifact relates to a broader time period or history of similar artifacts can give you greater awareness of its ideological functions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.10 Timing of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBrown\u2019s death and NBC News\u2019s tweet with his photograph occurred on <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">August 9, 2013<\/strong><\/span>. The <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">next day<\/strong><\/span>, tweets using the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown first appeared.\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">However, we know that NBC\u2019s photograph did not appear in a historical vacuum. Media critics and civil rights activists have <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">long noted that the news media visually portray some <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">minorities\u2014and African American men in particular\u2014with a negative bias<\/strong><\/span>. Portrayals of violent or threatening men of color will sell news, this protest contends, and these negative portrayals, in turn, feed cultural perceptions of African American men as dangerous and untrustworthy.[footnote]For example, see Ronald L. Jackson, <em>Scripting the Black Masculine Body: Identity, Discourse, and Racial Politics in Popular Media<\/em> (Albany: SUNY Press, 2006); Kirk A. Johnson and Travis L. Dixon, \u201cChange and the Illusion of Change: Evolving Portrayals of Crime News and Blacks in a Major Market,\u201d <em>Howard Journal of Communications<\/em> 19, no. 2 (2008): 125\u2013143.[\/footnote] As a result, we as media consumers are much more likely to encounter images of African American men as criminals than as teachers, fathers, soldiers, or political leaders.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Given this long-running critique of media portrayals, some Twitter (now X) followers viewed the NBC News\u2013circulated photograph of Brown as yet another occasion where a mainstream news organization chose a threatening-looking photograph of an African American man when they could easily have chosen a photograph that showed Brown smiling or in his graduation cap and gown. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId765\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">As blogger P. J. Vogt wrote<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cA photo can be an argument, and the photo NBC News tweeted made a different argument than a more typical victim photo (at a graduation or at home) would have.\u201d[footnote]P. J. Vogt, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d <em>On the Media Blog<\/em>, August 11, 2014, https:\/\/www.onthemedia.org\/story\/if-they-gunned-me-down\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image340-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"111.066666666667px\" height=\"111.066666666667px\" \/>The final element of context to consider is the artifact\u2019s location. In chapter 32, we described location as including both\/either the specific place an artifact is delivered or disseminated and\/or the medium through which it circulates. The latter can help you determine whether the artifact reached its target audience and who its <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">unintended<\/em><\/span> audiences might have been. Is your artifact a confidential or classified document that was later leaked to the press? If it is a document or film, has it been translated into other languages? Is your artifact a video or internet meme that went viral?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Thinking about circulation will help you consider more fully how ideologies infiltrate cultures. You may begin to explain how certain beliefs or values come to be shared and widely held\u2014or how certain forms of resistance gain wide adherence\u2014when you identify how artifacts spread among groups.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Box 34.11 Location of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Twitter<\/strong><\/span> (now X) was the medium of communication for the original #IfTheyGunnedMeDown post. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId766\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">According to Lawrence<\/span><\/a><\/span>, who produced that post, two Black Twitter users with large followings quickly retweeted his post, which helped it go <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">viral<\/strong><\/span>.[footnote]Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d[\/footnote] After that, the tweets began appearing in <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">other social media<\/strong><\/span> (resulting in a devoted <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId767\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Tumblr blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>) and in many <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">news media reports<\/strong><\/span> about the campaign. Eventually several scholars <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">published research<\/strong><\/span> on the campaign, often including examples of tweets in their work.[footnote]For example, see Christopher R. Campbell, \u201c#IfTheyGunnedMeDown: Postmodern Media Criticism in a Post-Racial World,\u201d in <em>Race and Gender in Electronic Media: Content, Context, Culture<\/em>, ed. Rebecca Ann Lind (Routledge, 2017), 195\u2013212, <a href=\"https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.12657\/41387\/1\/9781138640108_oachapter12.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.12657\/41387\/1\/9781138640108_oachapter12.pdf<\/a>; Roni Jackson, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down and Criming While White: An Examination of Twitter Campaigns Through the Lens of Citizens\u2019 Media,\u201d <em>Cultural Studies \u2194 Critical Methodologies<\/em> 16, no. 3 (2016): 313\u201319, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1532708616634836\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1532708616634836<\/a>.[\/footnote] We can also include <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">this textbook<\/strong><\/span> as a location that is further disseminating the campaign and its original tweet!\r\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Consequently, while the original rhetor distributed his post on Twitter, it\u2014and the tweets that followed\u2014circulated and spread in ways and in places he probably could not have anticipated or imagined. What began as one man\u2019s post to resist racist depictions of African Americans by the news media resulted in a large and well-publicized protest campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">When you take time to research your artifact\u2019s historical context\u2014answering who, why, what, to whom, when, and where\u2014you gain important clues. You discover what contributed to the artifact\u2019s production and what it attempted to influence. These clues are invaluable as you describe, interpret, and evaluate the artifact to illuminate its ideological functions. We explain those next steps of ideological criticism in the following chapter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Summary<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<p class=\"import-paft\">As a method of criticism, ideological analysis seeks to understand how a range of rhetorical artifacts shape our understanding and use of ideologies. To provide such understanding, critics using ideological criticism must keep in mind the following concept and steps.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Ideology is a set of beliefs and values that forms an interpretation of the world and suggests appropriate ways to act in it.