One elevator pitch that intrigued me was Conner’s “Time for Change” pitch. It featured a gruesome image of a seal being gradually crushed by the hands on the clock as time goes on. It was definitely startling to see this image being pulled up in class, but the shock value of this artifact works in its favor to highlight the urgency of this issue. I think the pitch started off strong with the question he raised, which was along the lines of “if you saw an animal being murdered right in front of your eyes, would you save it?”. It calls attention to how we know animals are dying out due to climate change, yet little is being done about it. However, when this message is represented visually like in this artifact, it adds gravity to the situation and opens our eyes to what is really happening. The powerful visual rhetoric is aided by the image’s caption of “Every 60 seconds a species dies out”, which draws a connection to the clock element of this artifact. I also was intrigued by the question Conner posed at the end, which essentially asks if “the visual will persuade viewers to help in the fight against a changing climate, or does it deter because of the level of violence displayed?”. I hadn’t really thought about the image deterring anyone, because to me it’s such a powerful visual that pulls on the heartstrings, but I can now see how some people would be thrown off by the goriness of the image and be steered away from the message completely.
I think the elevator pitch overall was really good about analyzing the artifact itself going above and beyond in describing. The style of how the artifact was described was also really good touching on all the details about what this artifact is about and the SDG’s and Rhetoric about it.
I also analyzed Conner’s artifact and I find that I had a similar reaction to his speech and the artifact itself. I also agree that its shocking yet effective. I also can see how others may view it as gory, and may feel less inclined to analyze the poster.
I honestly am on the same page with the concept of deterrence– I feel like this image is powerful it should be hard to look away from. However, I feel as if our society is often used to violence and it may not be as powerful of a motivator.