Category Archives: Rhetoric on the Town

I choose to analyze the Virginian Pilot’s website Pilotonline.com.

purpose/audience

The main purpose behind this website is to inform the public of any local or world news.  It’s secondary purpose is to provide people with a digital copy of the Virginian Pilot if they do not receive the traditional newspaper at home.  It’s audience ranges from all ages, but I would say it’s main audience would be people from 16-70 mainly because of it’s technology.  The audience would most likely live in the area covered by the paper of could even be locals who have moved away and like to keep up to date on things happening in Virginia.  The educational background of the audience would most likely include people who had at least graduated high school or attended some high school, but could range to higher education levels as well.

copyright and attributions

The main website is copyrighted to Hamptonroads.com and Pilotonline.com because they are the owners of the website.  Each story on the website is submitted by different reporters so the website is sure to give them credit at the top of the story along with whoever they are affiliated with.  Photos are treated the same way.  The photographer or artist is given credit for their work as well and in most cases this credit can be seen in the caption included with the photo.

The red box contains the website’s copyright information

design elements

In the above screenshot of the website several different design elements can been seen.  In the red box the design element of contrast can be seen.  This element works best here as the header because the word “PilotOnline.com” is larger and in a bolder font than everything else on the page.  Moving down to the green box the viewer gets the design element of repetition.  The different page titles are all in the same color, font size, and font type giving them unity.  The repetition design element works with page titles because all of the titles are portrayed as the same so the user is not influenced to click on any title unless it is something that they are interested in.  Under the green box you’ll see the pink box which represents emphasis.  Emphasis is placed on the “Latest News” link because it draws the eye of the viewer.  This design element of emphasis also works well here because most of the time when visiting a site like this the viewer is looking for the latest news so this cuts down the time they may be spending looking for it.  Now to alignment which is highlighted in the blue box.  The whole website displays alignment but this specific area has a photo to the left of the article.  The article summary and photo are about the same size because the tops and bottoms line up almost perfectly.  Last, but not least, is balance which is seen in the purple box.  Balance is displayed in the two columns and keeps the page from being nothing but a large box of text.

Subaru Impreza Advertisement

rhetorical analysis:

The main purpose for this advertisement is to sell the car Impreza which is made by the automobile maker Subaru.  Due to the wintery environment of the advertisement some of the targeted audience may live up North or in places that receive high amounts of snowfall.  The fact that it’s a car and driving in snowy icy conditions may attract the audience of people who are looking for safe cars who have lots of traction.  Since the ad actually states the base price of the Impreza it shows that the target audience would not be the upper class, but would in fact include the middle class or people who are just starting off in careers that may not be making the big bucks yet.

design element analysis:

This advertisement’s main design element is alignment.  The car, description of the car, “headline,” and price are all left aligned.  The only item on the advertisement that is right aligned is the company’s name which is “Subaru” and the Subaru symbol.  The alignment element works because since the majority of the advertisement is aligned to the left and leaving only the company’s name right aligned the reader’s name is naturally drawn that way.

Vintage Toyota Tundra Advertisement

rhetorical analysis:

The main purpose of this ad is to sell and promote the Tundra from the automobile makers Toyota.  The audience for this advertisement is most likely men, and the audience could be narrowed down even further to upper class men.  One way you know this is aimed at men is because of the statement “Power and efficiency. Like steak and eggs.” which can be viewed as a meal common for most men.  Another indicator that the advertisement is aimed at men is because of the color scheme used for the advertisement.  Black, yellow, and white can be considered masculine colors.

design element analysis:

The main design element seen in the advertisement is contrast.  The bulk of the ad is black lettering on yellow background which allows the text to stand out.  The black tundra placed on the yellow background also stands out to the viewer.  The actual name of the truck which is Tundra is seen down at the bottom placed in a black box with white lettering which makes it stand out from the rest of the ad.