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>You begin by identifying a suitable rhetorical artifact. For ideological criticism, such an artifact uses verbal, nonverbal, visual, and\/or audio symbols; elevates or challenges a common way of seeing the world; attempts to persuade an audience to live or act in a certain way; and may be familiar to your audience, though they may not have reflected on its ideological assumptions.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>You then reconstruct the historical context for the artifact by discovering what audiences might have known about the rhetor, what prompted the artifact, the rhetor\u2019s likely goal(s), the type of artifact produced, the audience(s) for the artifact, and the artifact\u2019s location and timing.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Terms<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nideological criticism\r\nideology\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Review Questions<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>What is an ideology?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the characteristics that make a rhetorical artifact a good selection for ideological criticism.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Which aspects of an artifact\u2019s historical context should you discover?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Discussion Questions<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>What might be advantages and challenges of analyzing a rhetorical artifact that mostly uses visual symbols compared to verbal symbols? One that mostly uses audio or nonverbal symbols?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is it easier to find rhetorical artifacts that elevate or challenge common ways of seeing the world\u2014or those that do both simultaneously? What are examples of each?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are you comfortable conducting an ideological critique if you do not know the rhetor\u2019s goals for the artifact? Why or why not?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Chapter Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p class=\"import-pf\">Students will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify a rhetorical artifact suitable for ideological criticism.<\/li>\n<li>Reconstruct the historical context for the rhetorical artifact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 0pt;\">At the center of ideological criticism is ideology. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? Perhaps you associate it with ideas or beliefs, like those shared by a group. Maybe you think about the kinds of beliefs and values that drive extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan or Antifa. Or maybe your mind goes to the most recent political conflict between Democrats and Republicans as a clash of ideologies. Or perhaps you\u2019re simply unsure what to think.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In this chapter, we define an <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">ideology<\/strong><\/span> as a set of shared beliefs and values that forms an interpretation of the world and suggests appropriate ways to act in it. We all adopt ideologies\u2014not just extremists or political actors. In fact, ideologies are so plentiful and common that we often overlook their influence in our everyday lives. That\u2019s where ideological criticism can be useful. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Ideological criticism<\/strong><\/span> is a method of rhetorical criticism that exposes the ideology communicated by a rhetorical artifact and interprets how the artifact uses the ideology to exercise power and control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Ideological criticism aids democratic participation in several ways. It allows you to notice and think critically about communication. That includes recognizing how an artifact expands or contracts civil liberties. When you discover artifacts that restrict participation, ideological criticism provides you the ability to resist and even produce artifacts to counter that work. We\u2019ll more fully explain each of these benefits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">First, by making ideologies visible in rhetorical artifacts, ideological criticism enables you to thoughtfully respond to such messages. Without conducting ideological analysis, you are less likely to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">notice<\/em><\/span> an artifact\u2019s ideological functions but just as likely to be <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">influenced<\/em><\/span> by them. Ideological criticism helps you recognize and investigate an artifact\u2019s ideological work.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_417\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-417\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img class=\"wp-image-417\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361.png\" alt=\"Racist sign in a store window that says, &quot;We cater to white trade only&quot;\" width=\"375\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361.png 511w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361-65x37.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361-225x126.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image361-350x197.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-417\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Racist_sign,_Oregon.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Racist sign, Oregon<\/a> Oregon Historical Society via Wikimedia Commons, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/public-domain\/pdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Public Domain<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Second, ideological criticism can illuminate how some artifacts communicate ideologies that limit democratic participation. For instance, a Black rhetor\u2014a speaker, singer, or public figure\u2014in the 1950s had few opportunities to participate civically due to the prevailing societal ideology of racial segregation (i.e., racism). That ideology was promoted in numerous artifacts at the time (films, novels, speeches, etc.). Consequently, ideological criticism can sensitize us to see which artifacts contribute to restricting some members of society from fully engaging in public life.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_418\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-418\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-418\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362.png\" alt=\"Black protesters march while holding signs\" width=\"375\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362.png 603w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362-65x44.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362-225x153.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image362-350x239.