Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis of Field Artifacts Katumalla 1

Naomi Katumalla

Dr.Kelly

ENC 2135

30 October 2022
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The goal of the public health field is to improve community health. Some ways this is

accomplished is through the communication of information via posters, advertisements,

community education programs, articles, flyers, academic journals, and public service

announcements. African-Americans have often not been the target of such public health

campaigns and have been systematically neglected by many institutions. When these

communities were targeted for health campaigns, they were usually exploited in some way due to

racist/eugenic ideas, (such as the Tuskegee experiment or the forced sterilization). These

historical events make it more difficult for modern efforts of community outreach. Therefore, the

use of certain appeals must be used to convince members of the African-American community to

engage in certain public health efforts.

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The ad pictured above is a poster published by the CDC. The purpose of this

advertisement is to try and convince African-Americans to quit cigarettes by educating them

about the risks of smoking. The creators of this advertisement use a variety of rhetorical appeals

in order to accomplish their purpose. To begin, they use ethos to try and persuade African

American men to stop smoking. The acronym CDC stands for the "Central for Disease Control

and Prevention," an government agency headquartered in Atlanta Georgia. The CDC is

responsible for monitoring the spread of disease and public health in America so addressing

issues like lung cancer is part of the agency’s work. The viewer of the advertisement may already

have pre-existing notions and beliefs regarding smoking before viewing this advertisement.

Therefore, if the creators of this ad want to dispel these common smoking myths, the audience

needs to be informed about where the facts listed on the ad are coming from. The CDC is a

well-known organization and someone who is reading this ad is more likely to trust the studies

listed on this advertisement if they know it's coming from a reputable source. When the creators

of the advertisement use the CDC logo and the CDC name in the corner, they hope to make the

advertisement look official and trustworthy. Viewers may recognize the name or logo of the CDC

logo from the news or other sources so they would know that the CDC is a reputable government

agency whose job is to prevent disease. If the logo or CDC name was not included on the PSA,

the viewer may dismiss the information on the advertisement as fake or made-up. They also may

be wary of the motives behind the ad. This would mean the audience would not be reached as the

viewers would be less likely to read the poster or contact the agency for help as they might

believe that the poster has made-up facts or is part of a scam.

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Furthermore, the creators of this advertisement also use emotional appeals or pathos.

They use this by expressing sympathy and invoking messages of family. The CDC does its best

to sympathize with their audience through the use of the phrases, " Quitting is hard" and "Its

never too late." Nicotine is an addictive substance so quitting is quite difficult to do. A smoker

who tries to quit can suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms and may be tempted to take up

smoking again to relieve themselves. By showing an understanding of the struggles a smoker

may face, a viewer of the ad who has failed to quit smoking is more likely to listen to the

information on the ad and reach out for help. Showing sympathy rather than shaming the smoker

will make the audience more receptive to the message as they know that the agency will

encourage them in their quitting journey and not make them feel worse. Even if a smoker has had

multiple failed attempts to quit smoking, knowing that “Its never too late,” can give them the

extra push to keep pursuing with their journey of quitting. The composers of this advertisement

are also appealing to pathos by explaining that smoking hurts the family. In the advertisement,

there is a statement that says a person who is smoking can cause harm to their loved ones due to

the effects of second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoking is when people other than active

smokers inhale harmful chemicals as a result of being active smokers. The advertisement uses

the phrase "even kids," which is particularly effective. This phrase is significant as it appeals to

the protective side of the family member. Someone who lives with kids would want to protect

them as kids cannot protect themselves. A family member would not want to hurt the people

around them so being aware of the harmful effects of second-hand smoking might persuade the

smoker to take the first steps to quit in order to protect their kids and loved ones.
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All in all, through the use of ethos and pathos, the CDC advertisement encourages the

viewer to quit smoking and dispels any smoking myths. An artifact that has a similar purpose to

this advertisement is an article published by Johns Hopkins. The article titled, “COVID-19

Vaccines and People of Color,” is an interview with a physician about the COVID-19 vaccine.

