SWA #10

My Post $ecret Card 

Everyone who is in touch with modern pop culture knows the glitter-covered, dollar-sign bearing Ke$ha. The blond pop star is publicly proclaimed party girl, and described by her critics as "trashy" and other derogatory terms. However, what the public does not know is that Ke$ha is not the air-brained bimbo everyone believes her to be. Her secret is that she is actually really smart. In high school, she was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, and set on going to Columbia University, one of the best schools in the nation. She even used to drive up to observatory and other academic venues on the weekends "for fun". 

On my post secret card, I conveyed my argument implicitly. Ke$ha recently said that she wants to be respected more, and not seen just as a party girl. However, my post does not come out directly and say that. The fact that Ke$ha wants more respect and deserves it because she is in fact intelligent is the implicit argument. This is implied by "I'm not just a party girl" written down the side in big, bold letters.

The visual elements I chose include the color pink, a girly, fun, bold, almost party-ish color. I made my key phrases, "I'm not just a party girl" and "change of plan$" big and bold, catching the audience's eyes. The $ in "plans" is a reference to the money she chose over pursuing her academic career, and also a reference to her name. Additionally, I placed the details about her background over her eyes, concealing her formal wild, raunchy identity. 

I want the viewer of this post secret card to be shocked. I don't believe many people expect Ke$ha to be any sort of person with intellect. Therefore, I wanted my secret to be a surprise, and to transform people's opinions and general stereotypes. 

 

Extra Credit #3

Her biggest fear

An image of a suffering child never fails to catch one's attention. The baby pictured in a post secret submission is screaming and crying in some form of obvious pain. The heart-wrenching image supports the secret keeper's argument. “My biggest fear is that if I have a daughter, she will inherit my eating disorder.”

The saddened mother of this potential sick child is making an explicit claim but in a visual manner. Her argument's claim states that mothering a child is something she has reason to fear. Her reason, which is displayed through the image of the baby, is that her daughter would suffer the pain of an eating disorder. The secret keeper does not want to pass the misery she has suffered on to her offspring. The secret mother could be anyone, any woman in our country, considering 7 million women suffer from a eating disorder in the United States. The audience is anyone who can answer the mother's cry for help that is also an argument.

The textual support appeals to the audience's pathos. They are able to sympathize with the woman's fear due to her word choice. She is revealing her most personal fear, and the audience automatically feels her torments. Also, she directly states her reason for her fear, citing her reason in the second half of the text. This simple visual and textual argument in the form of a postcard appeals to the audience's pathos and logos. Although the audience's eyes may only lay on the image of the child's tears for a few seconds, the argument will make a lasting impression on their hearts.

"Eating Disorder Statistics." DMH. South Carolina Department of Mental Health, 2006. Web. 28 Sept. 2011. <http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm>.