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/demonstrators-walk-along-a-street-holding-signs-demanding-the-right-to-vote-and-equal-civil-rights-at-the-march-on-washington-U2F-bYmuEqU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March on Washington<\/a> by Unseen Histories via Unsplash, <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/license\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash License<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Finally, ideological criticism empowers the public to enact social change. We can resist artifacts that promote ideological messages that inhibit democracy. We can even produce our own rhetorical artifacts that communicate counterideologies that expand and strengthen democratic principles and enhance community engagement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In this chapter, we will walk you through the first two steps of conducting an ideological critique of your own rhetorical artifact: identifying an appropriate artifact and reconstructing the artifact\u2019s historical context. The next chapter continues with three more steps: describing the artifact\u2019s ideological message, interpreting how the artifact uses the ideology to exercise power and control, and evaluating how the ideology strengthens or weakens democratic principles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.1 Ideological Criticism Steps<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Identify<\/strong><\/span> an appropriate <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">rhetorical artifact<\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reconstruct<\/strong> the artifact\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">historical context<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Describe<\/strong> the artifact\u2019s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">ideological message<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Interpret<\/strong> how the artifact uses ideology to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\">exercise power and control<\/span><\/span>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Evaluate<\/strong><\/span> how the artifact\u2019s ideology strengthens or weakens <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">democratic principles<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Identifying a Rhetorical Artifact<\/h1>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">The first step of ideological critique is to identify an appropriate rhetorical artifact. Recall from chapters 30 and 31 that a rhetorical artifact is an object of study in rhetorical criticism. It is a specific instance of rhetoric that was produced for an audience at a particular time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Expressions of ideology pervade nearly every aspect of human society; they are present in our social and religious rituals, our political lives, our intellectual commitments, our economic choices, and our forms of entertainment. This means you might find rich artifacts among advertisements, popular music, social media posts, video games, or political cartoons\u2014just to name a few possibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">We have found, though, that artifacts best served by ideological criticism tend to meet the criteria in box 34.2.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.2 Guidelines for Selecting an Artifact<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Uses <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">verbal<\/strong><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">nonverbal<\/strong><\/span>, <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">visual<\/strong><\/span>, or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audio<\/strong><\/span> symbols\u2014or a combination.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Elevates<\/strong><\/span> or <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">challenges<\/strong><\/span> a common way of seeing the world.<\/li>\n<li>Attempts to <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">persuade<\/strong><\/span> an audience to live or act in a certain way.<\/li>\n<li>May be familiar to your audience, but your <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audience has not reflected on its ideological assumptions<\/strong><\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Uses Verbal, Nonverbal, Visual, and\/or Audio Symbols<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">An appropriate rhetorical artifact for ideological criticism can use any combination of verbal, nonverbal, visual, and audio symbols (movies, television episodes, songs, viral videos, commercials, etc.).<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Elevates or Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">A second criterion to consider for ideological criticism is finding an artifact that elevates or challenges a common way of seeing the world (or both!). Let\u2019s briefly consider each possibility.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Elevates<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Many artifacts elevate widely held sets of values and beliefs. Sometimes that ideological work is hard to notice, however, because we\u2019ve become blind to it. Think, for example, of the video game that reinforces militarism or a music video that upholds heteronormativity. Push yourself to observe how everyday artifacts might promote ideological messages.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Challenges<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Some artifacts challenge common ways of seeing the world by calling them into question. These may be easier to notice because they \u201ccall out\u201d a widely held perspective, such as the example in box 34.3.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.3 An Artifact That Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2800\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2800\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-2800\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--1024x1024.png\" alt=\"tv set picturing a sitcom living room\" width=\"375\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--65x65.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--225x225.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture--350x350.png 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/Chap-34-TV-set-picture-.png 2048w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2800\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image made using Google Gemini 2.5 Flash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Have you seen the pilot episode of AMC\u2019s 2021 television series <em>Kevin Can F**K Himself<\/em>? It first appears to be a typical sitcom: Kevin McRoberts and his friends are in a brightly lit living room where they tease his wife Allison while we hear canned laughter. However, when Allison leaves the living room, the show quickly becomes a disturbing drama. It focuses on Allison\u2019s pained expressions. It features an ominous soundtrack and dark lighting while using a single camera (as versus the traditional three-camera setup). If the pilot episode was your artifact, it would probably grab your attention! Its scenic contrasts seem to challenge the casual sexism encouraged by sitcoms when women are consistently the butt of the jokes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"import-ch\">Elevates and Challenges<\/h3>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Sometimes artifacts both elevate and resist common ways of seeing the world at once. Consider the example in box 34.4. Such artifacts can provide rich grounds for an ideological criticism, though you must recognize its multiple functions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.4 An Artifact That Elevates and Challenges a Common Way of Seeing the World<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2723\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2723\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-2723\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c.jpg\" alt=\"red and blue Republican Elephant &amp; Democratic Donkey illustrations\" width=\"375\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c.jpg 800w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c-65x33.jpg 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c-225x113.jpg 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/6262122778_997339a086_c-350x175.jpg 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2723\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/donkeyhotey\/6262122778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republican Elephant &amp; Democratic Donkey<\/a> by DonkeyHotey via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You have likely seen advertisements for US political candidates that promote American patriotism while challenging the conservatism or liberalism of an opposing candidate. In these cases, a commonly held value (patriotism) is upheld, while a widely held set of beliefs (conservativism or liberalism) is called into question.