May 2016 HL Paper 1

          At present, the modern economy has given rise to a level of wealth amongst the populations, which was only matched by monarchs until the industrial and technological revolutions of the past 100 years.  Nonetheless, an extraordinary wealth gap continues to exist which many believe cannot sustain itself.  Both “I Am the People, the Mob,” a poem by Carl Sandburg, and “The Pitchforks Are Coming…For Us Plutocrats” a multimodal text published in an online magazine by Nick Hanauer, orientate themselves around the parity in wealth in American society.  Although ninety-eight years separates the publication of either text, they bare remarkable similarities in their perception of the outcome of the wealth gap.  However, the texts have diverging audiences and as such, either work adopts a separate body of stylistic features to communicate with its audience.

            Despite Sandburg’s poem being written from the opposite end of the spectrum to that of Hanauer’s magazine entry, both texts are contextually alike.  Whilst one may argue that the texts emerged from different contexts – presumably the industrial and information technology revolution – the actual subject matter of the texts are not dissimilar as regardless of the motives behind their publications, they ultimately concerns themselves with the same issue.  The shared context is therefor a society in which the middle and lower classes are posing the threat of revolution. 

            Although the narrative voice in Sandburg’s poem appears to be that of the lower classes whereas Hanauer is a self-declared “zillionare” conversely, the texts also share a parallel purpose.  In Sandburg’s poem, the purpose is to provide an ominous warning for the impending threat which the masses pose to the wealthy.  For Hanauer, his article also provides a warning of this threat and he appeals for change.  The purpose of “I Am the People, the Mob” is evident in the third stanza where Sandburg writes “When I, the People…no longer forget who robbed my last year there will be no speaker in all the world say the name: “The People,” with any fleck of sneer in his voice.”  The stanza is powerful as the connotations are that the people will suppress those in power and delayer the hierarchy of society.  Similarly, Hanauer writes, “Unless our policies change dramatically…we will be back to late 18^th century France.  Before the revolution.”  This statement encapsulates Hanauer’s argument; the analogy is potent in that although it is a deictic statement of sorts in that the context of the revolutions must be understood for the statement to have meaning, the revolutions was violent and spontaneous.  Equally, the term “revolution” often carries negative connotations for a reader.  Ultimately, the texts have an overlapping context and purpose despite the different scenarios. 

            Whilst the texts compliment each other’s purpose, Sandburg’s poem would appeal to a different audience entirely and it makes use of the relevant poetic features to appeal to its audience.  Initially, the poem opens with, “I am the people.”  Sandburg’s use of the first person singular pronoun “I” contrasts the latter stages of the line where plurals are used such as “the crowd.”  The effect of this juxtaposition is that the speaker is almost perceived as a divine entity over the larger population.  It is important in creating the ominous tone of the poem as the narrative voice has almost no distinct identity.  This is further reinforced by the rhetorical question, “Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through me?”  The question is a closed one, it leaves no interpretation and created a sense of undisputed power.  The speaker also discusses the figures of authority which it has yielded such as Lincoln and Napoleon.  It then says, “They die.”  This is perhaps a forewarning that the lower classes can produce powerful leaders and that all it requires is that they led the masses.  The notion that the lower classes can produce powerful leaders is supported by the line, “I am a prairie that will stand for much plowing.”  The metaphor compares a population to fertile land that will not become infertile.  This is possibly a statement that the lower classes are capable of elongated endurance.  As a foreshadowing of the events to come, Sandburg writes “Sometimes I growl, shake myself and spatter a few red drops for history to remember.” By using such animalistic characterizations, as well as kinesthetic imagery, Sandburg is stating the capability of actions from the lower classes to attack the upper classes and it foreshadows the final stanza.  In the final line, Sandburg utilizes a circular structure to refer to the opening sequence of words.  He writes, “The mob-the crowd-the mass-will arrive then.”  The circular structure shows that the events will lead to the “arrival” of the powerful body of people and leaves a message to the readers that change is imminent. 

            Nick Hanauer’s article in an online magazine adopts a very different set of stylistic features to persuade the reader that action must be taken.  The text is multimodal, and immediately the reader is drawn to the start image of the author.  His powerful stare and formal attire established a sense of credibility in Hanauer.  Much of the opening sequence of his article further attempts to enhance his ethos, as he uses statistics such as “I founded aQuantive…that was sold for $6.4 billion.” Furthermore, the audience can be interpreted from his statement, “in many ways I’m no different from you.”  This implies that the audience is also from the wealth upper class and it is confirmed by his closing statement “we’ll most certainly get even richer.”  However, to achieve his purpose, Hanauer then begins to use certain rhetorical techniques.  In the line, “Let’s speak frankly to each other,” he uses synthetic personalization to make the reader relate to his article.  He also switches from the first person exclusive pronoun “I” to the first person plural “We” to draw a sense of collective responsibility with the reader.  This is further shown by phrases such as “the rest of the country,” creating an exclusivity to his article.  This does not stop him from adopting a stern approach as he uses hypophora to guide the reader along his thought process as seen in “And what do I see in our future now?  I see pitchforks.”  Pitchforks are an instrument with connotations of violence and are concerning.  Hanauer also utilizes the imperative to command his readers into action when he writes, “Wake up, people.  It won’t last.”  Hanauer uses a careful combination of imperatives and inclusive language in the form of contractions which make his article seem more direct to appeal for change.  Additionally, he employs threatening metaphors such as “before you know it, the country is burning” to highlight the severity of the situation.  The overall effect is that Hanauer establishes credibility and then begins to alter his audience’s perception of the issue by using anchoring and placing key information at the beginning of his article. 

            In conclusion, both texts are an attempt to address an issue which seems not bound to an era but eternal whenever quality is not guaranteed.  For Sandburg’s poem, the purpose is to provide an artistic warning of the threat the lower classes pose because of inequality.  Hanauer’s article utilizes informal language and a range of rhetorical techniques to warn of the threat in a similar manner but to also campaign for a change.  In both instances, the texts are successful in manipulating language to convey their message to the appropriate audience.