Visual and Rhetorical Analysis:
A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers
It is true that anyone can write about anything. But actually getting your point across to your audience, is so different from just jotting down a few ideas. There are methods and strategies that authors use when they want to get their point across. A writer must first have a purpose for writing, and know who their audience. For instance, when Janet Heimlich wrote, A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers, she knew that her audience was a difficult one. Getting your point across to a teenager between the ages 15 and 20 is not as easy as tying your shoes. She knew that teenagers that age wanted to see results, they don’t want to be told what to do just because it’s logical and ethical. Teenagers need to see real live results when it comes to drinking and driving. How did Janet Heimlich get through to teenager? Simple, she showed them that their fabulous teenage life could be taken in an instant. The story that is shared in this ad was a result of no fault of her own. Janet put logic and emotion together to make teenagers see that they are not invincible.
A Sobering Message to Drunk Drivers, is an article that is accompanied by the illustration of a campaign ad for the awareness of drunk driving. The ad is very graphic but that’s exactly what the campaign needed. The article describes how the writer got the opinions of several groups of teenagers, and used it to her advantage. The Texas Department of Transportation supplied Janet with several statistics to back up the campaign. The ad is a picture of a young woman by the name of Jacqueline Saburido, she was the victim of a drunk driver. The ad complements the writing because not only is it a very tragic story that could happen to anyone, but it‘s a true story that needs to be told. The ad informs the audience that all though she did live, she is struggling to put her life together because she has already undergone 40 surgeries and is awaiting more. The writer did good by placing the article and the ad together. Placing the ad next to the article was clever in the sense that people who are reading the article want to see who the article is about. Pictures speak louder than words sometimes. Spotting a picture with a disfigured face can only make you stop and wonder what happened to this poor girl. The fact that her story is on the ad is the icing on the cake. There and then teenagers will stop and feel something that, in the hopes of the author and victim, will be of some influence. They might feel sadness, remorse, guilt, or even relief. The article does explain how they made a commercial also about Jacqueline and they feel that their strategy will capture the attention of clueless teenagers. Jacqueline agreed to do this ad because she knew she was doing a good thing, and also in the hopes that one day her campaign may prevent even the slightest accident.
One strategy that the illustrator used on the ad was emotion. The Department of Transportation knew that the had to hit teenagers where it hurt the most. When they look at what a drunk driver did to this innocent girl they feel remorse for what the driver did. The illustrator knew that there isn’t a teenager in the world that could imagine their life after having to have gone through such a tragedy like that. The fact that this is a true story and Jacqueline was not the driver makes teenagers think that, not only can they hurt themselves, but they could ruin some complete strangers life. The driver of the vehicle that hit Jacqueline’s vehicle walked out of his car without a scratch. Not only did Jacqueline meet the culprit, but she forgave him for what he did. So as I’ve analyzed this article, I’ve come to realize that there are several emotions that tie into it. The authors took the emotions and ran with them magniloquently.
The Department of Transportation’s statistics gave the author the leverage it needed to get through to the audience in a logical manner. The facts that were provided were quite astonishing. This gave the audience knowledge on prior occurrences that have already affected other people. This makes them wonder how many other people end up having their whole world turned upside down like Jacqueline did. Statistics are always eye openers. Teenagers always hear about accidents here and there, but knowing exactly how many are actually occurring makes them rethink the idea of drinking and driving. One would think that if there were less people out on the road drinking and driving, there would be less accidents, less tragedies and less statistics to report. This is why well recorded facts always work well when your trying to prove a point.
As I analyze this article and ad I come to realize the brilliance of he contexts. The author was very careful to do research about her audience. She found someone who wasn’t only effected by a drunk driver, but was willing to share her ever so tragic story with anyone who might someday make the right decision . Drinking and driving is a big problem in Texas and Jacqueline learned that the hard way. The author and Jacqueline are attacking this problem head on. There is no more rawer way to impact the reader or onlooker of this literature. Emotion and logic work great together. This piece of literature that was accompanied by a picture that really makes you appreciate your life was a great choice for the author. The author new just how much attention she would get when she put this dynamic duo together.
References
