I looked at the model Invisible Child Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Homeless Life By ANDREA ELLIOTT published in the NY times.
What genre would you consider this model to be? What are some of the conventions for this genre, and how does the model fit these conventions (or not)?
This genre would be a documentary because it’s showcasing her life in poverty and the struggles she goes through every day.
What is the rhetorical purpose of the model? What is it trying to do? What message does the model have?
The purpose of the model is to shed light on childhood poverty and homelessness and the everyday struggles these kids and families go through everyday just to eat. We often see and hear about homelessness but none of us probably understand the magnitude of being homeless unless we’ve lived it, and these pictures are able to give some sense of what it is like. The take away message I think is just to be appreciative and don’t judge someone by their circumstances.
Who is the audience for this model? How do you know who the audience is?
I’m really not sure about the audience but it appears to be adults but that’s all I can really tell, and I’m honestly not even sure about that. And the only reason I say that is geared towards adults is because of the language used in the written article seemed aimed towards an older audience.
What modes are part of the model? How are these modes used, and what type of meaning do the modes convey?
The mode used throughout the model is pictures, and these pictures display a very serious tone to match the severity of the situation that Dasani and her homeless family live in.
What rhetorical appeals are part of the model? Do the rhetorical appeals make sense given the rhetorical purpose of the model? Are these rhetorical appeals part of a larger genre convention?
Rhetorical appeals include pictures of Dasani’s temporary shelter housing that is absolutely filthy, falling apart, and tiny but is home to 6 people, her mom bathing her younger sister in a sink, Dasani’s family riding the subway because they have no car, and the little amount of Christmas gifts they have under their tiny Christmas tree. All of these appeals make sense considering the model which is shedding light on homeless youth, and these images do a very good job because they evoke such strong emotion when you see them and they do a really good job of reinforcing the purpose of the model.
What are the parts of the model? How do you think the model was created (what technologies did they use, what was the process)?
The model consist of like a photo collage/timeline that is seen throughout the model, and these photos look like they were created with some type of professional camera because the pictures were extremely high quality, I’m not sure if the images were altered in terms of brightness and clarity. With the photos there was a description/ story that went with it to give further details explaining not only the life of this little girl but what was happening in the picture to give context.
How successful do you think this model is? What makes it successful? What could be improved upon?
It was successful because the pictures made me interested enough to actually read the article that accompanied the pictures, and the article was even more interesting than the pictures. But at the same time it would be hard not to find this story interesting because it is the kind of story that tugs at your heart strings, I just feel like the artist picked a very compelling story because it would be really difficult to not feel at least a little sentimental when reading and looking at pictures of a homeless child.
What type of production do you want to create? Consider the genre and the media that you want to use.
I want to create a model that showcases the “selfie”. The genre I think would be the most useful to display my vision is a website.
What do you want your rhetorical purpose to be? What message do you want to convey?
The purpose is to show not only how impactful the “selfie” is in our everyday lives but to show selfies can have impact. The selfie is no longer just a meaningless picture you take when you think you look cute or you’re really drunk, it is a calculated photo shoot done with likes and retweets in mind. Think about it thanks to social media it is nearly impossible to go even a day without seeing or posting a selfie, we have self-proclaimed selfie queens (like Kim Kardashian), and we spend more time picking an Instagram filter than we do on homework sometimes.
*side note* my computer autocorrects ‘Kardashian’…either her fame is very influential or I write about the Kardashians too much
A selfie allows you to connect with people, it allows you make a statement, and to display a piece of yourself without even saying a word. Everyone always says a picture is worth a thousand words and with social media such as with Myspace, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and twitter those words become amplified faster and to more people. Making that statement that a picture is worth a thousand words even more relevant in the modern age than ever before.
Who do you want your audience for this production to be? How can you appeal to this specific audience?
I would say the target audience is young adults (under 25)/teenagers because this is the age group that was either raised or grew up in the social driven world so they are more likely to know what a selfie is, actually be taking selfies, and probably frequent social media sites where other people are also taking and posting selfies. Not saying that older people do not understand or take selfies I just dint think they understand the magnitude of the selfie because they were not breed on social media and smartphones, they spent the large majority of their lives without it so they don’t always
What modes could you use for this production? How can you use these modes to express meaning?
The modes would be pictures or a video of…selfies. I would attempt to use all different types of selfies. I want to show fun selfies, scary selfies, dramatic selfies, cute selfies, my own selfie, just to showcase how unique yet reflective a selfie can be depending on what your trying to portray. To accompany the video or pictures I want quotes and stuff about what people think of selfies to truly showcase the importance.
How does your idea align with what you discovered when analyzing your model? How does it deviate from what your model did?
My idea doesn’t really correlate topic wise with the model I looked up about the homeless girl other than I want to also portray my idea through pictures, because I think pictures are one of the most powerful forms of media even if words don’t accompany them. in the model I looked up the artist used long paragraphs to describe her pictures, but my goal is to let the pictures speak for themselves and not let my own words
How do you plan to create your production? What will be your process? What technologies will you use?
I’m not sure if I want to use a video or like a photo collage to display the selfies, maybe both but I want the selfies as they are with no additional editing by me so I can display exactly what the person was trying to portray.
What are some of the challenges to this project for you? What are some of the aspects that you think will be easy?
Making the website will be the hardest part because I’ve never made a website and I don’t know anything about coding or even how to make a website. Finding a wide range of selfies might be difficult but at the same time that might be the easiest part it just really
What questions do you have about this project in terms of process or product?
Is this too broad a topic to tackle, should I narrow it or change the focus?
Is there anything else you want me to know about your project or that you want to address in our conference?
Do the images have to be creative commons or fair use? And when is this due?
