Rhetoric Essay "Ghost"

Web sites
Go to You Tube and type in
Michael Jackson-Ghosts (for the shortened music video)
Or Michael Jackson Ghosts Full Version [1/4] then click on [2/4], [3/4], [4/4] for the rest.
This is the full version and explains more of it. (really long but very good)

Lyrics
There’s a ghost down in the hallThere’s a ghoul upon the bedThere’s something in the wallsThere’s blood up on the stairsAnd its floating through the roomAnd there’s nothing I can seeAnd I know that that’s the truthBecause now its onto meI don’t understand itHeyI don’t understand it!AaowThere’s a tappin in the floorThere’s a creak behind the doorThere’s a rocking in the chairBut there’s no-one sitting thereThere’s a ghostly smell aroundBut nobody to be foundAnd a coughin and a yawninWhere a restless soul is goingDon’t understand itHey!Don’t understand itHey.And who gave you the right to shake my family? And who gave you the right to shake my baby, she needs meAnd who gave you the right to shake my family tree? You put a knife in my backShot an arrow in me!Tell me are you the ghost of jealousyThe ghost of jealousyThere’s a tappin in the floorThere’s a creak behind the doorThere’s a rocking in the chairBut nobody’s sitting thereThere’s a ghostly smell aroundBut nobody to be foundAnd a coughin and a yawninWhere a restless soul is goingDon’t understand it!Yeah yeah!Don’t understand it!Your just a dog gone!Aaow!And who gave you the right to scare my family? And who gave you the right to scare my baby, she needs meAnd who gave you the right to shake my family tree? And who gave you the right to take intrusion, to see me? And who gave you the right to shake my family? And who gave you the right to hurt my baby, she needs meAnd who gave you the right to shake my family tree? You put a knife in my back,Shot an arrow in me!Tell me are you the ghost of jealousyA suckin ghost of jealousyAaow!And who gave you the right to shake my family? And who gave you the right to shake my baby, she needs meAnd who gave you the right to shake my family tree? And who gave you the right to take, intrusion to see me? And who gave you the right to hurt my family? And who gave you the right hurt my baby, she needs meAnd who gave you the right to shake my family tree? You put a knife in my backShot an arrow in me!Tell me are you the ghost of jealousyThe ghost of jealousyAaow
Dog gone
But there’s no doubt about it, piece of mindTell me are you the ghost of jealousy




Essay draft #1

When things start to change in your life because of something you can’t control. The effects of what is happening are as plain as the nose on your face, but you don’t know what is causing them. In the song he talks about hearing and seeing things going on but nothing there to make it all happen. He constantly asks. “Who gave you the right to shake my family? Who gave you the right to shake my baby, she needs me.” But he knows that the thing he sees and hears is really there because it is coming onto him. He then asks “Are you the ghost of jealousy.” Jealousy is like a drug, once it settles in it is hard to overcome and it grows stronger causing emotional pain for yourself and most of the time others as well. The way he explains what it is going on puts you in his place and you can feel the kind of anger and frustration he feels. His words are strait and to the point affecting you deeply. The song makes me think of my past and how jealousy has harmed relationships and caused pain.
I believe that the way he is describing “the ghost of jealousy” as if others were making fun of him and label Michael as an outcast. The more the people picked and accused him of many things caused his immediate family to separate and be labeled as an outcast for being related. His problems then were taken further and it effected more than just his immediate family known as his “family tree”. It was never just one person that caused problems for Michael it was just anyone and everyone. I think that Michael is saying that everyone that outcast him did it because they were jealous of what he had.
The music video is actually segments of a much larger music video/ short film. In order to understand more of this particular song in the video you have to watch the beginning where it kind of explains what is going on. The song I chose is more of a part in the film where Michael releases a lot of anger. In the beginning a small mob of angry parent invite themselves into Michaels home when their kids are telling them to just leave him alone. They then threaten him to leave town because he is not like everyone else. Michael does not let them leave and lets them know he is not scared and plays tricks to frighten them back. He is telling the people how dare you tell me I am weird and don’t belong here and the things I am doing are not right. I have never hurt anyone or done anything wrong. You don’t know me but your kids do and they enjoy being around me. Don’t try and scare me by the threats or the accusations that you make. I will then give you a reason to be scared.
Michael introduces his family stating he is not alone in the house and out come ghost from the walls the stairs the chairs the floor just like in his song. I think the ghost are a symbol of how all the problems killed his family. Michael goes through many transformations from human to a skeleton a monster and he enters a mans body to freak him out. I think that he made the monster jump into the mans body making him do things he cant control then forming his face to make him look like a monster was to give him a taste of what its like do not be able to control what someone else is doing to you and how you feel to be the monster everyone is afraid of. It was meant to give them a taste of their own medicine.
I think that the ghost of jealousy is not really a ghost, it is the group of individuals that are causing problems for no reason so it must be because they are jealous. Michael Jackson didn’t understand why people were saying the things they did. He didn’t understand why what they were saying were effecting him and his family, tearing them apart. This video was a message to help people understand his frustrations and the destructions it has all caused. His imagination in this video is astonishing and the way he expresses it catches your attention making it hard to walk away.