Rhetorical Analysis: Close To Home

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Introduction In the “Close to Home” commercial it is advertising cellphone use while driving through the phone company AT&T. In the commercial it shows two main drivers a male and female in separate cars. The female has a child in the car that looks to be her daughter. In the other car there is a man, he shows he has a family because he is talking on the phone to what the audience assumes is his wife. Later in the commercial it shows the female driver look down at her cellphone at a notification. She crashes into the male driver; witnesses all around stop stunned by the fatal accident. The commercial then shows the accident reversed in slow motion except with a different action of the female driver, she puts her phone away instead of looking into the notification further. The audience that the commercial is directed towards is drivers. The commercial delivers a message that no text, photo, or notification is worth risking any life. This commercial sends this powerful message through the rhetorical appeals; ethos, logos, and pathos. Definitions For those who may not be familiar with what these rhetorical appeals mean here are a couple basic definitions to help give a better understanding. They are all three persuasive strategies of writing. Ethos uses credibility, …show more content…

It is easily perceived to the audience is multiple ways. The first example of this is in the title of the commercial itself, “Close to Home”. In a survey recently done by Progressive Insurance, fifty-two percent of car accidents occurred five miles or less away from the persons home, seventy-seven percent occurred fifteen miles or less away from the home. This shows ethos because it is using ethics and fact, the crashes are so close to home, and applying it to the title and basis of the commercial. Both drivers seemed to be in a rush to go somewhere. The female driver was going away from her home and the male driver is going towards his