Geoghegan, Tom. BBC News. Web. 13 Sept 2014.
The image above is of Oscar Pistorious leaving a courtoom where he received the verdict in his infamous trial. The reason I have chosen this photograph for my anaylsis of a rhetorical situation is that I read the news, both for enjoyment and for a class, and this headline image caught my attention, and this is why:
- The very bright light draw’s ones eyes to the photo
- The contrast of black and white is also an eye catcher
- The lighting enhances the expression of the subject’s face
These points are why a lot of people would click on the image to read the story, even if they did not who the subject was. This is almost artisitic capture of Pistorious’ reaction is a good use of pathos. Since this is a news story, the news company would like everyone to be the intended audience instead of people like me who enjoy reading the news. If they were after my target audience, they wouldn’t have to use such a dramatic picture, but to entice people who usually don;t read the news, the news company went with the dramatic picture. I believe that this picture was very effective as a means to entice people to read an article due to its appeals to pathos, a idea most news companies use as news stories can be very pathos heavy.
Help Received: Univeristy of Purdue, Online Writing Lab, MLA Citation
Peter,
Thank you for the post and the initiative of teaching yourself citing format. I’m impressed.
Your analysis of the photograph and the reasons that the author/editor would include it with their story is sound and I agree with you. It is very dramatic and eye-catching.
Now, since this photo is the “text” you have chosen, I would ask you to consider the composition of the photograph itself. You mention that it employs pathos to get people to read the article, but I don’t think this is quite accurate. The color and layout of the photo is what draws us to the article, but the pathos of the image is what it is convincing us to think regarding Pistorious and his trial. So, what is the photo trying to get across to us? How do you know?
Henry Kirby