Lennon wrote his hit "Imagine" alongside his wife at the time, Yoko Ono. Prior to the song, Lennon had established extrinsic ethos through his public commentary on the Vietnam war and Christianity. He criticized our involvement in war, promoting world peace among all, and the overall belief system of the Christians, stating that it creates a division in mankind. Due to this, Lennon had a previous reputation for being radical. Additionally, the song itself perfectly embodies his views regarding religion and politics and demonstrates his reputation to the public. Lennon establishes intrinsic ethos within "Imagine" by stating that there are others with his same belief system, ultimately informing the listeners that his opinions are justified. Specifically, Lennon wrote, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us…" These lines were used to provide credibility for Lennon and demonstrate the true significance of his suggested ideas for mankind.
-Lea
You said that John Lennon establishes intrinsic ethos by asserting "he is not the only one". Simply stating that other people agree with one's ideology does not establish credibility. An extreme example of this would be Nazi Germany. Sure tons of people thought Jewish citizens were second class, since there are many with similar thoughts does it make the thought credible?
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of Lennon's views on the war and Christianity so I liked that you included this background information to support his extrinsic ethos. I do agree with Chase that you need a little more support for his intrinsic ethos. Overall, this was a solid post.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Lennon's message was towards the idea of a utopian world, although I do disagree with his idea that with this utopia, harmony would reign. I also like the use of all five parts of the stasis theory, as his proposal was to create a utopian society in response to the war occurring in his time.
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