Rhetorical Analysis Of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gill Scott-Heron was a witty spoken word for not only the black community but for the white community as well. This spoken word emphasized some of the problems in “White America” without actually saying anything about it. Scott-Heron used metaphorical speech to make African-Americans think and really understand the current state of the country. This tool of metaphors can be very useful when trying to catch the attention of such a broad audience. The message of the spoken word was for but not limited to African-Americans, which overall was telling them to open their eyes. Scott-Heron was telling his community to pay attention to what is going on around them and to not be consumed by the television. When Scott-Heron says “You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out”, he wants them to know that the time of running away from your problems is over and that they must truly face what is happening in America. Scott-Heron even mentions the perception of Black America on the television shown when stating “Pushing that shopping cart down …show more content…

He tries to foreshadow the actions of his community in the lines “black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day.” This line shows that Scott-Heron’s community is finally tired of the treatment of blacks and wants to do something about it. He encourages his people to not take this spoken word likely by saying “The revolution will be no re-run brothers, the revolution will be live.” This shows that the revolution is happening right now and you won’t have another chance to say that you did something about it. Scott-Heron wants his people to cut off the distraction which is the television and get out into the streets and demand a change for the people who have suffered long