Using specific rhetorical strategies to persuade and inform is a writing technique that has been used for many decades. The art of rhetoric is often taught in higher education, particularly in persuasive writing classes. However, these strategies are not always used to accomplish what many would consider positive goals. Many rhetorical writing techniques are used to market and sell products. These strategies can "hook" consumers and reel them into buying a product. These strategies are deliberate, but often subtle. Sometimes, it takes in-depth analysis of a text or piece of data to uncover these strategies. It is important to be aware of what is being fed to readers and consumers in every medium. In particular, many studies have been conducted about the use of rhetorical strategies in magazines geared towards teenage girls. However, as recent as the 1980 do, internet magazines, often called e-zines, have drawn an audience of teenage girls that would previously have gotten their advice and entertainment from paper magazines?
[...] Discussion of Findings Although the purpose of this research project was to “uncover” any rhetorical strategies used on the homepages of e-zines geared towards teenage girls, and not to make inferences about those uncovered, the data from this research can suggest several things. First, because rhetorical strategies can be found on the homepages of four representative e-zines, it is clear that that aspect of the paper magazine has been translated to magazines online. These categories, “audience input/participation, use of direct address words, personal questions about relationships, body, fashion, and celebrities, embarrassing stories/anecdotes/confessions, and the use of inclusive words are all utilized in some way by all of the e-zines, with the exception of www.gURL.com, and www.myjellybean.com not using embarrassing stories. [...]
[...] Specifically, five areas that I found appearing several times included: Audience Input/Participation Direct Address Personal Questions Concerning Body, Fashion, Relationships, and Celebrities Embarrassing Stories/Anecdotes Inclusive Words After counting how often a piece of text was found that fit each category, the findings were put into a graph, with the e-zines at the top and strategies on the left (See Appendix 5). For each e-zine and category, I wrote the occurrences (all of, or the first part of the phrase or sentence). [...]
[...] Another interesting study may be a data analysis of the amount of subscription information on e-zines derived from paper magazines. This kind of study could help us understand the true intentions and motives behind these types of e-zines. Lastly, because I was limited to only analyzing four homepages of e-zines from one day, someone could conduct research about more of the e-zine's content, studying the changes made to e-zines over time, or doing a more in depth comparison of a larger number of e-zines. [...]
[...] E-zines such as cosmogirl.com and seventeen.com may still reflect their paper magazines using rhetorical strategies that are most used to sell products. These zines may try to create a false sense of community for motives that benefit themselves more than the girls who are visiting their sites. Conclusion Overall, the use of rhetorical strategies on the homepages of e-zines geared towards teenage girls is apparent. The builders of these websites have tried to create a sense of community using most or all of the rhetorical strategies discovered in this data analysis. More research in this field definitely should be conducted. [...]
[...] the question, “What rhetorical strategies are used to create a sense of community in the text of homepages of four zines geared towards girls ages 13 and Through results of this analysis, we will be closer to understanding the new phenomena (e-zines) that has its roots in an old, popular media (magazines). Literature Review Although the literature concerning e-zines is scarce because the relative newness of the subject, there are some information and some studies available about them. There is even more information about teen magazines and rhetorical strategies used by the authors. [...]
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