Rhetoric Paper
1. Introduction.
Delivering a valid argument is more than just relaying facts to your target audience, it capturing their attention and creating a connection. The connection is not just the speaker and the audience, but an engagement between argument and audience. This connection is made when the argument offers an appeal to the viewer’s character, emotions and logic. In other words, the audience must be persuaded to do or believe something. One of the most common devices of persuasion is rhetoric. Rhetoric is language calculated to have a striking effect on its audience but is often conveyed with sarcasm and can be seen as insincere.
2. Description of Ad.
For this assignment, the student was asked to choose one advertisement describe how persuasive rhetoric is utilized. The advertisement I chose is from Anti-Tobacco site is from tobacco free California and targets the loved ones of smokers.
The photo displays a top layer of a wedding cake with one bride standing with a cigarette in her mouth and a second bride is lying face down in the cake. The font for the caption is interesting because the first line is written in smaller, all caps “SECONDHAND SMOKE,” however, the line directly below it is larger with a bold print so the words “CAN KILL” jump out and catch the audience’s attention. The next line is also larger but not bold and reads a “RELATIONSHIP.” The remainder of the print on the advertisement is in varying print size and boldness; however it is all smaller than the first few lines. The entire advertisement in its entirety reads, “Secondhand smoke can kill a relationship. If you’re being exposed tell your loved one smoke is not just deadly to them. Secondhand smoke is deadly to you. You have the right to smoke-free air.”
3. Analysis using rhetorical devices.
Rhetoric device is a method an author or speaker uses to convey to the viewer a meaning with the intent to provoke the audience to agree with the given topic. There are three main categories in which rhetoric devices fall under, Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
3.1 Ethos.
The first rhetoric device discussed is Ethos. Ethos is the appeal an argument has to one’s character, where trust is built and a connection is made between the written words. This ad’s use of ethos is first made because it is created from a trustworthy organization, Tobacco Free California. Using a trustworthy organization lends credibility to the message the ad is conveying. I thought it was very cleaver how the advertiser used the term that secondhand smoke kills relationships, it was obvious but also very literal.
3.2 Pathos.
The second rhetoric device evidenced in this particular advertisement is Pathos. Pathos is the appeal to the viewer’s emotions. This rhetoric device was probably the most obvious because the picture shows a couple on a wedding day and one is lying face down and the viewer is to assume that she has died. The language on the caption that immediately stands out is “CAN KILL a RELATIONSHIP.” This is meant to send the message that if you are a smoker, your secondhand smoke will kill your loved ones.
3.3 Logos.
The third rhetoric device used in this advertisement is Logos. Logos is the appeal to the viewer’s reason or to what makes sense. Viewers have been informed for decades that tobacco and nicotine cause cancer, hence smoking is bad for you. This no longer needs manufactured statistics or how it causes cancer, enough information has been sent to the public. Therefore, if smoking is deadly than the solution is simple, stop smoking.
4. Target, conscious and unconscious impacts.
The target of this advertisement is not necessarily smokers but the loved ones of the smokers. The message is that their lives are valuable and it’s important to ask your partner to stop smoking to save the life of the victim of secondhand smoke.
The conscious impact is all those involved, if your behavior is causing death to the ones you love, then you are not showing them that you love them. As an unconscious impact, the viewer does not need to read the finer writing of the advertisement, just a glance at the image will stay in their mind.
5. Conclusion.
This particular advertisement uses all three devices of rhetoric, ethos, pathos and logos. It does so in a manner that builds a relationship between the cause and the viewer because (i) it is from a knowledgeable and trustworthy source therefore it was credible, (ii) it pulls at the emotions of the smoker by showing how the secondhand smoke can kill their loved ones, and (iii) finally, it appeals to their sense of logic because if secondhand smoke kills, it is the smoker’s choice to stop smoking and create a smoke-free space.
Work Cited:
Moore, Brooke Noel and Robert Parker. Critical Thinking.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print
Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices. SoftChalk, 2015. Web. 29 May 2015. Web.
Ad was retrieved from http://tobaccofreeca.com/ads/print/ on October 18, 2015.
Delivering a valid argument is more than just relaying facts to your target audience, it capturing their attention and creating a connection. The connection is not just the speaker and the audience, but an engagement between argument and audience. This connection is made when the argument offers an appeal to the viewer’s character, emotions and logic. In other words, the audience must be persuaded to do or believe something. One of the most common devices of persuasion is rhetoric. Rhetoric is language calculated to have a striking effect on its audience but is often conveyed with sarcasm and can be seen as insincere.
2. Description of Ad.
For this assignment, the student was asked to choose one advertisement describe how persuasive rhetoric is utilized. The advertisement I chose is from Anti-Tobacco site is from tobacco free California and targets the loved ones of smokers.
The photo displays a top layer of a wedding cake with one bride standing with a cigarette in her mouth and a second bride is lying face down in the cake. The font for the caption is interesting because the first line is written in smaller, all caps “SECONDHAND SMOKE,” however, the line directly below it is larger with a bold print so the words “CAN KILL” jump out and catch the audience’s attention. The next line is also larger but not bold and reads a “RELATIONSHIP.” The remainder of the print on the advertisement is in varying print size and boldness; however it is all smaller than the first few lines. The entire advertisement in its entirety reads, “Secondhand smoke can kill a relationship. If you’re being exposed tell your loved one smoke is not just deadly to them. Secondhand smoke is deadly to you. You have the right to smoke-free air.”