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The bottom line is that the best choices for ideological criticism are artifacts that reinforce a widely accepted way of seeing the world, challenge that widely accepted way of seeing the world, or both.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Attempts to Persuade<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Additionally, identify an artifact that tries to persuade an audience to live and act in a certain way. Such persuasion might appear explicitly or implicitly. A political ad, for example, might<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">explicitly<\/em><\/span> critique liberalism by telling viewers the opponent is \u201ca liberal\u201d while writing that word across the screen in large, red letters or<\/li>\n<li>simultaneously promote patriotism <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implicitly<\/em><\/span> by showing the candidate dressed in red, white, and blue and standing beside waving American flags.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Steer away from artifacts that are informative or educational in purpose unless you can find implicit persuasive statements related to communal thought or action. Otherwise, you may become frustrated because you can find little about ideology to critique in the artifact.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">Familiar but Not Reflected Upon<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Finally, you may find it particularly fruitful to look for an artifact you believe is familiar to your audience but that your audience has not yet reflected on its ideological assumptions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Perhaps the lyrics of your favorite rap musician are violent toward women, yet you see friends rapping along without thinking about what messages they are coming to view as normal.<\/li>\n<li>Maybe you notice friends laughing at a particular Super Bowl commercial that presents a newer, more expansive view of masculinity. You might help them look past the humor to see what is compelling in the message.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The key idea is that it\u2019s likely your audience has missed these messages or given little thought or attention to them or the artifacts themselves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.5 #IfTheyGunnedMeDown as a Rhetorical Artifact for Ideological Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An example of an appropriate artifact emerged in the days and months following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed eighteen-year-old African American man in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Brown was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in a confrontation on a residential street that had few witnesses and no video footage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">In the days that followed the fatal shooting, tension emerged about how Michael Brown was portrayed in the media:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>His family and friends stressed he was a recent high school graduate and a good kid who was about to begin college classes.<\/li>\n<li>Police spokespersons, however, released video footage that appeared to show Brown stealing cigars from a convenience store on the morning of his death, and they suggested he had physically attacked the police officer who shot him.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"See, for example, Mark Berman and Wesley Lowery, \u201cPolice Say Michael Brown Was a Robbery Suspect, Identify Darren Wilson as Officer Who Shot Him,\u201d Washington Post, August 15, 2014, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2014\/08\/15\/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown\/.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-1\" href=\"#footnote-516-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Our rhetorical artifact is a Twitter (now X) campaign under the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown that was most immediately a response to a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId758\" href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">photo of Brown that NBC News tweeted the day after his shooting<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"NBC News (@NBCNews), \u201cUnarmed Missouri teen killed by officer after \u2018physical confrontation\u2019 nbcnews.to\/XaZEd1,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/NBCNews\/status\/498526729728565250. This post is archived at \u201cMichael Brown\u2019s Death\u2014Image #809, 359,\u201d Know Your Meme, https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-2\" href=\"#footnote-516-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> The photo portrayed Brown without a smile, in front of a brick building, with a hand gesture that some have said was a peace sign and others interpreted as a gang sign. In other words, in the photograph, Brown could be read as unfriendly and even aggressive.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Corrected Link: Unarmed Missouri teen killed by officer after &#8216;physical confrontation&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/JITP7e9iJa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/t.co\/JITP7e9iJa<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/t4CNLdq6C4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/t4CNLdq6C4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCNews\/status\/498526729728565250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">To protest this media representation of Brown, many Twitter (now X) users, particularly young people of color, started tweeting photographs of themselves under the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. They each posted pairs of photographs of themselves. One photo depicted the subject as partying, smoking, making an offensive hand signal, or looking at the camera in an especially provocative way. In the second photo, the same subject was shown in their military uniform, wearing their graduation cap and gown, caring for their children, smiling or looking friendly, or perhaps reading a story in an elementary classroom. The visual contrasts were striking, and they made powerful statements about the choices news outlets make when they select and publish photographs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Yes let&#8217;s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IfTheyGunnedMeDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/Ng0pUlxWhr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Ng0pUlxWhr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CJLawrenceEsq\/status\/498537843170353152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">These photo pairs tweeted for the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown social media campaign meet the criteria for an appropriate artifact for ideological criticism:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They used <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">verbal and visual symbols<\/strong><\/span> by combining two photographs, the hashtag caption, and often a version of the question \u201cWhich picture would the media use?