Receptivity- Poster Project

These are the questions that I had to answer in regards to my audiences idea receptivity to move them forward.

where is your audience on this receptivity gradient?

I think the 18-25 year old white americans who are not in college are ready to know and know the facts but are just distracted by the things they are involved in or with. For example, I think most kids my age know that voting is important to our country, but they also have distractions such as computers, television, video games, etc that may out weigh their motivation to actually take the time to go and vote. They also have other responsibilities such as work that may seem more important than voting.


how did the specific rhetorical tropes you employed move your viewer up the continuum?

At first, I experimented a lot with parodies on "myspace" and realized that by using a play on words that I could catch my audiences attention and make them realize they are wasting their time on things that are less important in the long run. I ended up using HYPERBOLE to show an exaggeration in how important it is to be available to vote on november 4th. By cramming a bunch of names into the square on the calendar, I was dramatizing the demand for my demographic to request off to go vote. Obviously its not like they need the whole day off to go vote, but by showing a comparison of 10 names off for one day compared to next to no names for the rest of days off, I am making my point.

I also use IRONY to compare the images of televisions, game controllers, computers, etc to the words "rethink your priorities" because obviously these objects are all very important to my audience. My demographic is obsessed with the internet, watching tv, and playing video games. They often become priorities when school is not a factor of their daily lives. I think its ironic that these technological distractions can be more time consuming than the actual act of voting, but to many young americans, they don't care! I hope my message is a clear call to action though. They need to wake up and realize whats truely important and set these distractions down for long enough to go vote!

how did you frame your call-to-action differently than if your audience was plotted at a different point on the gradient?

If my audience was "not ready to know" I would have had to make a more blatant and less conceptual call to action that stated something boring like "GO VOTE. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT....etc." But since my audience knows deep down inside that they probably should go vote, I tried to target them by using subject matter they are very, very familiar with. Anyone who has a part time or full time job knows that there is a request off calendar and they can relate to my poster because of the message my trope creates. The poster not only says that voting day is on november 4th and that they should request off for it.. but it also gets them to think that, hey other people are doing it, I guess I should too! If my demographic was not ready to know then they would be unchanged by the message Im implementing.

I GUESS THE BEST WAY TO SUM IT UP IS TO SAY THAT: Im trying to get my audience to just take the time to go vote, not tell them why its so important (for they probably already know its "important"). Laziness and lack of motivation is their biggest excuse, so by pointing out how to re-prioritize their time, I think Im getting their attention!