Take a look at one of the two websites linked below. Read a little bit about them, observe the visual rhetoric of the site, and then answer the following questions.
1. What words or phrases do you see repeated over and over again? Why do you think they would repeat these same ideas?
2. Who is the target audience for the site? (and, of course, why?)
3. How do the images support the text of the site?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
National Rifle Association (NRA)
(Hint: To get the best overview of the organization, try reading the About, History, or FAQ pages.)
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The words or phrases that are used the most often is the acronym for their orginization and that they use the rifels for recreational purposes only.
The target audience would have to be the male population that is anywhere from mid teens to the older or retired persons. They also mention on their website that they have a youth program too.
The images support the text in that all the pictures on the website show the males shooting their guns and also have the right protective gear on and are takeing all the necessary saftey procautions. It also shows them enjoying what they are doing.
PETA
1. PETA is very insistent on treating animals like they were humans. Most of the page reiterates their need for support and man power to help drive their investigation. Another idea they tend to frequent is the government banning their ideas from the media; it's almost like they enjoy the attention they're getting.
2. The target audience for the site is the entire public, but only because they are using the site as an advertisement for members. The content on the site is directed strictly towards PETA members and animal enthusiasts.
3. PETA always has some bizarre picture of a scantily clad women who would "rather go nude than wear fur." They also plaster the page with pictures of cute fuzzy animals, then caption the preceding with scare tactics to take the audience by force.
The words I see repeated on the NRA website is weapons,rifles,and certain clubs.The target audience is anybody old enough to license a gun because the website basically shows why guns are positive to society. For example, it gave a story about a police officer who saved some people with his right to bear arms. The images support the text of the page because it reinforces the stories and ideas that are centered in the page.
I looked at the PETA website. They continually use the words "animal rights" which is obvious because PETA is in support of animal rights. At the very top of the page, a clip is running that says "Fighting Animal Abuse Worldwide." The website goes on to discuss how animals are not to be used for human entertainment or even for food. They list many articles that are in the news about the unethical treatment of animals, offer vegetarian recipes, and even have opportunities to become involved with PETA. I think they are reaching out to everyone for their audience, but mostly to older women. The pictures on the website feature mostly women and they provide cooking information. Also, they tap into people's compassion to make them feel sorry for these animals and want to become involved to help them. The images are all of animals. Some are disturbing images of animals in cages or being mistreated, and others are just pictures of cute animals looking helpless as if to say, they can't help themselves so we need to do it for them.
In the PETA website, I noticed there was more than one idea or phrase repeated. The most common ones, were obviously PETA, animals, beating, fur, abuse, suffering, food, clothing, entertainment. I think these ideas were repeated because they are what PETA is based on. All of them are repeated, meaning the same thing, to protect animals against any inhumane actions.
I think the target audience would be young adults to mature adults. Since they are the ones who usually would buy animal furs, or buy pets, this website is targeted to grab their attention and teach them to positively treat animals.
The images support the site since they are mostly of innocent little animals. There are a few pictures of women not wearing any fur, however. There's one picture of an animal in a cage, looking really sad and upset, and there's another picture of a little monkey that seems happy. However, there's one more picture that is kind of disturbing, it looks like some type of animal is getting beaten. These images support the text because they show what the website stands for.
On the PETA website the word Animal Rights appear in almost every paragraph in the FAQ section. This is because PETA's main goal is to protect animals, and one way to do that is by giving them rights, similar to our rights as humans. PETA's target group is activist who want to make a positive impact on animals. People who want to help animals that are being abused by humans. The pictures on the website are of animals in cages and elephants being whipped. They try to show the bad condition animals are in, so you would feel for them.
In the site about the ethical treatment of animals, the phase that was used a lot was "animals are not our..." They repeat this phrase all over the site, to portray how they really feel about the unethical treatment of animals. The target audience for this site would be people who are interested in learning about the ethical treatment of animals. They obviously know that animals are being mistreated and they are looking into animals rights, so they will be able to better support their beliefs and maybe start to do something about it. On this site the images are supported well by the text. Each argument that is presented is supported by a good picture that helps to see what is happening with the unethical treatment of animals.
1. On the PETA site, the words animal rights, and cruelty seem to jump out quite often. They obviously repeat them because it's part of their message. They want to stop animal cruelty; they are an organization that is for animal rights.
2. I believe almost everyone is a target for this group. They want everyone to understand what it is they are trying to do, and get peeple to stop the mistreatment of animals.
3. There are pictures of animals everywhere on the site. Some obviously are trying to appeal to people's soft spots by displaying cute, baby animals, or things that are just fuzzy and squishable. Others are attempting to shock you with the mistreatment that these animals suffer and get you to take action against it.
1. I often saw the term legislation, and this is because the NRA wants to keep gun control to a minimum. This would allow them to grow.
2. After seeing the website I believe that the target audience would be older members, with qualifcations to own a gun.
3. The pictures show people enjoying shooting the weapons. They look focused and sharp because they like what they are doing.