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>They <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">challenged a common way of seeing the world<\/strong><\/span>, of viewing news photographs of Black people that are racially biased as unbiased reflections, while <strong>elevating another perspective<\/strong>, of the humanity of people of color.<\/li>\n<li>They clearly <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">attempted to persuade viewers<\/strong><\/span> to scrutinize more closely how people of color are represented by the media.<\/li>\n<li>For <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">audiences who had not previously reflected on images like the one publicly shared of Brown<\/strong><\/span>, an ideological critique of the photo pairs would help listeners recognize and consider their ideological messaging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"import-ah\">Reconstructing the Historical Context<\/h1>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Once you have located a suitable artifact, the next step in ideological criticism is to reconstruct the artifact\u2019s historical context. The context helps you understand why the artifact looks and sounds the way it does, which will aid your analysis later. It assists you in recognizing how the artifact was a product of, as well as a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">participant<\/em><\/span> in, its time, place, and culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">To determine the artifact\u2019s historical context, find answers to the questions we established in chapter 31: who, why, what, to whom, when, and where? Use box 34.6 for guidance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.6 Questions to Ask About Historical Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Who<\/strong><\/span> was the rhetor for this artifact\u2014that is, the person or entity most invested in how the artifact looks, sounds, and was received by audiences? Is there anything compelling in the rhetor\u2019s biography that led to the creation of this artifact?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Why<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact created? What social, economic, or political realities prompted its creation? If there are earlier or historical references in the artifact, what connection might the rhetor have hoped audiences would see between the past and the artifact\u2019s present?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">What<\/strong><\/span> type of artifact was created? What were its major characteristics?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">To whom<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact addressed? What visual or textual clues in the artifact hint at the target, implied, and implicated audiences? Whom did it reach? Who was the direct audience, and were they discrete and\/or dispersed?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">When<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact\u2019s timing? That is, what date was it delivered, produced, or published, and what was occurring politically, socially, or economically that may have influenced audiences\u2019 response to the artifact? How did the artifact compare with or differ from similar types of artifacts that preceded it?<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Where<\/strong><\/span> was the artifact\u2019s location? In other words, what was the specific place it was delivered or disseminated, and\/or through what medium did it circulate?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWho?\u201d<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image334-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"106.666666666667px\" height=\"106.666666666667px\" \/>Who was the rhetor for the artifact? In previous chapters about rhetorical criticism, we have defined the rhetor as the author(s) or creator(s) of the rhetorical artifact under examination. Depending on the artifact, the rhetor might be obvious. However, artifacts such as photographs, popular songs, video games, or television commercials can make the rhetor harder to pinpoint. Your rhetor may be the photographer, the songwriter, the production team, or the director, for instance. Who was most responsible for the rhetorical artifact\u2019s production?<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.7 Rhetors of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The rhetors for the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown posts are the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Twitter <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">(now X) <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">users who posted<\/strong><\/span> pairs of photos of themselves. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId760\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"import-url-b\">C. J. Lawrence<\/strong><span class=\"import-url\"> sparked the trend<\/span><\/a><\/span> one day after Brown\u2019s death,<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq), \u201cYes let\u2019s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/CJLawrenceEsq\/status\/498537843170353152, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-3\" href=\"#footnote-516-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> but many more X users quickly followed his model.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Having said that, Lawrence\u2019s tweet caught on because it was retweeted by people with large followings, so it\u2019s possible to think of <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">those who retweeted<\/strong><\/span>\u2014possibly while adding their own additional messages or photos\u2014as rhetors as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">The question of \u201cwho\u201d the rhetor is can be potentially complicated if you choose social media artifacts, since audience members can resend posts and alter or comment on them (thus, creating a slightly different artifact). Ultimately, think of the rhetor as the person or entity most responsible for the artifact\u2019s creation and intending to influence others\u2019 thinking or behavior.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhy?\u201d and \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image337-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"97.7777427821522px\" height=\"97.7777427821522px\" \/>Second, answer \u201cwhy\u201d by looking for the specific social, economic, or political events that led to the creation or circulation of your rhetorical artifact. This is where you ask why the rhetor made the arguments they did in the ways they did. If possible, unearth the rhetor\u2019s goal. Third, answer \u201cwhat\u201d by clarifying what type of artifact the rhetor produced in response to the events that prompted it and by naming its major characteristics.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.8 Prompts for, and an Account of, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Why:<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId761\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">In an interview<\/span><\/a><\/span> about #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, Lawrence\u2014who posted the original tweet\u2014explained his <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">motivation<\/strong><\/span>: \u201cThe questions began to resonate in my mind that, how are people being convinced that the prey is the predator?\u2026And then I decided that it has to be directly attached to appearance. So I began to think about, what type of social commentary can be jarring to the extent that we can begin to challenge the narrative, that whether I look one way or the other, you cannot capture or embody who I am as a human being on a snapshot.\u2026The point was to disrupt people mentally.