Analysis 2- Going against the Norm

Eight teenagers come together for one reason, because they love to sing. Each one of them come from different clicks’ in their high school and they have nothing in common with each other expect for the passion of singing on a stage. Their eyes are exaggerated and filled with their hopes and dreams of one day becoming stars. They work extremely hard to try and win their high school competition but their dreams are shattered because they all look “different”. left to right; Rachael the superstar of the group is not shy about telling the members that they need to step their game up to compete with her. Finn, the football quarterback went against his team to join the group because he loves to sing and gets daily shushes on his head because of it. Quinn the president of the celibacy club joined the group because she thought her boyfriend liked Rachael and needed to put a stop to it. Oh ya and she’s pregnant by Finn’s best friend Puck. Puck the heartthrob and bad boy of the group joined the group so he can meet hot moms. Kurt who considers himself one of the girls has a major crush on Finn and has the best style sense out of everyone and isn’t afraid to tell them. Artie the sweet one in the wheelchair like Tina the Goth in the group. He overcame the odds of being the only one in a wheelchair in a singing group. Tina is the soft spoken Goth who fakes a stutter so she doesn’t have to do public speaking in class. Last is the soulful Mercedes who doesn’t want to become the “Kelly” from Destiny’s child because she’s not a backup singer. All of these extremely different teenagers come together to change stereotypes and fight the odds of being know as the “losers” in school. They are fighting to do what they love when most people are scared to be themselves and go against the norm.


Semiotic Analysis

This photographic has eighth signifiers, the teenagers. They are the focal point of the picture and you are drawn to them automatically. All of the signifiers have a common signified. Meaning that the internal image that comes to mind when we see or hear these words, is the same concept that everyone else sees. My creative narrative based on this photograph above was written by looking at the elements of the picture. The characters are very animated so they stand out even more because of all the color in the picture. Subconsciously I wrote this teenage singing story using the signified concepts I received mentally when I looked at the four signifiers


works cited

Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.

Analysis 1- "Stay broke then"

One of the most influential classical theorists in Western culture is Aristotle. He states that it is necessary to “understand your interlocutor’s” biases, motivations and personal history. The three main devices that Aristotle uses that applies to my you tube clip is Logos, Pathos and Ethos. Aristotle was always intrigued by poetry and this musical clip reminds me of that because he stated that “poetry describes the characters and action.” The musical In the Heights has catharsis throughout it. The audience is captured by the emotional plot and is left pondering at the end. It creates positive emotion in the people and shows moral purification which is what Aristotle had in mind when discussing poetry.

The audience can see pathos throughout the entire musical. The main character is trying to make a better life for himself and is telling the audience that everyone struggles. Anyone can relate to that so that draws them in and they are engaged the whole time.




This musical has the most important aspect of Aristotle’s literary theory, Tragedy. The characters start out struggling to make ends meet and survive by leaning on one another in their neighborhood and end up happy because they have each other. the main character finds out that his aunt won the lottery and everyone in the town is imagining themselves winning. everyone said that they would leave town and make a better life for themselves but in the end they realize that they do not need money to be happy because they have each other.



The song in the musical they perform is about expressing yourself. All of the characters are struggling to get by and learn to keep their heads up because they have each other. They represent the neighborhood of Washington heights and show where they came from by singing. They are proud of their background but are trying to make a better life for themselves.





works cited

Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.