The phrase most repeated throughout the PETA website is "animal rights." They repeat this idea to get thier message out. The whole website is for animal rights. The target audience for the website is companies that use animals for tests, food, and clothing. The feel that animals should not be subjected to such conditions. The images throughout the website show animals. Some show them in cages while others show them as being loveable animals. The images help support the text by making the viewer feel sad for the animals that are in such cruel conditions. PETA wants you to respond to these images by joining thier cause and pledging a membership to the organization.
PETA
1. The word suffering is very common in the articles when related to animals being tested, as well as words related to boycott in regard to companies they feel are violating animal rights. Some of the things they say on the site can cause people to rebel against known authority because of the way it is worded; when most people think of cruelty they think of pure evil toward another person.
2. I would say the only use for PETA and their website is for a good joke; more than half the stuff on the site is false/ accidents that occur when working with animals/exagerated suffering.
3. They want the audience to feel bad for the animals and to support their goal of stopping cruelty toward animals. All the pictures of the animals show them in a very "sad" state which makes peopel feel bad for them. It also would not shock me if the pictures were doctored so that they would look as they do.
The National Rifle Association largely talks about safety and the proper way to use guns. They continue to let the consumer know that guns are not always bad, that they can be used in a useful, non harmful way. They constantly urge the use of gun safety. Guns are serious business, so don't mess around. The audience is likely people who collect guns, want to practice shooting, or hunt for animals. Again, they promote the safe use of guns over and over, so they also want the audience to be people who use care and have common sense. I notice a picture of a boy and presumably his father out hunting together. What it is showing is that guns can bring families together and can be safe, even with children, provided they are supervised. There were also many pictures of famous people posing with guns. They are clearly using celebrity status to help promote the selling and safety of guns.
By just glancing at the PETA website the phrase "animal rights" and the word "undercover" jumped out at me again and again. Use of the phrase "animal rights" over and over implants the idea in the mind that animals do have rights just like humans. Using the word "undercover" implies that those violating the rights of animals are hiding the fact that they are doing so, and PETA must go "undercover" to expose their mistreatment of animals.
PETA lists their target audience as both advocates and skeptics, although I doubt that many skeptics would have a reason to visit the PETA website on purpose. Mainly the page is geared towards new high school or college aged "recruits", supplying them with information to share with thier, as yet, unbelieving friends.
The images are constantly shifting from cute photos of innocent baby animals to animals penned up and living in squalor.
I chose to evaluate the National Rifle Association's website. This website is loaded with references to the NRA. There are links all over that call for help on various issues related to gun control. There are videos playing, headlines streaming, and various links to podcasts and vidcasts. I think that this website is trying to appeal to country people and people who feel they need self defense. Many of the headlines read of issues in places such as Wyoming, where there isn't much more to do than to play with guns. All over this page there are images of the Constitution that are support to support the belief that it is a right to carry a gun. In order to appeal to women there are many references to women's news shows and other television shows that involve women. This site is definitely excited about the topic, but it seems that they are trying too hard to gain my support.
The words repeated the most on the PETA website are animal sufferings, abuse and cruelty. They do this sto emphasize their stand on this issue and how important it is.
The target audience for this website is a large group of people.
They would mostly be affluent people who like to wear fur or animal farm owners , etc. Probably upto their early forties.
There are many pictures of elephants, stray dogs at farms and a wide variety of other animals. This supports the text as they basically show images of almost all animals which are subjected to animal cruelty and abused
The NRA website repeat comments about being a member, or the special benefits of members. They have multiple "click here" targets that link you to a page where you can join the National Rifle Association. Also, a large portion of the content on the main page deals with the media or news. They like to keep members informed about laws, and stories that are going on around them.
The target audience for this site would be gun owners, or maybe thoes who are looking to become gun owners. Lawful citizens who own guns want to stay informed about new laws that govern their guns. Newcommers may be attracted by the governmental regulations page, before they buy a gun in order to insure they are abiding by the law.
Some of the images on the site contain safety equipment, such as safes and trigger locks. This shows that the NRA values safety and firearms education. They also have a competition page with pictures of people at the range. This shows that they feel guns are not just dangerous weapons. If they are used in the correct way, they will not be harmful.
PETA: This site supports the idea that animal are not ours to exploit, eat, wear, or use for entertainment. The target audience for this site seem to be animal lovers, activists, and large consumer of animal products. Because those are the people who will actually do something about this problem, PETA uses celebrities and and disturbing news of animal abuse to attract attention and support their cause. Celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Joanna Krupa shown on the site for their support of the ethical treatment of animals.
The site contains images of celebrity supporters and cute animals and uses them to target the soft hearted people in the world and gain more support. While there are a lot of text on their homepage, the images are a sample of story in the text, such as, "PetSmart's Big Suffering for Small Animals." This images contains a rat in a cage.
I chose the Animal Rights topic.
1) Over and over I see the point of animals should have the right to choose what happens to them and what is inflicted upon them. I feel that this is one of the major topics of animal rights and the writers want to stress this as much as possible.
2) People that abuse animals and use animals for clothing, food, and etc. are the main targets in these articles. They want to target those who may hurt their precious creatures.
3) The image shown is a monkey in this dirty area with trash around him. Obviously not being taken care of properly like those who really care about him would.
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