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ethan Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later, and Just as Vital\u2014an Interview with Activist C. J. Lawrence,\u201d Ethan Zuckerman (blog), June 5, 2020, https:\/\/ethanzuckerman.com\/2020\/06\/05\/iftheygunnedmedown-six-years-later-and-just-as-vital-an-interview-with-activist-c-j-lawrence\/, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-4\" href=\"#footnote-516-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">What:<\/strong><\/span> Lawrence created the original social media post and uploaded it to his Twitter (now X) feed. In it, he paired two very different photographs of himself: In the first, he was speaking outdoors at a graduation ceremony with President Clinton laughing in the background. In the second photo, Lawrence was inside a house or apartment, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses while holding up what looks like a liquor bottle. Lawrence paired the photos with the caption, \u201cYes, let\u2019s do that. Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Answering \u201cwhat\u201d is much easier than explaining \u201cwhy\u201d an artifact was created. If you cannot find a credible source that explains the rhetor\u2019s goal, that\u2019s OK. Knowing the rhetor\u2019s goal is not necessary for ideological criticism. You can, instead, identify the social, economic, or political realities that may have motivated the artifact\u2019s production and circulation. For example, imagine we did not find the interview with Lawrence (highlighted in box 34.8) to identify his goal for #IfTheyGunnedMe Down. Without that, it would be fairly easy to conclude that the social and political contexts for the Twitter (now X) posts were established in reaction to Brown\u2019s death <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">and<\/em><\/span> the ensuing media coverage. Knowing why an artifact was produced can help you notice and later analyze rhetorical features chosen by the rhetor(s).<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cTo Whom?\u201d<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">Third, consider who the audience was for the symbolic action. Recall in chapter 10 (and chapter 32) we differentiated the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">direct audience<\/em><\/span> (those who are exposed to and attend to the rhetoric)<img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image325-2.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"109.333333333333px\" height=\"109.333333333333px\" \/><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">target audience<\/em><\/span> (those the rhetor hopes to reach)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">implied audience<\/em><\/span> (those who are represented in the message)<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">i<\/em><em class=\"import-i\">mplicated audience<\/em><\/span> (those who will be affected by the message if it is successful)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">We also considered whether the audience is<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">discrete<\/em><\/span> (limited to those who show up for an event at a particular day and time) or<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">dispersed<\/em><\/span> (unlimited by location and\/or time).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">Researching and understanding audiences can help you later analyze how the artifact\u2019s ideological messaging might have functioned similarly or differently for each.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.9 Audiences for #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Returning to our artifact, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown posts were initially viewed by a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">dispersed<\/strong><\/span> audience of Twitter (now X) users. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId763\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">According to Lawrence<\/span><\/a><\/span>, it was fellow members of \u201cBlack Twitter\u201d\u2014a vibrant subset that communicates about race-centered issues\u2014who retweeted his post, causing it \u201cto catch a fire.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d\" id=\"return-footnote-516-5\" href=\"#footnote-516-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a> By the following day, the hashtag had been used so many times\u2014over 168,000<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Tanzina Vega, \u201cShooting Spurs Hashtag Effort on Stereotypes,\u201d New York Times, August 12, 2014, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/13\/us\/if-they-gunned-me-down-protest-on-twitter.html.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-6\" href=\"#footnote-516-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u2014that a <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId764\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Tumblr blog was created<\/span><\/a><\/span> to collect the tweets<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"\u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d Tumblr, August 11-12, 2014, https:\/\/iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com\/, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-7\" href=\"#footnote-516-7\" aria-label=\"Footnote 7\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[7]<\/sup><\/a> and several major news organizations reported about the hashtag campaign.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-426\" style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img class=\"wp-image-426\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367.png\" alt=\"A pile of newspapers\" width=\"375\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367.png 399w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367-65x40.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367-225x139.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image367-350x216.png 350w\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/62693815@N03\/6276688407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Newspapers <\/a> by Jon S via Flickr, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CC BY<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Consequently, while the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">target<\/strong><\/span> audience was Twitter (now X) users, the <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">direct<\/strong><\/span> audience ultimately encompassed a much wider group of news media consumers and companies. Interestingly, this reach matched the posts\u2019 <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">implied<\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">implicated<\/strong><\/span> audiences: the news media (for selecting photographs of the subjects they report), news consumers (to become more aware of these choices), and Black Americans (who too often were depicted negatively by the news media).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image338-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"107.533333333333px\" height=\"107.533333333333px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\">The next step is to consider the artifact\u2019s timing. In chapter 32, we explained that timing includes both the specific date and time for the artifact and the time period in which the rhetoric was situated.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What date was the artifact produced, delivered, or published?<\/li>\n<li>What was happening politically, socially, or economically that may have influenced how audiences responded to the artifact?<\/li>\n<li>How did the artifact relate to similar types of artifacts that preceded it or to other types of commentary on the issue it addresses?