When I M Gone Rhetorical Analysis Essay

During this essay I will be describing how rappers use rhetorical appeals. Rappers throughout the hip hop genre use numerous different styles in their lyrical writing. I will be using Eminem’s song “When I’m Gone” as an example. I think this is a perfect example since he expresses a lot of feelings and talks about his life.

Ethos is presented all around this song, if you listen to the whole song by the end you would know that it’s just a dream he was having. Anyways he makes us believe that it’s actually happening. The song begins with him waking up in the morning, Hailie goes up to Eminem but he’s writing a song “Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gon' write itself.” During the song the day keeps passing and he has to catch a plane

but his daughter won’t let him leave. “She's piling boxes in front of the door trying to block it, Daddy please, Daddy don't leave, Daddy - no stop it!" Since he’s dreaming after that incident, he goes through the door but the door turns into a stage and he’s singing. At that time he was a best-selling artist and was also at the top his game. “And just as I go to walk out of my bedroom door it turns to a stage, they're gone, and this spotlight is on, and I'm singing.”
We can conclude at the end of the song that this song is actually about a dream, and this dream makes him realize how important his family really is. “That's when I wake up, alarm clock's ringin', there's birds singin” He wakes up from a nightmare to a beautiful sunny day. Glad that it’s over, he goes out back to spend some time with his family.
The argument in this Eminem song is his daughter realizing that he’s not a good dad.

He never has time for Hailie because he’s so focused on his music and always working, sometimes even ignoring her. "Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she? I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gon' write itself.” He tells Hailie that he’s not leaving no more, she says he’s lying, and Eminem swears he’s not for the last time: “Baby, Daddy ain't leaving no more, Daddy you're lying, You always say that, you always say this is the last time, But you ain't leaving no more, Daddy you're mine." And even after that he ends up leaving, Hailie is mad and sad because all she wants is her dad, “you told me that you weren't leaving you lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy sad.” He makes a metaphor by saying the walls were talking when it’s actually his conscience telling to do something before it’s too late, “These fuckin' walls must be talking, cause man I can hear 'em, They're saying ‘You've got one more chance to do right’ – and it's tonight, Now go out there and show that you love 'em before it's too late.” Eminem’s support of his argument is that it’s his life he’s talking about; no one knows his life better than him,

“Yeah
it's my life in my own words…”
Pathos is presented here from how much he loves his daughter.

He starts off by asking if you ever loved someone so much you would give an arm for: “Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?, Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?,” Even though “I will give my right arm” is a common expression to describe how you are willing to do anything to protect someone, Eminem means it literally, he has a picture of Hailie tattooed on his arm as if he has dedicated that arm to her. “When they know they're your heart and you know you were their armor, and you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her,” Eminem protects his daughter, his daughter is his emotional center and the person he wants to protect. It establishes that she’s the heart and he’s the armor. We can see that Eminem loves his daughter a lot but says that the crazy things he does aren’t done by him they are done by his crazy alter-ego ‘Slim Shady’. Also says that ‘Slim Shady’ is the reason of his fame and everything he has. “That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's crazy Shady made me…” But this song doesn’t come from the ‘Slim Shady’ perspective, this is the Real Marshall Mathers talking. Everything he talks about is honest and coming from deep down his heart, expressing a lot of

emotion.
Through the song a swing appears in every verse. In the first verse he doesn’t have time for it, in the second Eminem is pushing Haile but she shows how she’s unhappy about him leaving, and in the last verse the swing is like a final painting of a happy family. This shows how he actually is changing and it just took some time, but at the end it is accomplished and his life is better than before. This song is to show how much Eminem loves his daughter and would do anything in order for her to be happy, even if it means changing himself.
The audience for this can probably be anyone that has kids, it can make them realize that maybe they’re doing the same thing. Also this song can be towards an audience between ages 15-30, because some kids younger than that might not understand the message this song gives. I’m 18 and this song made my eyes watery the first time I heard and saw the music video, even then every time I listen to it