At the beginning of the Spring 2026 semester, my WRT 205: Critical Research class had a new discussion board each week that we had to respond to. These discussion boards had different prompts, usually requiring our class to read a short text. For the Week 3 Discussion Board, we were tasked to find a source that we can use for our Unit 1 Project, a written analysis on any art piece we wanted to further explore. I was certain that I wanted to analyze Hudson Westbrook's country song, Painted You Pretty. I started off by looking for sources that directly analyzed this, and soon discovered that there were close to none. So, I broadened my search to sources that analyzed any Hudson Westbrook song. This led me to Tom Roland's analysis of House Again, which I used for this discussion board post. The next step was determining how I would classify this source using the BEAM method. BEAM is an acronym that stands for background, exhibit, argument–each of these being a different group of sources. Then, I referenced the summary heuristic handout to evaluate this source rhetorically. Rhetorical analyses involve critically analyzing how the composer of a text engages with their audience. The handout we are given is a guide to do this as thorough as possible. Finally, I reflected on whether what I learned from this assignment, and posted my findings on the discussion board. Please see my Unit 3 Discussion Board Post below.

Source: How Hudson Westbrook takes Listeners on a Lonely Tour in, "House Again."

I'm going to use this source to inform my writing in several ways. First, I'll examine how the author interprets Westbrook's music and the types of things they look at. For example, this author focused on how Westbrook extended one of the chords in the chorus to create a lingering effect. In Westbrook's song Painted You Pretty, this lingering effect represents that of the woman he is singing about– she lingers in his mind. The composer observes something more abstract–like the way a musician sings a word–and creates meaning from it. Beyond this, I'll also be using the composers specific interpretations and apply them to Painted You Pretty. Often, artists have their own specific styles. So, I thought that perhaps what the Billboard composer analyzed will be applicable to my writing. Westbrook tends to extend his chords in a lot of his songs. Maybe, I can examine the effect that these extended chords have in combination with the meaning of metaphors, which I also plan to examine. For example, when he likens a woman to a painting in Painted You Pretty. She is something that he looks at and idealizes, but never has. In combination with this, the extended chords represent how she remains in his thoughts, and he longs for her. 

This is certainly  classified as a method source using the BEAM model, because I will be partly adopting the author's approach to studying Westbrook's music, and learning from how he does this. I will also be using it as a model for my own analysis of Westbrook's Painted You Pretty.  It may also be said that I am using this as an argument source, because I will be drawing from some of the composers opinions and supporting them in my own writing. 

Rhetorical Summary

Background/Context of the text:

Title: How Hudson Westbrook takes Listeners on a Lonely Tour in, "House Again."

Date of Publication: 3/21/25

Place/Site of Publication: billboard.com

Author: Tom Roland

Background Information About the Author: Roland had been writing for Billboard Country Update since 2010. He focuses on examining trends and noteworthy stories in country music.

Purpose/Methods/Materials:

What the Composer is Trying to Do: The purpose of this article is to explain how Hudson Westbrook created and recorded his song “House Again,” while also introducing him as a new and upcoming country artist.

How they Do It: Roland does this by using interviews with Westbrook and his co-writers and producers, as well as by closely analyzing specific musical choices, such as melody, chord changes, tempo, and vocal delivery. Through this, the author shows how small musical details can create emotional meaning in a song.

Genre:

Genre of the Text: The genre of this text is a journalistic feature article. More specifically, in the category of music or entertainment journalism.

Genre Conventions: It is a non-fiction article that includes interviews, descriptive storytelling, and light analysis. Instead of arguing a claim, the article’s goal is to inform and engage readers by giving them insight into the creative process behind a song. Though, I would say that the author does put forward a claim about the lingering effect of the extended note in the chorus. An article like this does not require a formal bibliography.

Audience and Audience Appeals:

Intended Audience: The intended audience of this text is individuals who are interested in music, especially those who enjoy listening to country music. Furthermore, based on the website and their readership, this article is likely meant for young adults. The readers would have to have listened to the song "House Again" to understand what the author is saying. So, they're likely country/Westbrook fans or have enough of an interest in music to go ahead and listen upon reading this article too.

