Author: andreaefthymiou

Why not kick off our first Monday afternoon of the fall semester with a Demi Lovato video?! As you watch Lovato’s “Sorry, Not Sorry,” think about what’s going on here. Who is the rhetor (or speaker) in this situation? Who is the intended audience? What is the purpose of this video? And what is its exigence (or urgency)?

Culturally, this video reads as an empowering anthem. Forbes writer Hugh McIntyre claims, “For any other singer, such boasting in the face of what sounds like a former, scorned lover might be obnoxious, but the pop singer has been very vocal about her struggles with self-confidence and her own mental health, so hearing this from her in a song is truly wonderful.” In other words, Lovato demonstrates that she can remain strong in the face of cultural pressure to always appear vulnerable.

In class together, we also considered how Lovato’s purpose, audience, and even her persona as rhetor change when the entire rhetorical situation changes. Notice how the boastful and dismissive tone of her video above is revised for Lovato’s performance of the same song at the American Music Awards:

What Lovato does in “Sorry, Not Sorry” actually isn’t that new. An example of this sort of pseudo-apology in classical rhetoric is Plato’s “Apology of Socrates.”

So what is an apology when it’s not an apology? And under what conditions does the purpose of such message change from being empowering to shirking responsibility?

IN-CLASS WRITING: Think of your past experiences with apologies. When have you given, or received, an apology that felt like a sorry-not-sorry, or pseudo-apology? Who was the rhetor (or speaker) of the apology? Who was the audience? What was the purpose of this apology? And what was its exigence (or why was it urgent)? Finally, were there any other affects of the apology that you want to share?

HOMEWORK: Listen to “Apology” on the podcast Still Processing by Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris (NOTE: this podcast aired in January 2019, so it refers to cultural events that were very contemporary at that time. Also, make sure you listen until the very last minute, because if you’re anything like me, you’ll cry.) Read Chapter 2 in Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students (ARCS). Post Blog Post 1! Revise your in-class writing to be a minimum of 500 words, integrating evidence from any of the assigned texts so far (Lovato, Plato, Wortham & Morris, ARCS). I also invite you bring in other contemporary cultural examples of apologies.