“That’s why it’s Christ in my rhymes/That’s why it’s Christ all the time/My whole world is built around Him/He’s the life in my lines.”
At this climax of the song, Lecrae changes the nature of the rhetorical appeals used in his music video “Don’t Waste Your Life.” In this short essay, we will examine approximately twenty seconds of the video to see how rhetorical devices are used to communicate the message of the song.
Until this point in the song, Lecrae has mainly used appeals to logos. He has laid out a logical case, using both Scriptural and practical examples, that life is wasted outside of Christ. In the video, Lecrae sets up the story of a wealthy businessman (played by Cam, the singer in the hook) who has received a letter and Bible in the mail. While he is reading the letter (the lyrics of “Don’t Waste Your Life”) some of his friends show up for a party. As his friends are enjoying themselves, the Cam is slowly realizing it is a pointless exercise. It is at this point the climax occurs, and Lecrae switches from logos to pathos to reach his audience.
As Lecrae begins the climax, the video shows Cam in his empty apartment, with only the walls as company. Just seconds before there had been people there. The sense of loneliness and despair this picture paints is overwhelming both for both Cam and the audience.
Meanwhile, Lecrae, “writing” out the lyrics of his song as we sings them, is overcome with the emotion of what he’s saying. His devotion to God and passion for his message causes him to give up writing and simply cry out to God. Until this point, Lecrae has been diligently and logically writing out his arguments. Now, he figuratively throws up his hands in praise. The appeal is obvious: Lecrae desires the audience to have the same devotion he does.
As the camera pans back to Cam, we see he is having the same reaction to the lyrics. He leaves his friends at the party, picks up the Bible, and walks from the room without a word. Again, the implication is that the Word of God should produce an emotional reaction in us driving us to devotion in Christ.
In his video “Don’t Waste Your Life,” Lecrae uses pathos to show his audience the majesty of living for Christ. In the few seconds showing Lecrae praising God and devoting his life to Him, his facial expression and posture plead with the audience to do the same. As Cam gives up the party to read the Bible, Lecrae asks his audience to give up the things of this world for the things of the Lord. Indeed, the implication is that Lecrae shares the vision of Shai Linne when he says, “[God] could give me the Lex, the coup, the Beemer, the Benz/the sex, the loot, the cream or the ends/But next the truth of Jesus, friends, it’s worth nothing.”
At this climax of the song, Lecrae changes the nature of the rhetorical appeals used in his music video “Don’t Waste Your Life.” In this short essay, we will examine approximately twenty seconds of the video to see how rhetorical devices are used to communicate the message of the song.
Until this point in the song, Lecrae has mainly used appeals to logos. He has laid out a logical case, using both Scriptural and practical examples, that life is wasted outside of Christ. In the video, Lecrae sets up the story of a wealthy businessman (played by Cam, the singer in the hook) who has received a letter and Bible in the mail. While he is reading the letter (the lyrics of “Don’t Waste Your Life”) some of his friends show up for a party. As his friends are enjoying themselves, the Cam is slowly realizing it is a pointless exercise. It is at this point the climax occurs, and Lecrae switches from logos to pathos to reach his audience.
As Lecrae begins the climax, the video shows Cam in his empty apartment, with only the walls as company. Just seconds before there had been people there. The sense of loneliness and despair this picture paints is overwhelming both for both Cam and the audience.
Meanwhile, Lecrae, “writing” out the lyrics of his song as we sings them, is overcome with the emotion of what he’s saying. His devotion to God and passion for his message causes him to give up writing and simply cry out to God. Until this point, Lecrae has been diligently and logically writing out his arguments. Now, he figuratively throws up his hands in praise. The appeal is obvious: Lecrae desires the audience to have the same devotion he does.
As the camera pans back to Cam, we see he is having the same reaction to the lyrics. He leaves his friends at the party, picks up the Bible, and walks from the room without a word. Again, the implication is that the Word of God should produce an emotional reaction in us driving us to devotion in Christ.
In his video “Don’t Waste Your Life,” Lecrae uses pathos to show his audience the majesty of living for Christ. In the few seconds showing Lecrae praising God and devoting his life to Him, his facial expression and posture plead with the audience to do the same. As Cam gives up the party to read the Bible, Lecrae asks his audience to give up the things of this world for the things of the Lord. Indeed, the implication is that Lecrae shares the vision of Shai Linne when he says, “[God] could give me the Lex, the coup, the Beemer, the Benz/the sex, the loot, the cream or the ends/But next the truth of Jesus, friends, it’s worth nothing.”
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