Audience Appeals: The author certainly uses ethos to appeal to his audience, because Billboard is a highly respected and well-known publication in music. Since Billboard is associated with charts, industry credibility, and professional journalism, readers are more likely to trust the information being presented. Additionally, the author builds credibility by including direct quotes from Westbrook and his team, which show that the article is based on firsthand sources rather than speculation. The author also uses logos in explaining the detailed explanation of creating a song. For example, the article discusses specific things that helps readers logically understand how specific musical elements contribute to the overall meaning of the song, making the article informational and providing real evidence for the author's interpretations. Pathos plays a somewhat indirect role in the appeals that the author uses. While he may not directly be using too much pathos, the author is discussing a song about heartbreak, nostalgia, and loneliness that would resonate with the audience.

Mode, Medium, and Visual Design:

Mode: Readers experience this article primarily textually, but there are some visual elements such as images of Hudson Westbrook and hyperlinks to other Billboard content. Furthermore, the article does provide readers the choice to listen to it read aloud, which would make it audio.

Medium: The medium is digital, since the article is published online. Readers experience it as a scrollable web article that combines writing with visuals and interactive elements.

Visual Design: The visual design is simple and clean, which matches the professional style of Billboard as a major media publication. At the top of the page, there is a large headline and a featured image of Hudson Westbrook, which immediately shows readers who the article is about and helps put a face to the artist. The layout is organized in a vertical, scrollable format with clear spacing between paragraphs. This makes the text easy to read on a screen.

Sources:

The article is informed mainly by interviews with Hudson Westbrook and the people he worked with on the song, as well as the author’s own observations of the music. The research is incorporated through direct quotes and industry information, such as streaming numbers and chart rankings. There is no formal bibliography, which is typical for journalistic writing.

Flashpoints and Keywords/Concepts:

Three quotes/words from the text that stood out to me are:

• “Stretching the word creates an extra melodic effect and makes it linger, like the woman that the singer can’t get out of his mind.” –The main focus of the article and a concept I will likely use in my analysis of a different Westbrook song.

• “You got to set the scene before you sing about the scene.” –Shows how Westbrook's songs go further than just "telling" with the lyrics, including a much deeper thought in every sense of the song to make the audience feel something.

• Emotional expression – Shows how Hudson Westbrook uses music to communicate feelings that are difficult to put into words. This, perhaps, is why he uses metaphors too (this can be used for my art encounter).

Two Sentence Rhetorical Summary:

In this Billboard article, Tom Roland explains how Hudson Westbrook wrote and recorded “House Again” by combining interviews with detailed observations about musical elements like melody, tempo, and lyrics. The article is worth reading because it not only introduces a new artist, but also shows how emotional expression in music is shaped through creative and technical choices.

What I Learned

Using the rhetorical summary handout helped me realize that analyzing a text is more than just summarizing its content and instead involves thinking about the choices the author makes and how those choices affect the reader. It pushed me to pay closer attention to the deeper purpose of a text and how meaning is created through the way it is written and presented.

This assignment forced me to dive deeper into the source I had chosen. Instead of simply reading the text and thinking about it from a surface-level perspective, it was far more intentional. I was encouraged to think about how I would incorporate this source into my project, as well as the rhetorical moves that the author used in their writing. The goal was to become super familiar with this source in order to use it for my project. I learned that nearly every move an author makes in their writing in purposeful, based on a variety of factors–conventions of the genre they're writing in, their audience and how they intend to engage with them, the mode and medium of the text, etc. Before writing rhetorical analyses, I had no idea that all of these factors were so important when composing. However, not only did this rhetorical analysis teach me a lot about composing itself, it also became very useful for my project. The "Flashpoints & Keywords/Concepts" section was particularly helpful, because I identified specific quotes that I could use in my Unit 1 Project.  Although I didn't end up using this source in the end, it showed me a useful step in preparing to use a source. Please see my Unit 3 Discussion Board post below.