Entry 53

Purpose

Since my topic deals with binge drinking in college, I want my audience to leave my blog in shock with what they learned about drinking. I want my blog to be filled with statistics, overdose stories, graphs and other visual representations to really get across the dangers of binge drinking. I want my audience to learn that even the most innocent, well-behaved student can become controlled by alcohol if not warned about the dangers properly. I understand my blog will not prevent college students from drinking, nor do I think it should; yet I want my audience to think twice before binge drinking before their next party. I want my audience to leave my blog learning something new each time about college alcoholism. Also, to encourage interaction and involvement from my audience, I want them to be able to submit comments to my blog anonymously to keep their identity safe and allow them to express themselves without fear of any repercussions. I want my website to make my audience aware of what goes on in the culture of college drinking and to be prepared to handle it.

Audience

The target audience for my blog is anyone in college or younger. I want college students to feel comfortable coming to my blog, receive support from other students, see new devastating drinking stories, and leave my blog thinking twice about how much they drink before next party. However, I also want to generate a younger audience to educate them about the dangers of leaving for college, having all this newly discovered freedom, and not understanding the dangers of their actions. So many high-school students are sheltered by their parents while they live at home and seek to rebel and make up for lost years when they go away to college. If my blog can also target younger students, it may be able to prevent some students from overdosing and getting alcohol poisoning when they leave for college.

Context

Binge drinking has been taking place on college campuses for the past few generations with statistics showing an uprising percentage in college students who heavily drink frequently. Drinking has become so enwrapped within the culture that there are more and more cases of bright, promising students messing up their lives and futures by getting involved with alcohol. This is something that must be addressed and is a matter that requires urgent attention. I think the Kairos, or opportune moment, for my topic is all the time as there are cases almost daily of college students overdrinking and dying due to alcohol poisoning. For my blog, I would want to keep a “News” section and update it daily as more stories are unleashed to the public. Knowledge is power and the more people see others ruining their lives with alcohol, the more students will realize the dangers and risk of binge drinking.

Rhetorical Strategies

The rhetorical appeal that would be most effective for my blog would be pathos. I need to use ‘hooks,’ such as shocking statistics, success/failure stories, and other visuals, to grasp the attention of my audience. I need to target their emotional appeals in order for them to understand the severity of college drinking and the amount of heavy drinking that takes place in this culture. Along with pathos, I will also use logos to show the rational proofs that can be concluded from college drinking.

Sources

Sources I will use include: various drinking statistics and charts, death stories related to alcohol consumption, interviews, success/failure stories regarding alcoholics, advice from past alcoholics, visual graphs and historical sources that provide some insight as to how the culture of college drinking began. All of these sources will have a powerful effect on my audience as it will scare some from drinking, motivate some alcoholics to become sober, and make sure others continue to drink responsibility and are in control of their actions.

Medium

I believe the best medium for my project will be to create an inspirational blog portraying the dangers of binge drinking.
What medium would be best suited to your audience, context, and purpose? Why? What are the characteristics of that medium? Be sure to study the conventions of the medium you chose to deliver your argument in. Creativity is welcome, but ignorance of audience expectations can be detrimental to your efforts.

Arrangement

I want my blog to be filled with shocking statistics, appalling visuals and inspiring writing. I want there to be a balance of these three things, yet think that statistics will have the most influence and will instantly grab the audience’s attention.

Which style of arrangement would be most effective for your audience, context, and purpose? Consider the patterns discussed in the book as well as choices for visuals, fonts, graphics, etc. Think about what style is most appropriate for the audience, issue, and format you chose.