Bridget Bashaw

Enc1102
Project #4
Rhetorical Reflection
For one of our final assignments we were presented with the concept of
assembling and creating a project based on a rhetorical situation of our choosing.
We were asked to use some sort of mode or medium to get our exigence, which
would be the problematic situation we came up with, to be understood by our
appointed audience. By using 5 preexisting texts I was able to develop and create
my project on the idea of persuading other people to not want to text and drive.
1. Rhetorical Situation
I decided I wanted to have my project cover the controversy that is texting
while driving. Texting and driving has become one of the most problematic
situations in our time, with over 1.3 million wrecks due to texting while driving in
2011. As technology advances and people are becoming more and more accustomed
to the regular daily use of cellphones, texting while driving is being seen as lesser of
a big deal every single day. As well as it being recognized as a casual thing to text
while driving now a day, the amount of people who partake in this distraction is
increasing dramatically. The growing popularity of cellular devices has exceedingly
dangerous consequences directly to those who are on the road texting, and to
everyone who is surrounding them. It is one thing to put your own life at risk, but to
text while driving you are putting more lives than just your own on the line. I want
to encourage younger people to not want to text while driving, therefore the
audience I decided to target for my project is teenagers who are just getting their

permits or licenses and parents. I believe these are the best two groups to aim at
with my project because teenagers are more addicted to their cellphones than any
other age group. What do you think the first thing the majority of teens do when
they finally get their permit or license is? Probably post a picture on social media
with their cellphone. It is very difficult to get this generation of teenagers to look up
from their phone screen whether theyre at the dinner table, at the movies, or even
in class. I dont think this behavior would just instantly change when theyre behind
the wheel, unless they are taught otherwise, which is why the second group I aimed
at is perfectly appropriate. Parents should be setting an example for their kids while
they are driving, not texting and doing the opposite. It is said that 48% of children
ages 7 to 12 admitted to being in the car while the adult driver was texting.
Parents should be aware of all the dangers that come with texting while driving and
should be able to teach their child that it can wait. They should be leading by
example.
2. Assemblage
For the assemblage of my project I wanted to recreate an iPhone, considering
that is the most widely owned phone amongst all my friends and family, including
myself. I started with the idea of a white iPhone displaying the main homepage
screen and most of the apps that are usually presented within it to make it look as
realistic as possible. Out of each app I placed a text bubble or two with the original
iPhone message look that I generated online. I created the iPhone itself out of white
poster board paper and also used that to make the 9 square shaped apps on the
screen. I filled in each app with marker drawings based on what text bubble was

coming from it. For example, on the app with skull and crossbones is the fact that 11
teens die a day from texting induced automobile wrecks printed in a text message
bubble. Each text bubble contained information similar to this that I also found
online, corresponding to its drawing on the app. For one app I even drew the iPhone
keyboard emoji of an angel for the fact that 77% of all drivers that text while driving
believe and are confident that they are still safe and good drivers, even when they
are not. I used the angel emoji because it reminded me of safety and security, but its
mischievous smile gave me a sense of uncertainty at the same time. I also figured the
ginormous shape of the iPhone would catch the younger audiences eyes, while all
the familiar looking text message bubbles would hold and grasp their attention as
they read each statistic and fact. This assemblage directly addresses my exigence
because it relates to a cellphone getting text messages, which is exactly what my
project is all about.
3. Genre
A genre is a class or category of something that has a particular form or
technique to it. It is usually characterized by its similarities in form, style, and all the
matter found within it. I think the genre that most fits my project would be a visual
advertisement, since my project is a persuasive poster board type of presentation. I
learned that some conventions held within advertisements include: brand and logos,
size, color schemes, pictures, and the limited use of words. So for my project I tried
to follow some of these same rules. A convention of my advertisement includes the
well-known brand I used which would be Apple because of the iPhone, the iMessage
text bubbles, and the app-like displays that I copied and transformed. The size of my

iPhone could also be considered a convention of the advertisement, because it is

obviously much bigger than an average phone and it catches peoples attention that
much quicker and easier. It engrosses people and makes them wonder why there is
a giant iPhone being presented in front of them. Another convention could be the
pictures used within my phone screen displayed on the apps. I used pictures that are
eye catching and intriguing like a can of beer and a set of skull and crossbones. I also
believe the style of my project, using a cellphone frame and real text bubbles with
actual facts inside, can be very persuasive and manipulative like any basic
advertisement. It opens our eyes to how something so common that mostly
everyone possesses and enjoys on a regular basis can be evil and disastrous if
abused in the wrong ways. Like the way we text when we should be paying all of our
attention to the road.
If someone wanted to recreate this advertisement in real life I would suggest
putting it on the side of a bus stop or something with a big flat surface and frequent
nearby crowd. Also making it digital like having the phone receive the text messages
as they appear on the corresponding app on the screen, so that people could read
along as they wait for the bus. Also actual text messages that resulted in fatal car
accidents could be displayed on the screen after the initial advertisement, followed
by sad real life stores. I feel like this would keep people interested for just the right
amount of time to hold their attention and not bore them, while perfectly getting the
point across.

4. Modes, Media, and Progress

My assemblage has a couple modes used within it. I believe the actual text
included within the message bubbles is a form of a mode, along with the pictures
drawn on each app on the screen. The text bubbles each contain different facts and
details about texting and driving that I found and combined from a couple different
Internet sources. These texts contain different facts and real statistics that are
supposed to scare the audience from wanting to take their phone out while behind
the wheel. One statistic I used is that you are 1.4 times more likely to be involved in
a car accident by solely just reaching out for your phone while driving. With each
app I drew a distinct picture used to get my message across in another way like
drawing a skull and crossbones for one of my statistics, and a cellphone with a
prohibition symbol going through it for another.
Conclusion
I believe that young, reckless kids need something visual in front of their
faces to see the horror that accompanies texting while driving. It was also my goal to
make parents more aware of all the risks their children can experience when texting
and driving, so they can help encourage them to put their phones away when they
are on the road. I chose to pick this topic because it is a reoccurring controversy and
a week after choosing this issue my sister, Jaclyn, got in a car accident in the
Dominican Republic as a result of my cousin, Sarah, texting while driving. This
reassured me that this really is a growing problem and people need to open their
eyes to all the destruction that can happen when cellphones are involved on the
road. Sarah has 9 fractures in her foot, which will lead her to having a metal rod

placed in it for the next 2 years of her life. Jaclyn also spent some time in the hospital
and now walks with a limp, as well as having scars cover the entirety of her
forehead. I personally do not feel comfortable driving next to or being in the car
with someone who doesnt have both their eyes on the road and two hands on the
wheel. My project could be used to raise awareness of the dangers that come along
with texting and driving, especially because they are all tragedies that can be so
easily avoided.

Work Cited:

"Texting and Driving Statistics." Texting and Driving Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 02
Dec. 2014.

"Death by Txt - Numbers Show SMS and Driving Don't Mix." GPS Systems. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

"The Dangers of Texting While Driving." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.

Other pre-existing sources:

-iPhone brand
-iPhone Apps
-Keyboard Emoji (angel)