A Rhetorical Analysis of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

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2019-06-17
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en
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The United States is the number one incarcerator in the world. The system of mass incarceration disproportionally targets colored people. America is no longer incarcerating individuals, but whole social groups. In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that mass incarceration is not a system of public safety but a racial caste system. Her book attracted the attention of many Americans by becoming a success nationwide. This thesis serves as a rhetorical analysis of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2010).The goal of this thesis is to examine in what ways rhetoric and rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, logos, the Toulmin model, strategic framing, metaphors, and the ‘New Jim Crow’ analogy have strengthened Alexander’s main argument. An analysis of the above-mentioned theories reveals how Alexander herself makes ample use of these rhetorical devices to persuade her readers of her argument. Moreover, it was found that framing, metaphors, and analogies are extremely powerful tools to persuade people.
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