Flyer:

The first piece of media that I decided to do was a flyer. The purpose of the flyer is to inform people of an event that the organization will be hosting to help spread awareness about bullying in schools, which some players of the Mets will be attending to talk about their experiences with bullying. The main rhetorical strategy that I tried to use was ethos. Ethos is the rhetorical strategy that makes use of the credibility of someone or something else to persuade the audience. This is shown through several elements of the flyer such as the colors and photograph used on the flyer. The color I chose for the background of the flyer was orange, which is one of the major colors of the Mets team. The color is meant to draw the attention of the audience since it is one of the colors of the Mets and is being shown on the whole flyer. The color I choose for the text continues this kind of thinking with there being blue text chosen for the main title and description of the event and white being chosen for the rest of the text. Similar to the background of the flyer, the text is trying to make the flyer stand out and, when taken with the background of the flyer, represent the Mets to draw the audience in. The last way I use ethos on the flyer is with the picture of the Mets logo. All of these elements are meant to make use of the Mets credibility to get people to attend the event that may have otherwise not attended the event. The flyer does have its limitations, however. The audience of the flyer is meant to be towards the general audience, which the usage of the Mets credibility helps draw in. However, one limitation of the flyer is that it is not something that might reach a lot of people. In order to become aware of the event being hosted, someone would need to pass by the flyer and take notice of it. If it is in a workplace or school, it limits the audience to the people who work or attend the school that the flyer is being put in. This would also mean that the flyer would likely be with other flyers promoting other events, meaning that people may pass my flyer by without giving it a thought. I tried to solve this problem by making a background color that stands out and shows the main team that will be attending the event. If the flyer is posted in a more public place, such as on poles on the street or handed out by people on the street, this does have the potential to reach a larger audience, but it would mean that someone would have to walk by where the flyer is or the people handing them out. While the flyer does have its limitations with reaching an audience, I tried to compensate for these by making use of colors to try and make the flyer stand out and try to make use of the Mets credibility as a national baseball team.

Brochure:

For the brochure, I had a very different approach. The rhetorical strategy that I tried to use was pathos. Pathos is the rhetorical strategy of making the reader feel a certain way to support the claim that the writer is trying to get across. The first way that I tried to make use of pathos was through the background color of the brochure which I made blue to try and create a calming environment to contrast later on with the text and images in the brochure. The blue is in contrast to the red text that is shown in the brochure, with the red text meant to bring attention to those particular words and phrases because of their importance to the topics that are being discussed in the brochure. The red is also meant to show how disruptive the topic of bullying is due to its contrast to the blue background that of the brochure. The images present on the brochure are meant to also show what each section of the brochure is talking about and also to represent the feeling that I am trying to get across in each section. The first image is the Repose by Pablo Picasso. I decided to use it to represent the section talking about the effects of being bullied due to the dark colors and depressed expression on the characters face and posture. The purpose of this image is to make the reader feel depressed, to make them feel as the people who are being affected feel. The second image is a stop sign, meant to represent that the section below it is talking about ways to help those who are being bullied. The image is meant to make the reader feel that this is an issue that needs to be prevented. It is meant to create a sense of urgency for the audience and to make them want to know how they can help those being bullied or help prevent the bullying of those around them. The brochure is meant to inform people on the issue of bullying, what it’s effects are, and what can be done to help those being bullied. These would likely be handed out to people who pass by people handing them out, which means that while the audience is meant to be the general public, it may miss many people due to the limitations of the brochure. However, I think that I was able to use pathos in an effective way. The contrasting blue background is meant to create a calm feeling or environment for the reader to enter which is meant to be broken up by the red text, bringing attention to important words and phrases in the text. Lastly, the images are meant to represent what the sections below them are talking about while also creating feelings of depression and urgency to complement the text below.

Instagram:

Instagram was the last genre that I used for this project. For Instagram, I intended to have it be used to keep people informed about bullying and provide ways for people to try and prevent bullying. The first thing I did for the Instagram page was create a logo. I decided to draw an olive branch due to it being a peace symbol which is what the organization intends to do, bring peace to schools by preventing bullying. I also added the organization’s name underneath the branch to show what the organization’s name was. Lastly, the logo also has a blue outline or border that is meant to create a feeling of calmness to the audience. I tried to make use of pathos when creating the logo as it is meant to make the audience feel calm. Since Instagram has a younger audience, chances are that some of the people that would be attracted to the account would be bullied and I was trying to use the logo as a way to make them feel that this is a peaceful and calm account and organization that wants to help them. The first post is simply the logo again with text that is meant to introduce the organization and what its goals are. The next post shows two pie charts that I made based off of the statistics provided by stopbullying.gov. Both charts are similar in design, with both having a blue and red region, with the red regions meant to draw in the audience’s attention and in contrast with the blue regions. The first graph shows the percentage of students bullied in the United States while the second graph shows how many of those students reported being victims of cyberbullying. Due to the account being on social media, I felt that it was important to bring awareness to the type of bullying that could occur in the environment that the account is placed in. The text of this post gives credit to stopbullying.gov and is meant to give some advice to those who may be experiencing bullying by mentioning that they should tell someone they trust about their situation rather than hide it from them. This is meant to make those who are bullied feel that they are not alone and that there are other people who are facing a similar situation and that there are people who want to help them. The second post contains some dialogue provided by a separate website that was able to provide some ways for people being bullied to stand up for themselves. This was meant to provide those being bullied with a way to defend themselves from bullies when they are dealing with them and may not have time to call for some kind of assistance from teachers. The text in the post is also meant to support this point and remind the people reading the post that they can open up to others that they trust. Instagram’s audience is mainly a younger generation, meaning that the posts and awareness being raised for the bullying will likely not reach many teachers or parents. However, the Instagram account would reach those who are being bullied and provide them with ways to deal with bullies and help spread awareness to those who may not know much about bullying.

 

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