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Umar Malik

Professor Gardiakos

ENC 1101

16 September 2021

Unit One: Rhetorical Analysis

The debate over who carried the mantle of Spider-Man best has caused quite a number of

controversial discussions over the past some 15 years. The disagreements range from who

faithful portrays the figure of Peter Parker to who had the best chemistry with their romantic love

interests. Needless to say, there are a wide array of issues to nitpick when it comes to this debate.

There are 3 sources at play in this paper that will showcase some of these wide-ranging views

that touch on a number of varying and almost trivial distinctions. What makes these sources so

unique is not just the mediums and publications on which they are displayed, but the rhetoric

utilized within them as well. When it comes to their “rhetorical ecology” indeed these sources

are vastly different. Not to mention the proofs that are also brought forward as obvious aid to

each author’s arguments. These rhetorical principles form the basis at the heart of this discussion.

Rhetoric is at the heart of this discussion, but what exactly does that mean? An easy way

to decipher this is with a quick analysis of the practice itself. When it comes to the “rhetorical

ecology” surrounding an argument there are a number of concepts at play. Each of which form

an input into the foundation that is the metaphorical ecology. Some of these concepts include

rhetors, context, exigence, Kairos, and interaction/collaboration. The ecology works alongside

other factors like “proofs”, i.e., ethos, pathos, and logos, and narratives and “the canons” to form

the actual rhetoric.

When it comes to the ecology in particular, it is important to understand exactly what

these terms mean. A Rhetor is simply someone who utilizes the concept of rhetoric to make

meaning. There are a lot of factors, such as context, that impact how the rhetor derives that

meaning. Context can be understood as the circumstances or situations surrounding an event,

statement, or idea that needs to be processed to fully understand the argument. “Exigence” can

also be included here, which directly refers to the event that sparked the motivation for the

rhetoric in the first place. “Kairos” is another word for timeliness and also speaks to the timing of

the argument based on external factors. For example, the advent of the new Spider-Man film is

stoking the flames of discussion again in regards to who the best Spider-Man actor was.

Interaction/Collaboration refers to the collaborative effort, if there is any, among the rhetors in

regards to the rhetoric.

In terms of other factors in regards to rhetoric, there exists the concept of “proofs”. This

term really explains itself. It’s the supporting evidence garnered to help aid in establishing the

argument. Proofs do not necessarily have to explicitly be logic based, i.e. logos. A proof can be

an ethos, or simply put, the credentials behind that of the crafter of the rhetoric. For example, an

argument about astrophysics would probably be recognized more if the crafter had a Ph.D. in the

topic. Proofs can also be emotionally based or morally charged, as in pathos. There also exists

the concept of the “narrative”. Multiple different parties may have contending narratives that

conflict with each other. The last factor to mention is that of the “canons”. These include

invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Invention is just coming up with the idea of

your argument, arrangement is deciding the order, style is your personal expression that comes

into play in the piece, memory is the form in which the piece is stored, and delivery is simply

publishing your piece for other rhetors to evaluate.

Now that the concept of rhetoric has been formally explained in a basic manner, the topic

at hand will be far more digestible to read. As Hays & Flowers have studied, informing the

reader of these conceptual ideas before loading them with actual rhetoric allows them to pick up

and digest material that they would not have originally been able to.

The first source regarding the Spider-Man debate is titled “Tom Holland Vs. Andrew

Garfield Vs. Tobey Maguire: Who Is the Better Spider-Man?” and it’s from Cinema Blend. The

writer, Will Ashton, goes into a compare and contrast over the 3 main leads. The Rhetor in this

situation would be Mr. Ashton. The audience would be Spider-Man fans that are also cinema

fanatics browsing the Cinema Blend site. The context/exigence of the piece is the upcoming film

with Tom Holland. This would also play into the Kairos because the movie is upcoming and

without its upcoming release the piece likely would not have been released. The narrative at play

is that each character has its own merits and it’s up to the reader to interpret the victory. There is

an appeal to pathos in the form of characterizing certain actors as more emotionally impactful,

such as when Ashton says “Tobey Maguire carries the "aw shucks" sensitive side of Peter Parker

with the traditional macho heroics of this personification of the character.” There is an appeal to

logos in the quote “As it has been mentioned already, in the original trilogy, it was always weird

to see clearly 25 or 30-year-old actors trying to pass themselves off as characters practically half

their young age.” (Ashton) This quote critiques the logical absurdity of the “youthful” casting

choices. There are also appeals to values by showcasing how certain incarnation of Spider-Man

are more “heroic” than others. There is also an appeal to logos by implying that an actor’s age

will give him more weight over showcasing what the age of the actual Peter Parker is like. When

it comes to the canons, the invention aspect is the compare/contrast among the actors, the

arrangement is deciding to piece it together actor by actor, Ashton’s style in writing also makes
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itself known, the memory is the online article medium, and the delivery is that it was published

as an opinion piece on a journalist media review platform.

