Blog post 4

The languaging strategies in a social movement are based upon three factors: identification, polarization and power. All three of those are used to get a specific objective or goal using different types of language to the audience. Although the ideal objective is to persuade the audience to have your side, the languaging strategies may come off offensive to some people. The languaging tactics refer to a specific tactic such as how someone will go about on achieving their specific goals. Ways that people can go about using tactics in a social movement are slogans to persuade society to strengthen their movement, ridicule; the evil way of going about a social movement and even a song. To me, songs get my attention more than anything because of its ability to capture rhythm and feel apart of the song by singing it or even making a beat to it.

A song written by Alan Jackson called Where were you when the world stopped turning is written about the attacks of 9/11. As for myself, I am a huge country music fan and Alan Jackson’s rhythm and truth in this song made me feel an emotional appeal towards the events that happened on September 11^th. This song shows support towards its listeners and as Jackson says in the song, he is not a politician man but just a singer of “simple songs”. The language that Jackson uses shows the appeals of the listener. The song makes you think where you were when the attacks happened. Were you in shock? Were you in your yard with your family when you heard the news? Jackson asks how you felt when this happened. “Did you just shout in anger or did you sit down and cry” showing different emotional appeals that a person could have had when the attacks were made.  This song has power to catch the attention of a listener and even tells a story about what happened “on that September day”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr8VwYLcxGo