Civic Artifact Speech Outline

Introduction

It seems every day when we turn on the news we hear another tragic story about a school shooting happening in the U.S. With this plague that diseases our nation it is obvious that there would be PSA’s and Ad campaigns that fight to change these horrible occurrences. Which leads me to my civic artifact, a PSA made by Moms Demand Action an organization that advocates for gun control to stop school shootings across the country. In my upcoming rhetorical analysis I will be structuring it as follows, Background on the artifact, why it is civic and common places and then a general to specific rhetorical analysis of the piece. To frame the rhetorical analysis properly, I will not be advocating for gun control or not but what my interpretation of the PSA is. This can all boil down to a thesis, The PSA issued by Moms Demand Action uses commonplaces, and rhetorical strategies(that will be defined throughout the speech) to call for a change of the gross atrocities that are occurring in the US.

To give a good understanding of the PSA some background information must be presented

Artifact Background

• Who→ Moms Demand Action, an activist group comprised of Mothers who are pro Gun control
• To Whom→ Realistically anybody, students, parents, policy makers, or anybody that is honestly willing to make a difference. 
• Usually the Audience will encounter this message online or through some form of social media
•  The Audience usually interprets this PSA as a pro gun control ad as a means to raise awareness of fallacies in our law making system

This can lead directly to why the article is civic

• Call to Attention→ The PSA is looking at not only the citizens but even more specifically lawmakers to change gun control laws and fix some of the loopholes in the U.S Government
• Civic Infrastructure→ It calls to the idea that it is our job as citizens to protect the future generation of this country but the status quo does not allow for that(refer to child holding a gun)

This can lead directly into the commonplaces present within this PSA

Commonplaces

• Guns are the reasons behind all of these school shootings
• It is our job to change the government and nurture future generations

Analysis of Rhetorical Devices

• Rhetorical Strategies→ Rhetorical imagery leads to two elements
  • Pathos→ The thought of a child holding a large assault weapon should illicit some feelings of disgust or an unnatural feeling in the audience
  • Tone→ negative, the child holding the gun coupled with her facial expression can show that the child does not want to be in that situation. This can cross apply to the overarching idea of school shootings. 
• Rhetorical Logic(Logos)
  • The PSA comes to the conclusion that Lawmakers inherently do not know what they are doing when it comes to school shootings
    • The logic follows a pretty easy step by step process
    • 1. Kinder eggs are supposed to be harmless candy but are banned to keep people safe
    • 2. Kinder Eggs have not killed nearly as many people as guns
    • 3. However, guns are not banned but kinder eggs are

Conclusion

To conclude commenting on the Kairos is very important, it may crystallize why this PSA might actually matter to the audience. In light of the recent political climate there has been much talk about harsher gun control laws and their place in the U.S political system. At this exact moment the talk about school shootings and gun control is escalating, so what better time to analyze the rhetorical strategies involved in this exact topic. Through the use of Rhetorical Imagery and Logic, Moms Demand Action puts together a persuasive PSA that calls to the validity of what it means to be civic.