Composition in Two Genres

The purpose of my work was to show my audience (Supreme Court Justices and government officials) the major drawback of having abortion illegal in America. That is, pregnant women will continue to have abortions regardless of its legality. This was clearly indicated through the research I did for my inquiry-based research essay. My research also showed that not only will women continue to have abortions, but the abortions they will have are further deadly, not for just the unborn child, but for them also. Through the creation of a political cartoon and meme, I am able to logically show my stance that restricting abortion laws are ineffective to my audience, therefore fulfilling my purpose.

My audience consists of people who make the decision of abortion legality in America. In order to carry out my purpose, I had to choose an audience that has direct control over the issue. Then, I noticed that the people who have direct control over this issue are the same people who have sparked the issue in recent times. They were the reason I started writing about this topic; the rhetorical situation of my recent works was the Supreme Court’s recent rehearsal of Roe v. Wade. Therefore, instead of choosing an audience that had only a small impact on the issue, I chose an audience that had the most influence.

My works have an extreme significance to my influential audience. The things I demonstrate in my illustrations could impact the Supreme Court justices and other government authority in their next decisions of abortion legality. For instance, if they look at my political cartoon or meme, they will notice how neglectful American women will become towards anti-abortion law at the time of an unwanted pregnancy. The photos would show them that their decision means nothing to American women, so then the authority will have to choose between losing unborn children or losing women and unborn children, and the former option which also indicates legal abortion would be chosen. While my works have the utmost significance to my audience, they are also accessible and attractive.

My target audience consists of people who are typically busy and don’t have much time to spend on things outside of their work. My genres are attractive to my audience because they deliver the message in a concise manner. As opposed to reading a letter or email, government leaders would rather choose to read something with fewer words like an image as it is a simpler task. This is why both of my genres are images with far fewer words than a letter.

To further engage my audience, I also incorporate things they are very familiar with into my genres, drawing on logos, the appealing to logic or reason. For example, in my political cartoon, I include the US Constitution, Roe v. Wade case, President Trump, Congress, and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, to show that my audience has an active role in pro-abortion. By including aspects that my audience is familiar with, they will be interested to examine the cartoon and meme and see how I am trying to depict them or their actions. These terms are more visible in the political cartoon genre I have chosen than they would be in other genres, making my selection of genres phenomenal.

I strategically identified my rhetorical situation, genres, audience, purpose, and stance, but I have left to cover the medium for this composition. Mailing copies of my cartoons to government officials would be an inadequate way to reach my audience because they likely don’t open their own packages, or my package won’t be opened at all because they receive a high volume of mail and only the important ones are opened. On the other hand, delivering my works through a medium of social media such as Facebook or Twitter would be a successful approach. These platforms are well-acquainted with members of my audience so the use of this medium makes my ideas accessible to my audience. I will publically post my works, then more users will share my post, and eventually, government authority on these social media sites would also see my post. To further make sure my works reach my audience, I will tag the accounts of well-known government officials on the post. Subsequently, they will receive notifications to view my post which would lead to a higher chance of them viewing my works.

On account of all these reasons, my composition in a political cartoon and meme is successful. I skillfully create an outstanding composition that addresses my rhetorical situation, genres, audience, purpose, stance, and medium. The strategies I use to employ my purpose are effective, significant, accessible, and attractive to my audience.

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