Gezi Protest Outline

 Intro

Attention getter: 8,000 people injured, and 11 people were killed in the early hours of May 31^st, 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. 15 days. That’s how long the protests went on, and what started as an environmentalist movement turned into a National Uprising against the government over the preservation of Gezi Park. (http://ow.ly/vmDH50ECZN0)

Thesis: The Gezi Park protests were an amazing demonstration of unity amongst people of extreme diversity, but they weren’t as successful as they could have been due to a change in their mission after the first police raids on the park.

Preview: I will be analyzing important imagery from the Gezi park protests in an effort to revel their rhetorical power for the cause of the movement. I will look first at the schemes and tropes of one source along with the devices from Pearlman’s book. Then I will look at my second source. After that I will tie it all together by an overarching rhetorical theory.

Credibility: After a long semester of studying rhetoric and thoroughly researching this movement, I am an expert in identifying rhetorical devices.

*Connective*

Body

Primary Source #1: Capulcu Park

·       Schemes and tropes

-          Enallage:  Intentional grammar misuse. = çapulcu was quickly appropriated to mean a person who fights for his or her democratic rights. They use this instead of the popular TV show name South Park.

-          Substitution- anthimeria: Substitution of one part of speech for another.= Using the word çapulcu instead of South.

·       P O-T

-          Premise:

Abstract- the believe that all Turkish activists will have the same definition of çapulcu and understand the reference to South Park

-          Premise Modifiers:

Enthymeme- those who participate in the protest are becoming icons, like those in South Park.

-          Argument Types:

Symbolic Liaison: Order/degree- how this movement correlates with the government.

Primary Source #2: Lady in Red

·       Schemes and tropes

Visual:

-          Color (saturation)- the purity or vividness or depth of a color. The dress is the accent piece of the tarp while the police are vivid.

-          Perspective (geometric)- an illusion of depth and space. Compared to the original image, with the use of a geometric shape (the pepper spray) they have made the woman look bigger than the police, which is also ironic.

-          Focus: (focalizers)- Are figures or colors or spaces used to pull the eye across the image? The woman is the focalizer, while the pepper spray makes your eyes drawn to the words.

·       P O-T

-          Premises:

Facts/Truth (Observed)- Concrete Data. The number of people that saw the original images of the Lady in red must understand the meaning behind their mew tapestry for their protest.

 

Values: (Specific)- "true for me" "good for you"- They believe that the tapestry they mad in "Memory of Resistance" is good enough to be a reason to end the violence and not have the park destroyed.

-          Premise Modifiers:

Presence (Aggregation)- by adding the words "Memory of Resistance" it adds new context to the image, but it also allows the viewer to decide on their own interpretation of the Lady In Red. Is she the symbol that will be remembered? Will the government always remember what they did, or will the protesters make sure they never forget?

Theory

The Burkean frames are abstract concepts that can be used in a very interesting form of rhetorical analysis. Heroic Framework

*Connective*

Conclusion

The Gezi Park protests were an amazing demonstration of unity amongst people of extreme diversity, but they weren’t as successful as they could have been due to a change in their mission after the first police raids on the park.

Successful or not? I believe the Gezi protest spirit still resonates with many people in Istanbul but I think it will take another controversy of a large scale for individuals to act again.