Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Photo Essay Purpose Statement

Purpose Statement
            I intend to appeal to an audience of primarily gamers and tech savvy individuals. The context of the photo essay will be a blog using photos with short text captions. My goal for this photo essay is to show people the benefits of taking on a do it yourself project compared to going out and spending more to get less. The photo essay will be a story of how I built my own computer and hopefully show the audience that it is not as hard as it looks. Additionally, I want the project to show how much more value you can get for your money by doing it yourself instead of buying a prebuilt computer or video game console. I will use my blog as a medium since the target audience is active on the internet. I produced the communication by taking pictures of steps throughout the project.
            I expect the evaluation of the assignment to look at how well defined my argument is, how well that is conveyed through the essay, and whether or not I make my argument effectively. More specifically, my ability to make something that someone from the target audience can look at and make sense of. My use of rhetorical devices will also be evaluated. The included price comparisons and notes of versatility are examples of logos. The completion of the computer build itself serves to appeal to ethos in showing that I am competent. Using humor and emphasizing the pride and feeling of accomplishment falls under pathos. Additionally, I expect that the overall look and presentation of the photo essay will have a large impact on the evaluation. My ability to use ethos, logos, and pathos with photos will also be evaluated.
            It will be difficult to show this as an argument and not just a bunch of pictures of me doing a thing. The essay will begin with pictures I took in stores of prices of video game consoles and some games. From there I will show pictures of the build process from start to finish. I will include some pictures of myself to convey a bit of emotion.


            I have tested the effectiveness of the communication by creating a version to be posted on various computer and gaming forums. In doing this, I have found an easy way to reach the target audience and to see their reactions to it. The reactions have been largely positive. Additionally, there was the class peer review.