The Artifact: Mini-Trump

The artifact I will be analyzing for my term paper is an article submitted by Chris Moody titled The Time I Went to Summer Camp with the Future Mini-Trump. The significance of this piece is that Moody reflects on his experience with Stephen Miller, Trump's senior advisor, at a summer camp that entails a mock government. To check out the story, you can go here.

Moody paints a narrative for the audience that is overwhelmingly negative, often comparing Miller to Trump with typical phrases that we have all become too familiar with. He shares a story about how Miller's action at this mock government showed Miller's true colors and how a real position of power is a negative thing for the United States.

Using the Narrative Paradigm, I will dissect Moody's story on how he portrays Miller, and how I believe that the ultimate goal is to once again demonize the office of Donald Trump. This is not just a story about summer camp, but rather a demonization truly meant for Donald Trump.

Frank is Rolling Over In His Grave

On January 19, 2017, CNN's Caroline Kelly put out a report that the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra, Nancy, was displeased at the fact that President Trump and his wife Melania have chosen the song, "My Way," for their first dance at the Liberty Ball.

CNN also reported that Nancy has shown a great disliking for Mr. Trump during the process of this election based on her tweets about him. The tweets are listed below:

Just remember the first line of the song. https://t.co/dYrXv818i9

— Nancy Sinatra (@NancySinatra) January 19, 2017

Watch your language, Mr. Trump. Children are watching and listening. https://t.co/kttXDv0KA3

— Nancy Sinatra (@NancySinatra) January 16, 2017

Tell @realDonaldTrump: Don't derail climate progress & unleash more fossil fuels. Add your name:https://t.co/CRo3Y8EUaw

— Nancy Sinatra (@NancySinatra) January 17, 2017





Now, as it is shown, one could argue that the extent of Nancy's "dislike" for President Trump is somewhat overblown. When looking at the context of the this article, one could argue that Kelly was using buzz words like "disdain" in order to appeal to those in support of Trump. By using hate words to express Nancy's feelings toward President Trump, a negative light is undoubtedly shined on Sinatra, which in-turn causes an outrage for those in support of him.

As stated above, this whole article originated because Nancy, allegedly, responded to reporters about the news of the Liberty Ball by telling them to look at the first line of the aforementioned song. The line is, "And now, the end is near." Whether this is true or not, it seems that Kelly is grasping for straws to find a story out of nothing.

Regardless of this, the article is written in such a way that would appeal to the devout support of Trump and thus incites a reaction out of this crowd. On the flip side of the coin, those who do not support Trump may find this article discouraging because it painting people, who share their same beliefs, in a negative way.

I think that this article holds better appeal to those who support Trump on the matter. I say this because it ignores the legitimate concerns that a U.S. Citizen is having with Trump and it is being spun into an attack on him. The writer simply uses carefully selected words and images from social media to portray Sinatra negatively without giving the full context of the story.

Sinatra later responded on Twitter with the following:


As you could probably guess from the title, I don't think that Frank would be too pleased with how his daughter is being shown in the media. I don't think any parent would be too pleased, quite frankly.