RA#3

          American culture is easy to deem as a globally adopted by countries across the world. This topic was addressed by Todd Gitlin, a published author, in his article "Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co." where he describes the ways in which American culture is influencing and infiltrating into other societies on an international level. Throughout his writing Gitlin is using varying writing techniques to persuade his directed audience of his point.

Gitlin's purpose in writing this was to persuade his intended audience to agree with his claim. In this article he is claiming that American culture has become a global influence to countries everywhere, so much so that in fact there is hardly a place you can go that some form of American culture has not reached. The intended audience is a broad one, ranging from the every day person in America not realizing what an influence their culture has on an international level, to someone who does live in another country but never has given much thought to the foreign imprint on their own culture.

This was written in more of a casual way, though very organized and thoughtful the word choice was simply enough that it would be an easy read of an engaging topic, just what Gitlin needed to hold the reader long enough to persuade them of his point. At the beginning it was more formal with many fact and evidence given to the reader early on to validate the claim, which Gitlin restated many times throughout, but from there became more interesting to the reader with examples that though may not be backed by evidence paint a picture for the reader to help convince them. 

         Gitlin uses general persuasive techniques, those classified by Aristotle, to win over the reader so that they might also agree with his point. Logos is used to give his audience facts so that his argument seems well backed and valid. This was easy to see as he mentioned, "In 1999 in fact, film, television, music, radio, advertising, print publishing and computer software were the top export, almost $80 billion worth"(825). This piece of verifiable evidence backed up Gitlin's claim that American culture is in fact so popular with other countries that the revenue from such is vastly convincing of the international phenomenon of our culture.  Ethos was yet another rhetoric appeal used by Gitlin with his mentioning of American culture affects a begrudging France, "Less well know, and rarely acknowledged by the French, is the fact that terminator 2 sold 5 million tickets in France the month it opened"(825). This is factual evidence that is given context, with this example his point is backed up not only by fact but by giving the reader an example of his claim. Lastly he incorporated pathos to give that emotional appeal to the reader, for these rhetoric appeals are at their strongest when used in conjunction to one another, exemplified by his writing while speaking of a tribe of Tungusians living by the Arctic Sea, "In a community store sits a grandfather with his grandchild on his knee. Grandfather dressed in traditional Tungusian clothing. Grandson has on his head a revered baseball cap."(826). This story may not be factual but appeals to the readers while triggering an emotional response. All these persuasion methods used with a certain juxtaposition making for a convincing argument. 

         A prominent method used to develop Gitlin's claim was his use of exemplification which was used many times throughout. By giving the reader examples of what he claims was happening, instead of overloading them with facts, the reader is able to see on a broader scale of what he really means. In one case he has so many examples he simply lists them for the reader, "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Bob Dylan, Micheal Jackson, Madonna, Clint Eastwood, the multicolored chorus of Coca-Cola, and the next flavor of the month or the universe..."(826). This was the most commonly used method of development throughout the reading. 

       The article "Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse&Co." is such a persuasive piece to read due the Gitlin's constant integration of rhetoric and developmental process in this writing coupled with the restating of this claim throughout. Due to all these properties of his writing the reader is easily convinced of the integration of American culture internationally in the world today.