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-pcon\">Understanding how your artifact relates to a broader time period or history of similar artifacts can give you greater awareness of its ideological functions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.10 Timing of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brown\u2019s death and NBC News\u2019s tweet with his photograph occurred on <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">August 9, 2013<\/strong><\/span>. The <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">next day<\/strong><\/span>, tweets using the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown first appeared.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">However, we know that NBC\u2019s photograph did not appear in a historical vacuum. Media critics and civil rights activists have <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">long noted that the news media visually portray some <\/strong><strong class=\"import-b\">minorities\u2014and African American men in particular\u2014with a negative bias<\/strong><\/span>. Portrayals of violent or threatening men of color will sell news, this protest contends, and these negative portrayals, in turn, feed cultural perceptions of African American men as dangerous and untrustworthy.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"For example, see Ronald L. Jackson, Scripting the Black Masculine Body: Identity, Discourse, and Racial Politics in Popular Media (Albany: SUNY Press, 2006); Kirk A. Johnson and Travis L. Dixon, \u201cChange and the Illusion of Change: Evolving Portrayals of Crime News and Blacks in a Major Market,\u201d Howard Journal of Communications 19, no. 2 (2008): 125\u2013143.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-8\" href=\"#footnote-516-8\" aria-label=\"Footnote 8\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[8]<\/sup><\/a> As a result, we as media consumers are much more likely to encounter images of African American men as criminals than as teachers, fathers, soldiers, or political leaders.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Given this long-running critique of media portrayals, some Twitter (now X) followers viewed the NBC News\u2013circulated photograph of Brown as yet another occasion where a mainstream news organization chose a threatening-looking photograph of an African American man when they could easily have chosen a photograph that showed Brown smiling or in his graduation cap and gown. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId765\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">As blogger P. J. Vogt wrote<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cA photo can be an argument, and the photo NBC News tweeted made a different argument than a more typical victim photo (at a graduation or at home) would have.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"P. J. Vogt, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d On the Media Blog, August 11, 2014, https:\/\/www.onthemedia.org\/story\/if-they-gunned-me-down\/, archived at https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-9\" href=\"#footnote-516-9\" aria-label=\"Footnote 9\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"import-bh\">\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-paft\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2025\/05\/image340-1.png\" alt=\"image\" width=\"111.066666666667px\" height=\"111.066666666667px\" \/>The final element of context to consider is the artifact\u2019s location. In chapter 32, we described location as including both\/either the specific place an artifact is delivered or disseminated and\/or the medium through which it circulates. The latter can help you determine whether the artifact reached its target audience and who its <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><em class=\"import-i\">unintended<\/em><\/span> audiences might have been. Is your artifact a confidential or classified document that was later leaked to the press? If it is a document or film, has it been translated into other languages? Is your artifact a video or internet meme that went viral?<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Thinking about circulation will help you consider more fully how ideologies infiltrate cultures. You may begin to explain how certain beliefs or values come to be shared and widely held\u2014or how certain forms of resistance gain wide adherence\u2014when you identify how artifacts spread among groups.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Box 34.11 Location of #IfTheyGunnedMeDown<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">Twitter<\/strong><\/span> (now X) was the medium of communication for the original #IfTheyGunnedMeDown post. <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId766\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">According to Lawrence<\/span><\/a><\/span>, who produced that post, two Black Twitter users with large followings quickly retweeted his post, which helped it go <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">viral<\/strong><\/span>.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d\" id=\"return-footnote-516-10\" href=\"#footnote-516-10\" aria-label=\"Footnote 10\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[10]<\/sup><\/a> After that, the tweets began appearing in <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">other social media<\/strong><\/span> (resulting in a devoted <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><a class=\"rId767\" href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"import-url\">Tumblr blog<\/span><\/a><\/span>) and in many <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">news media reports<\/strong><\/span> about the campaign. Eventually several scholars <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">published research<\/strong><\/span> on the campaign, often including examples of tweets in their work.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"For example, see Christopher R. Campbell, \u201c#IfTheyGunnedMeDown: Postmodern Media Criticism in a Post-Racial World,\u201d in Race and Gender in Electronic Media: Content, Context, Culture, ed. Rebecca Ann Lind (Routledge, 2017), 195\u2013212, https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.12657\/41387\/1\/9781138640108_oachapter12.pdf; Roni Jackson, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down and Criming While White: An Examination of Twitter Campaigns Through the Lens of Citizens\u2019 Media,\u201d Cultural Studies \u2194 Critical Methodologies 16, no. 3 (2016): 313\u201319, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1532708616634836.\" id=\"return-footnote-516-11\" href=\"#footnote-516-11\" aria-label=\"Footnote 11\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[11]<\/sup><\/a> We can also include <span style=\"border: none windowtext 0pt; padding: 0;\"><strong class=\"import-b\">this textbook<\/strong><\/span> as a location that is further disseminating the campaign and its original tweet!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">Consequently, while the original rhetor distributed his post on Twitter, it\u2014and the tweets that followed\u2014circulated and spread in ways and in places he probably could not have anticipated or imagined. What began as one man\u2019s post to resist racist depictions of African Americans by the news media resulted in a large and well-publicized protest campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"import-p\" style=\"text-indent: 36pt;\">When you take time to research your artifact\u2019s historical context\u2014answering who, why, what, to whom, when, and where\u2014you gain important clues. You discover what contributed to the artifact\u2019s production and what it attempted to influence. These clues are invaluable as you describe, interpret, and evaluate the artifact to illuminate its ideological functions. We explain those next steps of ideological criticism in the following chapter.