In the letter from Barack Obama, it
demonstrates all of the main parts of a rhetorical situation. In the letter he
is addressing you as a friend and is asking for you to donate money to him.
This demonstrates two real world situations; he is addressing you directly, and
is asking for money for his cause. The name of the person it was sent to is
addressed by their full name; it is dated, has a subject and even has a
signature implying that he personally wrote the letter. The style of the letter is constant throughout
and he is just simply asking if you are interested in donating money. It is
very plain and short and to the point almost like an advertisement rather than
what someone actually has to say. It is a very formal outline that is very neat
and legible. In the way this is set up, there is no way of telling much about
the reader or the write other than their names and when they wrote their
responses to one another. The writer does not go into detail about his cause or
why he wants to money or what the money is for, just simply asking for a
donation of three dollars or more.
The letter just shows a rhetorical situation
in a very simple, plain way. The base elements of a rhetorical situation are
there. There are real world situations that are present in the letter and it
has a date. It is a letter that
emphasizes on a donation and has a link you can go to if you choose to do so as
the audience (reader) in this particular rhetorical situation. The topic is
plain and to the point, there are no metaphors or specific tones set in this
letter. The writer is supposed to be Barack Obama according to this, but the
layout suggests it was done by someone else and it is also in more of an
advertisement style rather than a personal message to someone. The implied reader is shown as “Marla Jarmer”
and it is shown as being a message sent to her. There is no way of telling
anything about either the reader or the writer, or what the money is even for,
but still contains the main elements of a rhetorical situation. All the little
things not in the letter are just what would add to a very simple rhetorical
situation and turn it into something much larger. (413 words)
I agree with you, this letter was plain, too plain. There was nothing in this message that sparked my attention. To me, the worst part about this e-mail is that fact that they arent specific, about anything. If they really wanted people to donate the three dollars don't you think they should have been more specific in the e-mail, rather than sending out a link to a website? I just feel like this mass message could have went so much better with the right adjustments. I dont feel like the fact that was "signed" by President Obama is enough for the audience to want to donate. I dont think the email even had enough substance to make its readers give it a second thought. I think it probably bored its readers, when it had some potential with just a little more effort. (142 words)
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