1. 3 Levels of Thinking
Reading Strategy

2. Key Terms to Know: The Rhetorical Relationships
Juxtaposition
Placing items side-by-side for comparison
Maybe similar, may be a contrast
Contrast
Contradictory element
Repetition
Repeating items over again for emphasis
Shift
The element where the message changes

3. The Strategy
Level 1: What do you literally see? What are your observations?
Level 2: What do you associate with what you see? (concrete & abstract ideas)
Text to self
Text to text
Text to world
Level 3: What are the rhetorical relationships and what’s the message/ theme?

4. Level 1:
What do you see?
What do you notice about this ad?

5. Level 1: In this ad we see the back of a school bus on the road
Level 1: In this ad we see the back of a school bus on the road. The windows are opaque, and no students can be seen inside the bus. The picture is also black and white, and the caption draws attention to the issue of drinking and driving.

6. Level 2:
What do you associate with items in this ad?
Concrete?
Abstract?

7. Level 2: The mention of drinking and driving in the ad can be abstractly associated with temptation and peer pressure since drinking and driving oftentimes results from a person’s sense of belonging and necessity to identify themselves with a group. The school bus can be associated with innocence, purity, and carefreeness. The black and white tones of the photo can be associated with nostalgia as well as life and death.

8. Level 3:
What relationships do you see? What message do they convey?
Juxtaposition?
Contrast?
Shift?
Repetition?

9. Level 3: This ad attempts to convince the onlooker that we must all unite against the issue of drinking and driving. We know that the ad is targeting parents because it mentions little children with the caption “little reasons”, but we also know that what at first glance seems like a sweet reminder of the innocence of childhood is actually a harrowing reminder of what could befall the innocent when a drunk driver is involved. The black and white tones shift the message from the whims of childhood that can be associated with the school bus to the tragedy that could befall innocent children because of the negligence of drunk drivers. The ad creates empathy within all parents because the children in the bus are faceless and could be any children- even the reader’s children. This repeats the warning that people need to unite against drunk drivers to prevent these sorts of tragedies from occurring to their own children. These rhetorical relationships help us decipher the true meaning of this advertisement when at first glance we could misconstrue its purpose because of the subject of the photograph itself has different associations.

10. Level 1:
What do you see?
What do you notice about this ad?

11. Level 1: In this ad we see a train of Toyotas on the tracks of a roller coaster. The people in the cars have their hands raised and smiles on their faces. It is a clear and sunny day. The ad uses bright, vibrant colors. The caption at the bottom mentions having “fun” and “gett[ing] the feeling.”

12. Level 2:
What do you associate with items in this ad?
Concrete?
Abstract?

13. Level 2: Associations we can make with the roller coaster vary from terror to joy and excitement. Associations we can make with the vehicle are stability, safety, and excitement. We can associate the bright colors and perfect day with joy as well.

14. Level 3:
What relationships do you see? What message does that convey?
Juxtaposition?
Contrast?
Shift?
Repetition?

15. Level 3: The juxtaposing image of the car and roller coaster creates a message that the vehicle is like a ride, but the colors of the ad as well as the joy on the riders’ faces repeat the idea that the ride is not one of terror, but one of excitement. The riders obviously feel safe and secure in the vehicle too because they have their arms raised out of the windows and big smiles on their faces so that action alone shifts the message from anything that could possibly be terrifying. The rhetorical relationships of this ad show its purpose is to convince its audience that this Toyota is a fun, exciting, stable, yet safe roller-coaster of a ride.

16. Level 1:
What do you see?
What do you notice about this ad?

17. Level 2:
What do you associate with items in this ad?
Concrete?
Abstract?

18. Level 3:
What relationships do you see?
Juxtaposition?
Contrast?
Shift?
Repetition?