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Summary<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p class=\"import-paft\">As a method of criticism, ideological analysis seeks to understand how a range of rhetorical artifacts shape our understanding and use of ideologies. To provide such understanding, critics using ideological criticism must keep in mind the following concept and steps.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ideology is a set of beliefs and values that forms an interpretation of the world and suggests appropriate ways to act in it.<\/li>\n<li>You begin by identifying a suitable rhetorical artifact. For ideological criticism, such an artifact uses verbal, nonverbal, visual, and\/or audio symbols; elevates or challenges a common way of seeing the world; attempts to persuade an audience to live or act in a certain way; and may be familiar to your audience, though they may not have reflected on its ideological assumptions.<\/li>\n<li>You then reconstruct the historical context for the artifact by discovering what audiences might have known about the rhetor, what prompted the artifact, the rhetor\u2019s likely goal(s), the type of artifact produced, the audience(s) for the artifact, and the artifact\u2019s location and timing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Terms<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>ideological criticism<br \/>\nideology<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Review Questions<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ol>\n<li>What is an ideology?<\/li>\n<li>Describe the characteristics that make a rhetorical artifact a good selection for ideological criticism.<\/li>\n<li>Which aspects of an artifact\u2019s historical context should you discover?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--examples\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Discussion Questions<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ol>\n<li>What might be advantages and challenges of analyzing a rhetorical artifact that mostly uses visual symbols compared to verbal symbols? One that mostly uses audio or nonverbal symbols?<\/li>\n<li>Is it easier to find rhetorical artifacts that elevate or challenge common ways of seeing the world\u2014or those that do both simultaneously? What are examples of each?<\/li>\n<li>Are you comfortable conducting an ideological critique if you do not know the rhetor\u2019s goals for the artifact? Why or why not?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-516-1\">See, for example, Mark Berman and Wesley Lowery, \u201cPolice Say Michael Brown Was a Robbery Suspect, Identify Darren Wilson as Officer Who Shot Him,\u201d <em>Washington Post<\/em>, August 15, 2014, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2014\/08\/15\/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2014\/08\/15\/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown\/<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-2\">NBC News (@NBCNews), \u201cUnarmed Missouri teen killed by officer after \u2018physical confrontation\u2019 nbcnews.to\/XaZEd1,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/NBCNews\/status\/498526729728565250. This post is archived at \u201cMichael Brown\u2019s Death\u2014Image #809, 359,\u201d Know Your Meme, <a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/photos\/809359-michael-browns-death<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-3\">C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq), \u201cYes let\u2019s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown,\u201d Twitter (now X), August 10, 2014, https:\/\/x.com\/CJLawrenceEsq\/status\/498537843170353152, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/2GHV-NNGE<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-4\">Ethan Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later, and Just as Vital\u2014an Interview with Activist C. J. Lawrence,\u201d <em>Ethan Zuckerman <\/em>(blog), June 5, 2020, https:\/\/ethanzuckerman.com\/2020\/06\/05\/iftheygunnedmedown-six-years-later-and-just-as-vital-an-interview-with-activist-c-j-lawrence\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/Z7RC-AMVF<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-5\">Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-6\">Tanzina Vega, \u201cShooting Spurs Hashtag Effort on Stereotypes,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em>, August 12, 2014, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/13\/us\/if-they-gunned-me-down-protest-on-twitter.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/08\/13\/us\/if-they-gunned-me-down-protest-on-twitter.html<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-7\">\u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d Tumblr, August 11-12, 2014, https:\/\/iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/2SC5-N9QU<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-7\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 7\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-8\">For example, see Ronald L. Jackson, <em>Scripting the Black Masculine Body: Identity, Discourse, and Racial Politics in Popular Media<\/em> (Albany: SUNY Press, 2006); Kirk A. Johnson and Travis L. Dixon, \u201cChange and the Illusion of Change: Evolving Portrayals of Crime News and Blacks in a Major Market,\u201d <em>Howard Journal of Communications<\/em> 19, no. 2 (2008): 125\u2013143. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-8\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 8\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-9\">P. J. Vogt, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down,\u201d <em>On the Media Blog<\/em>, August 11, 2014, https:\/\/www.onthemedia.org\/story\/if-they-gunned-me-down\/, archived at <a href=\"https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/perma.cc\/MC3G-MTMW<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-9\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 9\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-10\">Zuckerman, \u201c#iftheygunnedmedown Six Years Later.\u201d <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-10\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 10\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-516-11\">For example, see Christopher R. Campbell, \u201c#IfTheyGunnedMeDown: Postmodern Media Criticism in a Post-Racial World,\u201d in <em>Race and Gender in Electronic Media: Content, Context, Culture<\/em>, ed. Rebecca Ann Lind (Routledge, 2017), 195\u2013212, <a href=\"https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.12657\/41387\/1\/9781138640108_oachapter12.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/library.oapen.org\/bitstream\/handle\/20.500.12657\/41387\/1\/9781138640108_oachapter12.pdf<\/a>; Roni Jackson, \u201cIf They Gunned Me Down and Criming While White: An Examination of Twitter Campaigns Through the Lens of Citizens\u2019 Media,\u201d <em>Cultural Studies \u2194 Critical Methodologies<\/em> 16, no. 3 (2016): 313\u201319, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1532708616634836\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1532708616634836<\/a>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-516-11\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 11\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"menu_order":34,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3272,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/516\/revisions\/3272"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/516\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=516"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=516"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/publicspeakinganddemocraticparticipation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}