Visuals as Unfamiliar Text Practice 2

Text: 40 hour famine 1.What is the purpose of this advertisement? Quote one piece of evidence to support your answer.

Possible answers To encourage people to take action to help those affected by the tsunami and support the 40 hour famine appeal = ‘Crisis Alert!’ (headline, exclamation mark) = ‘You can do something’ (personal pronoun) = ‘Activate an online Famine Book’ (imperative) = ‘Get your famine pack from school’ (imperative)

2.Who is the target audience? Provide evidence to support your answer.

Possible answers School aged children = ‘Get your famine pack from your school’ = visual of teenage participant = colloquial language – ‘mates’

3.Find an example of each of these visual features and explain why each is effective in conveying the purpose of the advert. layout logo bold cartoon design symbol colour

Layout Large heading is at the top of the page with pictures on the left and words on the right. Contact information is at the bottom footer. The heading at the top catches the reader’s attention and forced the reader to consider the ‘crisis’. The eye then naturally reads down the page to focus on the remaining details.

Logo Any one of these three is an example of a logo – 40 hour famine, postie plus and Just Juice Effect is to create strong visual links and positive associations between the advertisement and the product

Bold To emphasis important details of background, emotive words and possible action = tsunami-affected countries in Asia = You can do something! = New! = Get.. Activate.. Text…

Cartoon design Children and teenagers relate well to cartoons as a part of their world Cartoons are usually associated with fun and it’s a subtle way of getting them to identify with the message

Symbol The bowl of food which represents hunger. The reader automatically links the advertisement with the plight of the hungry and the symbol also has a dramatic effect, making the reader feel sorry for the starving child.

Colour The word ‘Crisis’ is printed in red. The colour red draws the reader’s eye to the important word, ‘crisis’, which tells the reader that the situation is dire. Also, red can be an emotive colour that stands for danger and this further emphasises how serious the situation is and therefore how important it is that people go on the famine.

Colour The background is in yellow. Yellow is meant to be both eye-catching and stimulating – its helps to gain attention as a dominant image, and then might help to urge the reader into action. It also provides an effective contrast for the red and black fonts and helps them stand out.

4.Find an example of each of the following verbal features and explain how they are effective in conveying the purpose of the advert imperative personal pronouns emotive language minor sentence colloquial language

ImperativeExample: Spread the word. Effect: Reinforces the idea that students should tell their friends about the famine so that more money can be raised. Personal pronounsExample: You can do something! Effect: Includes the reader by making them realise that they could help the plight of the children. Emotive languageExample: The emotive word ‘desperately’. Effect: Makes the reader feel that the children really need their help, persuading the reader to join the 40 hour famine. Minor sentenceExample: Crisis Alert! Effect: This short sentence focuses the reader’s attention on the fact that there is a problem in the world regarding food shortage and tsunami damage. ImperativeExample: ‘tell your mates’ Effect: This use of informal tone appeals to the target audience of school students. The positive connotation of the colloquialism ‘mates’ also helps reinforce the fun aspect.