Rhetorical Analysis Of Moms Demand Action’s Advertisement
Rhetoric has been used since the start of ancient civilizations as a way to resolve disputes and deliberate important issues. Over time, rhetoric has been altered to have positive and negative effects on the society. For example when politicians run for office they often try to persuade their audience on how they are right and their opponent is wrong.
The concept of pathos, logos, and ethos are not used in just politicians but in everyday conversations and conflicts. These rhetorical strategies can be used when analyzing an argument, a picture, or when you make an argument yourself. Also by using logos pathos, and ethos, the audience can break down what the author of the product attempted to describe and deliver to them.
To describe what this image is about, first it must be established who puts out the images to get an idea of what it will be about. The Organization in question is Moms Demand Actions, their main objective is to try and persuade society to change their policies and views regarding gun safety especially towards children.
This image is one of many they have put out which consists of comparing two children in different settings. In this certain picture one child is seen holding a weapon while the other holds something that would be considered dangerous because of the choking hazard. They compare how Americans see both items as equally dangerous and they want to change that.
The use of logos, pathos, and the careful use of text is what makes the image so strong. The text is used to persuade society to think about or even change their priorities regarding children's safety. While the picture also persuades the audience that the American beliefs are messed up and we as a community need to do something about it. This blend of imagery and text to persuade the audience is perfect as one does not overwhelm the other (yin and Yang). There are two reasons why I choose this image and it is their use of logos and Pathos. Logos is used to persuade the audience to their reasoning or logical thinking to make decisions. Moms Demand Action uses logos perfectly in this advertisement by appealing to the audiences logical reasoning. It is as if they want the audience to know they are not stupid and they should know the answer obviously. But what makes it alright to ban a small chocolate egg while it still be acceptable for a large assault weapon to be accessible? If we as a society need to change than we need to decide what should be consider as dangerous. Pathos is also used as a way to stir up adults of children's emotions. They do this by highlighting the children in the picture and darken everything else to show the children are important which catches audience attention. They also use the children as a focus point and they use red text to convey their message “choose one. ” By using the color red they can mean a lot of thing such as danger or it could even mean blood. Something as simple as a color can trigger people to side with the person. It is also one of the most notable text which draws your attention after the children. With this comparison, parents will begin to understand that objects as an egg can be considered way more harmful than a weapon.
With an image like this there has to be a target audience. The target audience is mostly parents of children and gun owners. To a mom or dad their child is everything to them they have been with them since birth. And like to most mothers if anything happens to them they would not know what to do. So if their child was hurt or god forbid even killed they would be devastated so this is why they target mothers and fathers. Also if you ask anyone, children are the future and most people would rather save a child rather than an adult or animal. So with this one simple decision they can make to avoid catastrophic events they would do, in order to save the future.
Moms Demand action hope to convey to other parents or gun owners that something such as an assault weapon should be listed as something most dangerous to kids and potentially ban them or keep up surveillance of your personal armory rather than something small like a piece of chocolate. Especially in recent time where teens/children get access to their parent’s weapon and kill themselves or others. Also with school shootings on the rise they hope to forward their agenda and say how much damage assault weapons are doing to America's youth. Even though I do not agree with their message about of Americans need to change their views on what is considered dangerous. I personally love how they use rhetoric to appeal to their audience. If i could critique them or be a critic I would say that they need to focus more on people who have recorded mental health issues as the people needed to not have assault weapons. Not all Americans are oblivious to this image but I feel like the organization is hiding behind children in order to convey their message. But I guess if it is for the children and the future it is ok.