This article is meant to educate people of color about the COVID-19 vaccine while answering

commonly asked questions about the vaccine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot

of misinformation being spread about the vaccine leading to many people opting not to get

vaccinated. African-Americans specifically were the minority group with the least amount of

vaccinations. This article was an effort meant to combat this vaccine hesitancy and examines the

cause of such disparities. The overall purpose of both artifacts is to convince people of color who

are doubtful or misinformed to make better decisions about their health. These artifacts

accomplish this purpose in similar ways.

For example, both artifacts use ethos to convince the viewer that the information is

coming from a reliable source. Like the CDC, Johns Hopkins is also a well-known institution,

(the CDC being a governmental institution and Johns Hopkins being an educational institution).

With lots of rumors around the COVID-19 vaccine, people may not know who to trust. Johns

Hopkins is well-known as being one of the top medical schools. Furthemore, this school is also

well known for their ground-breaking research advancements. The name Johns Hopkins has

significant recognition and is well established as a trustworthy source in the medical field so the

reader knows that this information is legitimate. The author, Dr.Golden, relies on credibility in
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other ways as well. A picture of the author is listed in the beginning of the article along with the

hyperlink to the author’s qualifications. Upon clicking on the hyperlink, the reader can find

information about Dr.Golden. Some information they can find is her backgrounds, publications,

research, honors, education, memberships and titles she holds, (Vice President and Chief

Diversity Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine and professor). As previously stated, the

African-American community has a large reason to distrust health institutions so someone who is

also African-American is more likely to be trusted. Initially seeing the picture of the author may

encourage a potential African-American reader to continue with reading the article as they see

someone who looks like them. Additionally, learning about the qualifications and background of

Dr.Golden makes the information seem even more credible as Dr.Golden is one of the premier

authorities in her field. The list of qualifications allows the reader to know that Dr.Golden is a

real person who is well-respected. Dr.Golden has a record of studying epidemiology and a long

history of serving within the African-American community so the reader knows that she has the

community's best interests at heart and that she wouldn’t advocate for anything harmful. If the

reader has even more doubts, they can contact Dr.Golden through her phone and schedule an

appointment to ask questions making her easily accessible. Overall, having a well-qualified

doctor within the black community to write this article, convinces a reader who may distrustful

of certain government institutions and doubtful about the COVID-19 to possibly take the first

steps of getting vaccinated.

While both artifacts use ethos, the visual nature of the CDC smoking advertisement

allows for the creators to use visual appeals to persuade the audience as well. For instance, in the

advertisement, an African-American man is pictured in the ad. The man has a very serious
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expression and the lighting is dark. The target audience of the advertisement is

African-American men so using someone from that demographic in the ad appeals to any

potential viewers. Furthermore, the dark lighting and grim expression shows that the topic being

discussed is an important matter that needs to be taken seriously. The darker colors invoke a

more urgent and scary tone versus an ad with lighter colors which seems less urgent and

light-hearted. This color scheme is appropriate for this advertisement as the creators of the poster

want the smokers to quit immediately before the smoker develops lung cancer, poor health

conditions, or further harm to their family.

In summary, both artifacts use ethos to convince their audience to take action regarding

their health, but the non-text based CDC advertisement also relies on pathos and visual appeals

as well. While previous historical policies and actions have caused harm to African-American

health, a great number of public health campaigns and efforts, (such as those discussed above),

are being implemented to help lower the disparities in the community. Hopefully as time

progresses, these inequalities are addressed leading to more equitable health outcomes for all

Americans.
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References

CDC. (2019, October 17). “African-American Men and Lung Cancer” Infographic | CDC.

www.cdc.gov.

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/african-american-infographic.htm

Golden, S. H. (2022, March 10). COVID-19 Vaccines and People of Color.

Www.hopkinsmedicine.org.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid19-va

ccines-and-people-of-color