Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline:

The 1980s may be best remembered for bad hair, synthesizers, and groundbreaking international politics, but it was a decade of despair for many affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which still ravages even the most developed countries today. Though we still deal with the deadly virus in 2021, there’s an overarching sense of hope in the battle against HIV and AIDS, which is best exemplified by Gilead’s 2020 commercial, Descovy for PrEP. The advertisement flaunts the title prescription’s ability to prevent the spread of HIV through sex, a scientific breakthrough even the leading HIV/AIDS researchers could only dream of at the peak of the epidemic. In contrast, the 1987 Australian Grim Reaper ad by the National Advisory Committee on AIDS focuses on the hopelessness that HIV/AIDS victims are presented with, and the need for urgent action to prevent the spread of HIV. By examining the ways both commercials establish trust, their individual rhetorical situations and devices, and the commonplaces that affect both advertisements, one is able to see the change in how HIV/AIDS is viewed by society.