Reflective Portfolio Letter

Hussain Alawadh

Composition 1

12/3/17

Rhetorical analysis

Advertisements continue to influence the way people think, act and respond to the various actions in their surroundings. When it comes to the way people take advertisements, it depends on the way the advert is brought forward and the way the message is portrayed. Otherwise, it will not have any impact on the people, if it is not structured in a way that it attracts the eye of the viewer if listener.

First of all, life is precious, and no one needs to die soon, excerpt by some big reason which is beyond the power of man. However, some people can see death and however much they do not want to die, they just intentionally move closer to death.

The message of the advert is: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE WILL EVENTUALLY SHORTEN YOUR LIFE. It is a message though short, triggers a lot of concern on the reader. Immediately when one reads these words, they send a chill down the spine of a normal human being. This is because they are threatening. In fact, the reader then moves the eyes to look at the picture which is accompanies by these words, and what he or she sees are cigarettes, from a whole piece which has not been touched to the last one which has completely died.

The first appeal that is communicated in the ad is pathos. The feelings a person gets are those of fear and remorsefulness. This is because as the person looks at the pictures of the cigarettes, and the way they are wasting, the feeling of ``this is how I am wasting ‘ comes into the mind, especially to those who smoke, and to those whose beloved ones smoke. In fact, the moment we see a person who is smoking, for a time the picture of the ad comes into your mind and you do not stop sympathizing with them. Thus, the ad appeals to the rhetorical element of pathos, and the expression of feelings of fear and sympathy.

The next element which is communicated is that of logos. The images of cigarettes in the advert are symbolic to the stages in life, of a smoker. One has to think of how severe the condition is owing to the number of years they or their loved ones have been smoking. In case they have smoked for a long time, then the person looking at these images has to agree that the person is at the last stages and is about to burn completely, which is used to mean the person dies. This is because the images are arranged in a logical order, from the biggest to the smallest and eventually to nothing but a burnt cigarette.

It challenges a person to reason on how they can control death if at all they have to, because this is the intention of the advert. The message: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE WILL EVENTUALLY SHORTEN YOUR LIFE is also another of its kind. It matches the images in the advert, since they are arranged from the longest, the one which has not been smoked as is used to mean that people who do not smoke have a full guaranteed life, and this is reduced as person continues to smoke.

The appeal to ethos comes when the message is interpreted in other ways. For instance, we can say that the advert is appealing to the public to make a decision, whether good or bad. In case they make a bad decision, the results are shown in the advert. If they also make a good decision, the results are also seen in the advert. Though the message is short, the advert is complete and it communicates a lot to the public. A person in his real senses and who is smoking can made a positive decision here and there after reading the advert.

There is no specific audience of this advert, because it is appealing to both the smokers and those who do not smoke. For those who smoke, the advert is a warning that appeals to pathos, that they will burn just like the cigarette in the last stage in this advert. For those who have not started smoking, it is encouraging them to be rational, hence using logos, and remain wholly just as the first image is showing. The age does not also matter or any other sort of demography, but it is a general communication to all people who will see and read it after which they are to make a decision on which way to go, to the shorter side or to the longer side.

This advert seems to communicate about the culture of the US in a way that is open and direct. This is because in America, people are given the right to make their own decisions, whether the decisions later affect them or not. However, the responsible sources have to ensure that the people are told the reality as it is, then are given the liberty to choose between good and bad. The people are told both sides of the story, just as the advert communicates both sides of the story: if you smoke you die, if you do not you live, but the decision is left to their hands. In fact, no one will force another to choose their fate but when they choose wrongly, they always face consequences.

Adverts serve the purpose of informing the public about certain issues in society, while others are also used for business. In both cases, the advert is just passed but the viewer or the listener of the advert is left to make a decision on whether to agree with or to disagree with the advert. This is one freedom which is made possible by the language the author uses, the images which are conveyed and the style in which they are conveyed. The most important thing is that a message is communicated and is received by people, and it creates an effect in the people; this is when it can be said to be effective.