I chose this piece because I have had previous situations where my friends have had to tell their parents where they are at all times before being permitted to go somewhere. I'm also sure that as students, we have all faced a similar situation where our guardians have asked us more questions than we felt were necessary.
Discussion questions:
Why does the creator choose the color scheme for the photo?
How does the use of a child (someone too young to have a driver's licence) help amplify the effect of this image?
How does the setting of the image affect its impact?
In what ways do the features of the image (child, bicycle, background) frame the setting of the photo?
Prompt 1
ReplyDeleteUsing a child as the main element of the poster creates pathos for the viewer. This rhetorical device compels viewers to feel compassion and sadness for kids who do not have a guardian who knows where their kid is, or what there kid is doing when they are not at home. An addition to the pathos in the poster is the color scheme of the background, which gives a dreary, sad, and depressing tone to the poster.
These visual effects persuade viewers to know where their kids are and to ask questions. The poster seems to implicitly state that knowing the location of your kid and knowing what your kid is doing will prevent your kid from doing drugs. I also think the visual effects convict guardians for not knowing where their kid is at or what their kid is doing. The poster seems to be implicitly stating that guardians are bad guardians if they don't ask these questions.
I agree with Danielle's perception of what the poster is trying to convey to the audience. Its main purpose is urging parents to constantly ask their children where they are and who their with. It's not urging them to do this to be "hovering" parents but saying if they do constantly keep notice of where and who their children are with they have a greater chance in keeping keeping trust with their child and being more knowledgeable as to what they are doing. I wouldn't necessarily say that the poster is stating the that guardians are "bad" guardians if they do not ask these questions but I think that the poster is saying that it would only benefit the guardians to know all of this information.
DeleteWhile the poster may give off a sense of pity for kids without guardians who care to know where and what they are doing, the use of the child on his bike also emanates a sense of freedom from responsibilities. This may be ideal for children, but ultimately I agree with you that the poster's overall message is to encourage parents to keep track of their children by asking questions.
DeleteThe black and white grey scale used in the photo helps give emphasis on the emphasis on what the ad is trying to portray to parents. Black and white photos usually signify death or dismay, and the creator is trying to bring their attention on their children. The child is riding his bike around in what looks like a run down neighborhood. This is especially important for parents in run down neighborhoods to keep track of their kids because of all the danger that surrounds their kids (gangs, drugs, etc.)
ReplyDeletePrompt 1:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danielle that using a young kid as the central part of the poster creates pathos for the audience. The kid appears to be a younger aged kid because he's riding around the neighborhood on his bike which suggests he is probably in elementary school. This appeals to the audience because most people see children and are always trying to help them out. The background as a dark faded color gives off the feelings of a sad setting. Also the neighborhood in the background shows more of a rundown neighborhood which suggests the boy is in the bad part of town. The poster then uses yellow to highlight the main important phrase which targets the intended audience, parents. By showing a young boy, the poster gains the attention of parents and gets them to want to start asking their children about where they are and what they are doing.
The creator of this poster uses a dark color scheme to give off a dreary sad setting. The colors of this poster are important because the color scheme seems to highlight the rundown neighborhood in the background. Using a child in this poster affects the audience because all people want to help out children. The setting also plays an important part of this overall message. The rundown neighborhood in the back sets a tone of parents not knowing where their kid is, and this setting could be where their child is riding his bike. The bicycle is the one of the biggest features of the poster just because it applies to almost all children. Once a child becomes mobile the creator is trying to say it's time to start asking questions because your child could be anywhere on that bike.
ReplyDeleteI think Austin brings up a good point with the bike. An important and seemingly innocent of childhood is going bike riding. A parent allowing a kid to go bike riding is common and something that most parents would consider safe. An ad like this would force parents to consider that their child could be off doing anything once they have that kind of freedom.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlog Prompt #1
ReplyDeleteThe visual aspects of this piece is catching a lot of attention and it's certainly warranted. The targeting of the time 4:00 seems to presuppose that authors believe the whereabouts of this boy are known for the time before 4:00. The source could be implying that this boy is in school prior to 4:00. If this is explored, does school appear provide a shelter from the drugs this ad is attempting to fight? It seems to illustrate some level of comfort against the possible interaction of drugs this boy could have outside the confines of the school walls.
The line in yellow is interesting and I find myself asking "who is it for?" Is it intended for the kid so that he consciously knows his parents are on the hunt for his involvements? Or is it for the parents to provide a certain peace of mind? We tend to make rules or barriers as safeties for ourselves to avoid feeling a guilt of failure. When someone breaks our guidelines it becomes that person's wrong doing that takes the blame. The ad could be implicitly providing a spread of parents a method to remove this feeling of guilt from themselves and place the responsibility of making good decisions on their children. In far left field it could also be read to be that parents burdened with high levels of guilt become susceptible to drug use themselves,entirely changing the target of the ad.
The buildings are towering in height over the boy traveling down the street. He isn't looking forward but seems be distracted by something on the side. There's multitudes of possible implications here as well. He could be looking away from the lens of the parents that are taking the picture and suggest the boys disinterest in his parents. One could also implicitly view this as a disinterest in long term goals and a liking to the "here and now."
Blog Prompt 2
ReplyDeleteI think that the black and white color of the poster creates a dark, scary feeling and makes you feel like something bad might be happening. I also would agree with some of the people when they said that using the young child has a huge pathos impact. The setting of the picture is kind of blurry, but it looks to be in a bit of a rundown neighborhood. All of these elements combine to make it seem like absolutely nothing good can be going on where this kid is. Which only can lead to one believing that this kid is also up to nothing good. It makes it seem like his parents definitely would not want him to be where he is at and definitely have no clue what he is doing.