Rhetorical Essay Example Don't Drink and Drive
Stacy Miller
Prof. Elizabeth
English 1101
February 25, 2013
DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE The Texas Department of Transportation ad, “Don’t Drink and Drive” caused me to experience immediate shock and horror. My first instinct was to look away, but as a human being, I was really curious and I couldn’t look away. Why would this disfigured face be featured on an ad campaign? What purpose is he or she serving? And so I looked. The ad includes a simple and short line that was sharp and powerful: “Not everyone who gets hit by a drunk driver dies.” The woman in the ad used to be a beautiful human being. A young, smiling teenager with long hair and beautiful skin. A young woman that would be considered attractive today, but after one night and someone choosing to drink and drive, her beautiful outward appearance is gone forever. She is a beautiful person now for continuing on with her life and trying to put the damaged pieces back together. Ms. Saburido’s picture is the majority of the poster, the text shown above and below her burned face. The image is shocking: Ms. Saburido is missing a nose and one eye, and scarred skin stretches over the rest of her skull. Her expression, due to the scarring, shows some uncertainty. The image shows her head and shoulders; she is wearing a black-rimmed hat and a lavender blouse, opened to reveal a burned chest. Jacqueline Saburido, the woman in the ad, shows the consequences of a simple choice. To drive or not drive the car after drinking. That is the question. Both the driver and the victim have to live with the choice that has been made, a choice that was made by only one of them. The way the illustrator evokes emotion in this ad is unparalleled. They knew that there isn’t a person in this world that could imagine their life after having gone through such a tragedy like that. Feelings of fear, sadness, vanity and shame arise as one reads and studies this ad. The fact that this is a true story and Jacqueline was not
Prof. Elizabeth
English 1101
February 25, 2013
DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE The Texas Department of Transportation ad, “Don’t Drink and Drive” caused me to experience immediate shock and horror. My first instinct was to look away, but as a human being, I was really curious and I couldn’t look away. Why would this disfigured face be featured on an ad campaign? What purpose is he or she serving? And so I looked. The ad includes a simple and short line that was sharp and powerful: “Not everyone who gets hit by a drunk driver dies.” The woman in the ad used to be a beautiful human being. A young, smiling teenager with long hair and beautiful skin. A young woman that would be considered attractive today, but after one night and someone choosing to drink and drive, her beautiful outward appearance is gone forever. She is a beautiful person now for continuing on with her life and trying to put the damaged pieces back together. Ms. Saburido’s picture is the majority of the poster, the text shown above and below her burned face. The image is shocking: Ms. Saburido is missing a nose and one eye, and scarred skin stretches over the rest of her skull. Her expression, due to the scarring, shows some uncertainty. The image shows her head and shoulders; she is wearing a black-rimmed hat and a lavender blouse, opened to reveal a burned chest. Jacqueline Saburido, the woman in the ad, shows the consequences of a simple choice. To drive or not drive the car after drinking. That is the question. Both the driver and the victim have to live with the choice that has been made, a choice that was made by only one of them. The way the illustrator evokes emotion in this ad is unparalleled. They knew that there isn’t a person in this world that could imagine their life after having gone through such a tragedy like that. Feelings of fear, sadness, vanity and shame arise as one reads and studies this ad. The fact that this is a true story and Jacqueline was not