Theoretical premise
1.
Theoretical premise: In order to create an
effective message one should not confine oneself to any single theoretical
premise; rather, apply as many theories into the creation of the message as is
practical.
a.
The artifact is an email with a video I received
as a June 14th update from White House.gov titled “The White House
is full of people who come from different places. Some a little farther than
others.”
b.
About immigrants that work in the White House.
c.
Marringer and Stapel[i]
(2009) state that “people are active agents in the construction of their social
realities, people’s own thoughts and feelings play an important role in how
they complete their impressions of others”.
d. Obama’s
PR people have done a good job of putting together a good example of applying
many theories in the creation of this artifact.
2.
Ethical Responsibility
a.
Subtly it asks us to accept the ethical
responsibility to accept the immigrant population because that is the American
dream.
b.
With the use of old immigration photos we are
reminded of our own ancestors arriving and seeking the same American dream the
newcomers now seek.
c.
We feel the responsibility to ethically treat
the newcomers as our ancestors wanted to be treated.
3.
Dialogic
a.
The viewer becomes part of the dialogue because
the interviewee often speaks to the camera. There are several Dialogic theses
used in the film:
b.
These are people that help make America work.
c.
Each holds a stake in the nation –
d.
“We are a nation of immigrants. We bring
together different ideas, different cultures, different races”
e.
“a nation of laws... a nation of immigrants”
f.
“America has the power to bring people to its
shores to help build a better country”
--overlaps into epistemic
4.
Epistemic
a.
Epistemically that American Dream is a faith
that we have, built on our heritage. We react to this faith emotionally as
well.
b.
One speaker gives us part of that American
Dream: “it seems to be a universal thought that people come here to do things
that they never thought they could do anywhere else”
c.
Also the “expression of gratitude” reinforces
that American Dream scenario.
5.
Narrative Approaches
a.
Each speaker has a story to share.
b.
We become engaged in the story and that builds
affection and empathy for the speaker and the cause.
6.
Dual Process
a.
Whether the viewer approaches the film from the
peripheral or the central processing route, there is something in the film to
persuade.
b.
Peripherally we are drawn to the narratives and
the emotion attached to the photos, as well as the mention of family values and
the struggles their parents endured to make a place for their families in this
country.
c.
Centrally we process that the idea of sharing
the American Dream and as mentioned before as a responsibility we need to
acknowledge.
d.
We may process the immigrant’s mentioning that
his parents “learned English” in a peripheral way, yet when we centrally
examine what we are seeing, we also notice that all the speakers learned
English and speak it well.
7.
Semiotics
a.
Family pictures and clips of immigrants are
signs and symbols that bring nostalgia to the forefront. Note the use of the
photo of Nancy’s ‘son’ in uniform.
b.
The symbolic nature of the uniform symbolizes
that she has made the same sacrifice as millions of other parents whose
children serve in the armed forces.
8.
Semantics
a.
There is mention of the words: “talent”, “drive”
and “ambition” and the way the use of the word “we” reaches out to put its arms
around the viewer.
b.
Family and values oriented wording
9.
Aristotle spoke
of the segmented audience ... i.e. speaker must adapt to the context:
a.
Who is the target audience of this piece?
b.
The left wing audience is all “yeah, yeah this
is exactly what I want to hear”. Obama is reinforcing what the audience already
knows.
c.
The right wing audience is all “Hey, what are
all those people from terrorist and former communist countries doing working in
the White House”?
d.
Neither of these is the primary target audience.
The target is the fence sitter who is not sure where he/she stands … the swing
vote. Politically speaking I think one can say that the target audience is
always the swing vote. Short of a really big event that turns everyone’s head,
such as Watergate, your supporters are always going to love you and your
detractors are always going to hate you. So your advertising focus is not on
changing the minds of your detractors, but on changing the minds of enough of
the swing vote to accomplish your goal.
10.
Primarily the use of pathos is involved in this
piece, but all three become involved.
a.
Hard work is produced from these immigrants. (a
value held dear to working class Americans).
b.
Clips from the 30’s of immigrants arriving on
ships relate the viewer back to his/her own ancestors who arrived in much the
same way.
c.
Pathos is felt from the message, but not
necessarily evident in the delivery of the message. There are no serious
emotional appeals, but rather the emotion is felt within the receiver of the
message, based on the narratives and symbols within the film.
d.
“Pathos may involve the content of the appeal”
–Each person described how his/her parent(s) were hard working individuals, who
raised a family while seeking the American dream. (To dispel the concept that
immigrants come here to live off welfare).
11.
What is the American dream really? Is it
becoming rich or is it the freedom to make the world a better place for your
children and grandchildren.
12.
Examples represent logos.
a.
we’re sort of bound up with some vary shared
goals (note the goals are not mentioned) and
b.
we all want the same kind of future for our kids
(again not elaborated)
c.
who are all going to be Americans who come after
us” (creating a connection to the audience).
d.
Hard work is produced from these immigrants. (a
value held dear to working class Americans).
13.
Ethos: All these combine to form a delivery of
the material that is quite effective to the target audience.
14.
A couple of cautions:
a.
“Araya and Ekehammer state that “when people are
instructed to suppress their prejudice, they tend to increase their prejudice
level dramatically compared to when they were not instructed to do so” (Araya
& Ekehammer, 2009, p. 330)[ii].
b.
“Asking perceivers to forget or disregard
stereotypic information may enhance the false memories of stereotypic
behaviors” (Araya & Ekehammer, 2009, p. 330).
15.
Compliance Gaining
a.
Calls to action are encompassed in the film as
well as on the webpage found by following the link in the email.
b.
Ends with an invitation to “share your story”
again creating unity with the target audience.
c.
On the email is found the implied statement “My
plan to solve the immigration problem is right here ... follow the link”.
