For our third unit, our class was tasked with a multimodal assignment with two agendas: to create a visual argument with a media image, and to supplement the visual with a persuasive argument that would allow the public to not only see the visual but hear the meaning behind it. I created an ad that would appear in subway stations and billboards. The goal of this visual and persuasive proposal is to reach out to families that have experienced the loss of someone to the unnecessary gun violence in their neighborhoods and to control the usage of guns being handled to people that will use them to harm others. I targeted this specific group and used my visual to emotionally appeal to these families who value their community and loved ones. The importance of my ad and supporting proposal becomes apparent as I bring a personal story of a young teenager who was loved by the basketball community in the lower east side of Manhattan. I shared their story and the responses of the mothers that lost their children. In both my ad and proposal essay, I demonstrate a keen awareness of my audience by paying careful attention to the way that I appeal to my respective audiences in distinct ways.             

Draft

The past two years have been traumatizing for families in the United States that’s lost someone in their families to unnecessary violence. Why is that? Why must innocent people go down just for living their everyday lives. As long as I can remember it’s always been a strain on families to go through something they shouldn’t. Young, middle aged, and older people have fallen victim to it. Many of their stories have been heard throughout the states and it sparks anger for the people. So much turmoil that has to be figured out and so many investigations that try to solve it. People ask the same questions, why did this happen? Why was it him/her? Why would anyone do this? Those questions leave people in this turmoil and police have to be relied on to answer them. I for one experienced this feeling when someone I knew passed away a couple months ago. The visual argument I’m here to show is to connect both the visual itself to a story and to express its message to stop gun violence.

The purpose of this visual argument I chose is to convey the problem of how gun violence is a problem to communities and its families. It’s to help stop it from happening to anymore people. I see this argument as a poster to advocate across many platforms, media and all. This visual can be seen by so many people that are willing to see the emotion that comes behind it. So many occurring problems with guns reside in many different neighborhoods. With that in mind, I want it to reach out towards families in these neighborhoods that have gone through this pain. I know it can spark a way for communities to speak out more on the opposing gun violence and create a fight that will change the minds of others. 

A terrible incident occurred back in May 16th with the two teens Nikki Huang and Jesse Parrilla. They were found in the Bronx in a horrible murder. The two were caught up in a gang feud. Nikki Huang was mugged by the rival gang that are called ‘up the hill’ members, instead of going to the police, she complained to her gangster friends ‘down the hill’. Jesse had no part or connection to any of the gang activity and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Jesse wanted to take Nikki home, despite it being very late at night. His mother called him wanting to know when he’ll be home because it was so late. Jesse reassures his mother by telling her he wants to take Nikki home and will be home soon. After Jesse was taking Nikki home, he was car jacked and forced to call Nikki back downstairs. Nikki on the other hand had a bad feeling about it and left anyway knowing that her friend might be in danger. In doing so, they were both driven up near Pelham and fatally shot. The car was burned and they were found on May 16th early morning. The mother of both Jesse and Nikki were heartbroken about the problem. Jesse’s mother, Michelle Morales says he’s a good hearted kid that was unaware of anything and would never put himself in those situations. Nikki’s mother exclaimed that Nikki was always looking out for her friends in trouble. 

The visual can be seen clearly as both Jesse’s and Nikki’s mothers as they mourn the loss of their children. The visual argument has that eye-catching look when you listen to the story and look back at the image. That’s what the visual goes for. I want people to see it and be able to feel the connection. This was a problem to the basketball community in the lower east side of Manhattan. Including myself, we honored Jesse Parrilla as he took part in our basketball community. Guns have damaged people and stories such as this are the reason why it strains them. I was at a loss when this happened. It made me think that there was no way of getting out of those situations. Despite that, there is a way to help others from going through these situations. It’s best that people advocate for each other and spread imagery like this across different platforms and media.

Final Draft

The past two years have been traumatizing for families in the United States that’s lost someone in their families to unnecessary violence. Why is that? Why must innocent people go down just for living their everyday lives. As long as I can remember it’s always been a strain on families to go through something they shouldn’t. Young, middle aged, and older people have fallen victim to it. Many of their stories have been heard throughout the states and it sparks anger for the people. So much turmoil that has to be figured out and so many investigations that try to solve it. People ask the same questions, why did this happen? Why was it him/her? Why would anyone do this? Those questions leave people in this turmoil and police have to be relied on to answer them. I for one experienced this feeling when someone I knew passed away a couple months ago. The visual argument I’m here to show is to connect both the visual itself to a story and to express its message to stop gun violence.

The purpose of this visual argument I chose is to convey the problem of how gun violence is a problem to communities and its families. It’s to help stop it from happening to anymore people. I see this argument as a poster to advocate across many platforms, media and all. This visual can be seen by so many people that are willing to see the emotion that comes behind it. So many occurring problems with guns reside in many different neighborhoods. With that in mind, I want it to reach out towards families in these neighborhoods that have gone through this pain. I know it can spark a way for communities to speak out more on the opposing gun violence and create a fight that will change the minds of others. 

The imagery that is shown, we can see a woman with half of her face shown. Hair coming down covering her other eye. A facial expression that shows no happiness. The face of the woman has realistic detailing. The background is white all around, giving it a subtle look. The entirety of the image is black and white as it’s hand drawn. The tear coming out of her eye is blue. It’s the only part of the image that is colored and the reason for that is to express more on the color. The color blue is usually a sad color. It transitions from a dark to a light blue.The image being black and white with the addition of the blue tear makes the visual pop out more as a whole. It also adds contrast to the face. The hand drawn aspect of the picture brings out the naturality of the face. The font of the visual is written in bold text with the message “Grieving hurts, stop the violence”. The short message of the text is supposed to resonate with how the facial figure feels about the situation. The close up of the face is supposed to capture her expression and it makes it eye-catching to the viewer. This visual connects with a short yet sad story of two people that became victims to gun violence. 

A terrible incident occurred back in May 16th with the two teens Nikki Huang and Jesse Parrilla. They were found in the Bronx in a horrible murder. The two were caught up in a gang feud. Nikki Huang was mugged by the rival gang that are called ‘up the hill’ members, instead of going to the police, she complained to her gangster friends ‘down the hill’. Jesse had no part or connection to any of the gang activity and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Jesse wanted to take Nikki home, despite it being very late at night. His mother called him wanting to know when he’ll be home because it was so late. Jesse reassures his mother by telling her he wants to take Nikki home and will be home soon. After Jesse was taking Nikki home, he was car jacked and forced to call Nikki back downstairs. Nikki on the other hand had a bad feeling about it and left anyway knowing that her friend might be in danger. In doing so, they were both driven up near Pelham and fatally shot. The car was burned and they were found on May 16th early morning. The mother of both Jesse and Nikki were heartbroken about the problem. Jesse’s mother, Michelle Morales says he’s a good hearted kid that was unaware of anything and would never put himself in those situations. Nikki’s mother exclaimed that Nikki was always looking out for her friends in trouble. 

The visual can be seen clearly as both Jesse’s and Nikki’s mothers as they mourn the loss of their children. The visual argument has that eye-catching look when you listen to the story and look back at the image. That’s what the visual goes for. I want people to see it and be able to feel the connection. This was a problem to the basketball community in the lower east side of Manhattan. Including myself, we honored Jesse Parrilla as he took part in our basketball community. Guns have damaged people and stories such as this are the reason why it strains them. I was at a loss when this happened. It made me think that there was no way of getting out of those situations. Despite that, there is a way to help others from going through these situations. It’s best that people advocate for each other and spread imagery like this across different platforms and media.