SCRIPT

*first slide*
Good afternoon, members of the SPCA. My name is Lillian Ritz, I’m taking English 15 at Penn
State Abington, where we are deconstructing textual genres and determining rhetorical
situations. I have been analyzing the genre of animal cruelty prevention advertisements and I
believe the information I have gathered from this would be beneficial to all of you here.

*second slide*
(purpose)
The writer's purpose of these advertisements is to get people to donate their time or money to
help animals who are in need

*third slide*
So what makes these advertisements, animal cruelty prevention advertisements? Well, to figure
that out we can look at their conventions.

*fourth slide*
Here are the conventions I will be pointing out on the examples.

*fifth slide* (first example)

In this first example, the first thing you see is a picture of an unhealthy looking, this isn't textual
but visuals of animals are very effective to get people's attention.
The words “ADOPT, DONATE, and VOLUNTEER” are in the largest font to stand out to viewers
so they know what they can do to help.
You can also see the word “your” was used, this makes the viewer feel as if it’s their
responsibility to get involved
It also says “save a life” in orange which pops out, so the viewer knows if they donate the
money will go towards something substantial and they can actually make a difference in an
animals life.
It also states that “anything helps”, so people who think they don't have enough to donate
realized they can donate however much they can.
And then one of the most important things to have on an advertisement is the contact
information.

(second example)
The second example is from the ASPCA and it has a picture of an abandoned dog and a simple
message at the top that makes the viewer feel sympathy for the dog and in return they'll want to
help. It also says “for just 60 cents a day you can help” which is three of the conventions in one
sentance. And they also include what the money will be going towards. I noticed this example
does not have a website or contact information but the original advertisement probably had a
link attached to the “make a monthly gift” button.
(third example)
The next example shares a story about a dog who was shot, beaten, and left to die. This story is
obviously very sad and upsetting but it shows an example of what happened to a real dog and
why people need to get involved. It has a shocking headline which gets people intrigued. Then it
asks a question that will make people feel guilty if they don't decide to help out. It also includes
a picture of the dog and his name, and this makes people feel more connected to him and they
will be more likely to help. There is also a number to text to donate money which is very
convenient. Another thing to point out is the sense of urgency to donate.

(fourth example)
The last example is from the rescue mission of California and they also used a real-life example
of a dog who was abandoned. They used his name, which is Hank, and his picture. He was
saved by the organization and they are asking people to donate to help support the rescue
mission. They included a number and website.

(exigence)
These advertisements are needed because most people don't see or think about abused
animals everyday and wouldn't think about getting involved. So these advertisements bring the
issue to people's attention.

(writer)
The writer of this genre is usually someone or a team within the organization.

(audience)
These advertisements should be directed towards people who love or care about animals and
would like to help or people who have animals of their own and wouldn't want to see their pet
abused and abandoned. A good place to advertise these would be on a pet stores website or
even in a pet store at the cash register, so that when people are spending money on their own
pets, they think about the animals who don't have an owner to care for them.

(affordances)
The advertisements lead to these organizations and they allow people to get involved and be a
part of something that's bigger than themselves.

(constraints)
Constraints for this genre is people would rather donate to other charities, for example, child
hunger and childhood cancer. Also if an advertisement is too disturbing or upsetting people will
not want to read it or think about it.

(Writers goal)
The writer's goal is to get people involved with the organization and to spread awareness about
the abuse of animals.
*Last slide*
I hope you take this important information about how these advertisements can be made to get
more involvement into consideration because the better the advertisement, the more people will
be convinced to donate and/or get involved.

Thank you for your time.