One of the constraints Ashton has to work with in his article is that the arguments he

makes may actually backfire in ways he does not expect. He makes an appeal to logos by

implying that Holland’s existence within the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe gives Holland’s

Spider-Man a larger scale to work with and the stakes are much higher. His shared setting means

that his teammates may also make appearances alongside him. While this may be a good point to

make, he fails to realize that the reader can take a negative away from this in reality. I make this

clarification because another source does just that. For example, in Toby’s universe he is the

only superhero and therefore the stakes are already far higher and the reality of his failure is that

it isn’t able to be salvaged by another hero.

The second source is titled “Why Tom Holland is the Best Spider-Man” and it is written

by Ross McKechnie. It is also published by Culture Slate. The audience for this piece would be

casual fans of popular contemporary culture topics that also have an invested or casual interest in

the Spider-Man movies. The basic rhetorical principles for this piece are similar to the previous

source with minor exceptions. McKechnie’s style comes through more vibrantly and his

demeanor is definitely more commanding. This makes sense because he is arguing for a certain

character, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, instead of comparing and contrasting them without

apparent bias. You can see this by how he openly berates Toby’s portrayal, “In these movies,

Tobey, I feel, is very wooden. Honestly, some of his lines feel forced.” (McKechnie) The

exigence/context for the article is the upcoming Spider-Man film that features crossovers from

previous iterations of Spider-Men. The main Rhetor in this piece is Mr. McKechnie. The
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narrative at play here is that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is the optimal version of the character

and that Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire fail to compete.

A constraint that Mr. McKechnie has to deal with is the same that Ashton has to deal

with. It’s the fact that arguments are made that could also be argued from the opposing side. One

such instance in this source is that Mr. McKechnie argues that Toby’s Spider-Man was too

“wooden” and that the actor was too stale. The other side could just as easily argue that this

woodenness played well into who Peter Parker actually is and that an inordinate amount of

confidence would actually be an inaccurate portrayal of the comic character. At the same time,

you could also argue, like McKechnie did, that Toby’s Spider-Man being able to shoot webs

without web shooters is an inauthentic portrayal of the comic character as well. “This decision

meant we were deprived of seeing him build his own, and it also gave us one of the most

pointless and ridiculous scenes in cinema history where he discovers how to shoot his webs,

because there is no rhyme or reason that his organic webbing would be triggered by Spidey's

iconic had gesture.” (McKechnie)

The third source is titled “Toby Maguire will Always be the best Spider-Man” and it is

written by a member of a school’s newspaper called the Crimson Times. The writer’s name is

Ashfiq Islam. The intended audience would be a more youthful base of subscribers that frequent

this high school’s tribune. The narrative in this piece is that Toby’s flaws are microscopically

examined and scrutinized while his strengths are often overlooked. The context/exigence is the

recent success of the latest stretch of Spider-Man movies and the accompanying critiques of

previous iterations of the hero. The piece is heavy on logos and supplying logic to solidify its

points, but also make an appeal to pathos. The piece insinuates that Toby puts far more emotion

into his role than other actors. This once again shows us how narratives can change dramatically
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from one critic and rhetor to the next considering that the last source said Toby’s acting was

“wooden.” Another aspect of pathos brought into the fold is that Toby’s Peter character is more

“relatable” than other versions of Peter Parker. Islam makes the point that Toby tends to embody

the role of Peter Parker far better. He supports this with proof by showcasing how Toby’s Peter

Parker really has no actual friends in the film series and desperately tries to “get the girl” but his

attempts never really actualize.

A major distinction between the other sources and this one is that this source actually

takes an argument against Toby and tries to frame it as incorrect. The argument is that Spider-

Man 3 isn’t as bad a movie as critics imply it was. You can see Islam articulate this in this quote,

“The third movie isn’t as bad as most feel in my opinion. Even though the movie isn’t supposed

to be a finale, it felt like one. There’s a scene in the movie where Peter Parker has decided to

dawn the suit that he originally wore in the first movie… This scene is beautiful. The music

arises as Peter pulls the briefcase out from under his bed and takes out the suit. You can hear the

iconic Spider-Man “Responsibility” theme playing in the background. I’d venture to say that this

is the second-best scene in the trilogy, right after the iconic train scene.”

To close off this essay, it is quite apparent how rhetoric is utilized even when it comes to

things like entertainment. As you can clearly see by these sources, the arguments put forward

were crafted with a multitude of rhetorical concepts backing them. The range in which rhetorical

concepts were applied was also vast as obviously not all sources and rhetors share the same

process when crafting their arguments. All in all, it is definitely apparent that the craft of rhetoric

is one in which we can all incorporate into our lives even in the most mundane of areas. The

process of crafting an argument is a delicate one, and it takes precision whether you are a public
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orator, debater, or an entertainment think piece writer penning your thoughts about the greatest

Spider-Man incarnation.
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Works Cited

Ashton, Will. “Tom Holland Vs. Andrew Garfield Vs. Tobey Maguire: Who Is the Better Spider-

Man?” Cinema Blend, Cinema Blend, [Link]

holland-vs-andrew-garfield-vs-tobey-maguire-who-is-the-better-spider-man.

McKechnie, Ross. “Why Tom Holland Is the Best Spider-Man.” Culture Slate, Culture Slate,

[Link]

Islam, Ashfiq. “Tobey Maguire Will Always Be the Best Spider-Man.” Crimson Times, Crimson

Times, [Link]

always-be-the-best-spider-man/.