Gonzalez 1

Samuel Gonzalez
Professor Malvin
English 114A
November 1, 2015
Driving a Weapon
According to the CDC, In 2013, 2,163 teens in the United States ages 1619 were killed
and 243,243 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle
crashes. Once someone turns sixteen and a half years of age they are able to apply for a drivers
permit to go behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Till today, it is still arguable if a teenager is
responsible and mature enough to get behind a motor vehicle that is a potential weapon that can
kill people and even themselves. Motor vehicles are weapons and can harm or potentially kill
another human being when under control of an unfit or irresponsible person which makes motor
vehicles harmful and kills people every day.
When you look at this image it gives you more than just a picture, it gives you a certain
sense of feeling that you cant describe. But, that feeling is describable by taking the picture
apart piece by piece. The dark background with just a spotlight on the set of car keys gives it a
criminal or scary feeling to it. With the car keys positioned in just the right way to make it look
like a gun. The words Takes one life every 25 seconds directly underneath the car keys. All of
this that I am describing was set up to make people feel the way they feel when shown this
image. A car can take you many places but you have a slight chance of death or injury in the
matter of minutes or even seconds when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Because there is
that chance of death is what makes motor vehicles deadly.

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Days after searching up this image, I did an interview with family members and I showed
them the image and they gave me their thoughts and comments. When the image was first shown
to my siblings, they all had similar thoughts and ideas of what the picture meant or was trying to
describe to them. They all were automatically drawn to the center of the page where the set of car
keys were and noticed that they looked like a gun. They read the text and came to a conclusion
that driving a car is like holding a weapon. A car can kill a person just like a gun can.
How can picture elements like color or positioning affect the way we feel about a certain
picture. In Molly Bangs Picture This, she states that, shapes and colors affect us emotionally
(pg. 3). In the image we can see that there is a dark background which can give us a feeling of
an unsafe atmosphere. There is also a gun which does not have curves which gives us a feeling of
insecurity. She also states that, The center of the page is the most effective center of attention.
It is the point of greatest attraction (pg. 22) As you can see, the spotlight is directly centered
above the car keys as well as the car keys and text being right in the middle of the whole image.
The shapes, colors, and positioning of everything in the photo is made to give us a feeling of
evil or insecurity.
The use of logic, rationality, and critical reasoning to persuade is one of the three ways
that makes an image persuasive and effective. This image uses logos directly in the middle of the
image. Takes one life every 25 seconds is a fact. This fact persuades viewers of this image
intellectually. Because it is a fact we are more willingly to be persuaded by this image and the
dangers it is informing us about.

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Pathos is the use of emotion and effect to persuade. This image uses pathos quite a bit.
For example, the topic of the image can make a personal connection with a viewer if the viewer
has lost someone to a car accident and can stir up emotions. It can also cause viewers to have
compassion and empathy towards people who may have died or gotten injured in a car accident.
All of this can persuade viewers to drive safer and maybe even motor vehicle companies to go
the extra step in limiting the speed of their vehicles or putting extra safety features in their
vehicles.
Ethos is used to persuade that the image is credible and believable. This image is
believable because it uses statistics to back up the image presented to us. He also gives credit to
the website that posted the photo and also gives credit to the fact takes one life every 25
seconds that he wrote under the image.
According to the CDC, The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16-19-yearolds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are
nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash. Motor vehicle
crashes are the leading cause of death. This is significant because it proves that a motor vehicle
can be deadly or even more deadly than a gun.
In conclusion, this image gives us a very emotional feeling and also scary or evil
feelings. It is showing us that a motor vehicle can be as deadly as a gun. This photo was made in
order to inform us of the dangers of driving and that we should be more alert and aware when
driving.

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Works Cited
Bang, Molly. Picture This: How Pictures Work. San Francisco: Chronicle. 2000. PDF. 29
October, 2015.
"Teen Drivers: Get the Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 14 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html>.
"THOUGHT PROVOKING: Print Ads with Strong Messages." BrandNG. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Oct. 2015. <http://brandng.net/2015/05/thought-provoking-print-ads-with-strongmessages/>.

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Dear Professor,
Starting this essay I chose a picture that really had a message for people. Then I did
research on the topic and found statistics and facts. I then read molly bangs pdf and tried to find
out what my image had that she spoke about. Like always I had trouble making my essay
lengthy. I feel good about my structure and organization.