3. Analysis using rhetorical devices.
Rhetoric device is a method an author or speaker uses to convey to the viewer a meaning with the intent to provoke the audience to agree with the given topic. There are three main categories in which rhetoric devices fall under, Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
3.1 Ethos.
The first rhetoric device discussed is Ethos. Ethos is the appeal an argument has to one’s character, where trust is built and a connection is made between the written words. This ad’s use of ethos is first made because it is created from a trustworthy organization, Tobacco Free California. Using a trustworthy organization lends credibility to the message the ad is conveying. I thought it was very cleaver how the advertiser used the term that secondhand smoke kills relationships, it was obvious but also very literal.
3.2 Pathos.
The second rhetoric device evidenced in this particular advertisement is Pathos. Pathos is the appeal to the viewer’s emotions. This rhetoric device was probably the most obvious because the picture shows a couple on a wedding day and one is lying face down and the viewer is to assume that she has died. The language on the caption that immediately stands out is “CAN KILL a RELATIONSHIP.” This is meant to send the message that if you are a smoker, your secondhand smoke will kill your loved ones.
3.3 Logos.
The third rhetoric device used in this advertisement is Logos. Logos is the appeal to the viewer’s reason or to what makes sense. Viewers have been informed for decades that tobacco and nicotine cause cancer, hence smoking is bad for you. This no longer needs manufactured statistics or how it causes cancer, enough information has been sent to the public. Therefore, if smoking is deadly than the solution is simple, stop smoking.
4. Target, conscious and unconscious impacts.
The target of this advertisement is not necessarily smokers but the loved ones of the smokers. The message is that their lives are valuable and it’s important to ask your partner to stop smoking to save the life of the victim of secondhand smoke.
The conscious impact is all those involved, if your behavior is causing death to the ones you love, then you are not showing them that you love them. As an unconscious impact, the viewer does not need to read the finer writing of the advertisement, just a glance at the image will stay in their mind.
5. Conclusion.
This particular advertisement uses all three devices of rhetoric, ethos, pathos and logos. It does so in a manner that builds a relationship between the cause and the viewer because (i) it is from a knowledgeable and trustworthy source therefore it was credible, (ii) it pulls at the emotions of the smoker by showing how the secondhand smoke can kill their loved ones, and (iii) finally, it appeals to their sense of logic because if secondhand smoke kills, it is the smoker’s choice to stop smoking and create a smoke-free space.
Work Cited:
Moore, Brooke Noel and Robert Parker. Critical Thinking.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print
Rhetoric and Rhetorical Devices. SoftChalk, 2015. Web. 29 May 2015. Web.
Ad was retrieved from http://tobaccofreeca.com/ads/print/ on October 18, 2015.
Reflection
For this particular assignment, I had to first search through advertisements to choose 1. Although there are thousands of advertisements available, I was searching for an advertisement that met the criteria for the assignment, it must contain rhetoric. Once I choose an advertisement, sat down, viewed the advertisement and wrote down words that I felt best described it and what I felt it was saying from the picture. This assignment exercised the student's ability to demonstrate his/her ability to understand the relationship between language and logic, and recognize and explain propaganda, pseudo-science and stereotyping, including but not limited to demonstrating the ability to recognize the most common formal and informal logical fallacies. Although I felt I had a clear understanding of the prompt, I felt I could have dug deeper into the advertisement itself and further analyzed it. I felt I saw more as I looked at it later but realized that it probably why advertisers post ads on billboards, magazines, sides of buses, the more exposed the viewer is to the ad, the more the identify with it. It is a process not just a one-time experience. Whether it is a jingle or a picture the public views it becomes a part of our memory and that is what the advertisers want, to be ingrained in the consumer's life so that when you are in the market for their product you will be inclined to use their product.
For this particular assignment, I had to first search through advertisements to choose 1. Although there are thousands of advertisements available, I was searching for an advertisement that met the criteria for the assignment, it must contain rhetoric. Once I choose an advertisement, sat down, viewed the advertisement and wrote down words that I felt best described it and what I felt it was saying from the picture. This assignment exercised the student's ability to demonstrate his/her ability to understand the relationship between language and logic, and recognize and explain propaganda, pseudo-science and stereotyping, including but not limited to demonstrating the ability to recognize the most common formal and informal logical fallacies. Although I felt I had a clear understanding of the prompt, I felt I could have dug deeper into the advertisement itself and further analyzed it. I felt I saw more as I looked at it later but realized that it probably why advertisers post ads on billboards, magazines, sides of buses, the more exposed the viewer is to the ad, the more the identify with it. It is a process not just a one-time experience. Whether it is a jingle or a picture the public views it becomes a part of our memory and that is what the advertisers want, to be ingrained in the consumer's life so that when you are in the market for their product you will be inclined to use their product.