Anti-Intellectualism in Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts”: A Rhetorical Analysis through Tony Schwartz’s Resonance Principle
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Jackson Miller and Brenda DeVore Marshall
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Subject Area
Communication Arts/Rhetoric
Description
This study examined video segments from Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts” in order to understand how digital media can foster and encourage anti-intellectual thought and rhetoric. Tony Schwartz’s Resonance Principle, as theorized in The Responsive Chord, was used to identify and analyze verbal, visual, and auditory cues within two of Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts” video segments. Appeals to conservative political stances, Christian ideals, and “traditional American values” were used in conjunction with the three resonance cues to persuade audiences. The findings of this analysis made strong connections to Kahneman’s Fast and Slow Track Model of thought, as well as Jonathan Haidt’s Elephant/Rider Model. Forms of digital media that resonate with their audiences on a meaningful and emotional level are more persuasive. This study concluded that in order to avoid the influence of anti-intellectual media, each media source must be examined critically for a lack of factual evidence. Each consumer of digital media should also consider their own emotional and moral tendencies when viewing media that may resonate with them.
The paper upon which this poster is based was written for the Senior Seminar course in Linfield’s Communication Arts. The paper was competitively selected for presentation at the Northwest Communication Association Conference in April 2017.
Recommended Citation
Mihelich, Jacob F., "Anti-Intellectualism in Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts”: A Rhetorical Analysis through Tony Schwartz’s Resonance Principle" (2017). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 46.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2017/all/46
Anti-Intellectualism in Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts”: A Rhetorical Analysis through Tony Schwartz’s Resonance Principle
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
This study examined video segments from Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts” in order to understand how digital media can foster and encourage anti-intellectual thought and rhetoric. Tony Schwartz’s Resonance Principle, as theorized in The Responsive Chord, was used to identify and analyze verbal, visual, and auditory cues within two of Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts” video segments. Appeals to conservative political stances, Christian ideals, and “traditional American values” were used in conjunction with the three resonance cues to persuade audiences. The findings of this analysis made strong connections to Kahneman’s Fast and Slow Track Model of thought, as well as Jonathan Haidt’s Elephant/Rider Model. Forms of digital media that resonate with their audiences on a meaningful and emotional level are more persuasive. This study concluded that in order to avoid the influence of anti-intellectual media, each media source must be examined critically for a lack of factual evidence. Each consumer of digital media should also consider their own emotional and moral tendencies when viewing media that may resonate with them.
The paper upon which this poster is based was written for the Senior Seminar course in Linfield’s Communication Arts. The paper was competitively selected for presentation at the Northwest Communication Association Conference in April 2017.
