Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Generating Sympathy For A Cure

             There are a lot of different awareness campaigns out for a variety of different reasons. As well as trying to spread awareness for various things these campaigns are also meant to make money for what they are bringing awareness to. That is the case with this Muscular Dystrophy ad that was put up in bus stops, train stations, and grocery stores all throughout the UK. Muscular Dystrophy is an incurable genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass that can affect people of all ages. This disease is rare so awareness campaigns like this are crucial for raising awareness and funds for more research to find better ways to treat it and hopefully find a cure one day. The image does a good job at creating sympathy by showing a boy in a wheelchair who suffers from the disease but could be reconstructed by changing the background to create even more sympathy causing people to donate money.

             This black and white colored Muscular Dystrophy ad relies heavily on pathos to get its intended purpose of raising awareness and money across to the person viewing it. When someone first looks at the photo, they see a child sitting in a wheelchair on a country dirt road without a smile on his face. By using a child in this image, it evokes pathos causing people to be even more sympathetic towards the disease rather than if they had used an adult in the image. To emphasize even more that this is a child suffering from this disease, there is a cartoon smiley face that takes up the entirety of the wheel on his wheelchair. Having this on his wheel keeps reminding the viewer that this is an innocent child having to deal with the disease in his day to day life. The absence of color and a smile on his face adds a gloomy and longing affect to the image indicating he suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. This point is made even more by showing him in a wheelchair and having the text written above his head in childish writing saying, “He’d love to walk away from this poster too.” This image was put up in places such as bus stops and train stations where people could just walk by it and continue with their day. Showing the child in a wheelchair combined with this text can help cause guilt in someone who might normally just walk by images like this without thinking twice. Finally, at the bottom of the image in small font, there is a link to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign website with the child’s name in the link along with the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign logo. Combining all these aspect in this image causes a person to feel bad for this child which is the point of this ad. If a person feels bad that a child is suffering, they are more inclined to visit the website to donate towards this cause. Using pathos in images such as this one is a great technique for raising money.

             The image does a good job evoking pathos to gain sympathy in order to raise money but reconstructing the image with a more relatable background could benefit the cause even more. Currently, the boy is sitting in his wheelchair on a country dirt road with nothing but grass and some bushes in the background. This setting seems unusual for a kid to be in and can cause some disconnect for the person viewing it. This image could be reconstructed by putting the boy in a playground setting with kids playing around him. Having kids playing around him while he looks directly at the person viewing the image without a smile on his face creates even more sympathy from the person viewing it. It shows that while other kids are playing around him on playground items such as slides and swings, he is stuck in his wheelchair not able to do the things “normal” kids are able to do. It helps emphasize that while he is not physically alone he can still feel isolated by having this disease. Adding these aspects into the image enhances it even more causing people to want to help this child by donating to this cause.

             Awareness images for rare chronic illnesses such as this one are very important in raising money to help find a cure for the disease. Rare diseases such as Muscular Dystrophy are usually underfunded leaving people suffering from the disease stranded without enough research dedicated to finding a cure. A lot of the time chronic illness ads rely on being inspirational in order to raise money which some people with chronic illnesses do not like. Typically, images featuring someone with a chronic illness tend to be all about inspiring the person viewing it by showing how happy someone with a chronic illness can be. Showing an inspiring image where someone is struggling with a chronic illness but is still happy makes a viewer feel inspired to want to do more in their lives by helping whatever cause the image is promoting. This Muscular Dystrophy ad takes a different approach of sympathy rather than inspiration which is another good technique for raising money. As someone who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy I believe either technique is beneficial for raising money for the disease. It is important to be able to get more funds for research on the disease in order to find a cure and this image provides a good way to reach that goal.