James Plascencia

English 115
Professor Lawson
12 September 2015
Rhetorical Analysis Draft #1
500 Words

Rhetorical Analysis
The author of this text is Susan Willis, a professor of English at Duke University. In her
writing she specifies: Black Women, Writing the American Experience, and a book on mass
culture1. The purpose that Willis had for this writing was to explain how Disney Worlds space
functions, and the erasure of spontaneity that has largely to do with the totality of the built and
themed environment. 1 Not only that but the way that their system works, the way that they are
specifically programmed. The way the employees have to do everything for everyone and how
unhooked all the consumers become, falling into this routine. The main context that is needed to
understand is the basics of Disney World. For example, you need to know how the employees are
dressed (which is briefly mentioned in the writing), the rides, and the atmosphere/environment
that Disney World gives to its visitors. It gives happy, fun, and cultivated vibes to everyone who
visits, and if they are not able to experience it themselves, they still have the satisfaction of
pictures! The intended audience of this essay, is what I can assume, for teenagers, college
students, or generally just parents that want to take their children to a place where dreams come
true. The writer, Willis, is claiming how play is all but eliminated by the absolute domination of
program over spontaneity. 1 How the concoctions of a mature individuals fantasy strive to vend,
to be absorbed, to expand. She also claims that if a family is to realize the value of its leisure
time consumptions, then every member must function as a proper consumer. 1 Willis backs up her

work with information or parts from works from other authors, like Scott Bukatman, Theres
Always Tomorrowland: Disney and the Hypercinematic Experience.
I do find the authors position persuasive. My reason being because its true how families
can not fully strife the Disney World experience without full cooperation of the ENTIRE family,
it isnt a lone wolf practicality. It is also arguable how it has become an absolute domination of
program instead of feeling liberation of imagination that every consumer should have in the
family-friendly syndicate. The parts of the essay that sound odd to me are the lines where Willis
claims, Eruptions of imaginative play are just as rare. 1 This isnt rare, it is the most common
event you can witness throughout everywhere in the amusement park whether people are eating
or walking around the park aimlessly. One issue that I can see throughout some parts of the
article is the way she goes from continuing her point of program domination to the behavior of
aggravating children and the responses that are given to them by their parents.

Works Cited
1) Willis, Susan. Disney World: Public Use/Private State. Pop
Perspectives: Readings to Critique Contemporary
Culture. Ed. Laura Gray-Rosendale. San Francisco:
McGraw-Hill, 2008. 214-224. Print.