Showing A Speech

This Rhetoric unit tied together with our last one. We learned more about visual rhetoric and how to apply our rhetorical elements towards artwork. The main purpose was to make a visual representation of our speech. The political issue that my speech focused on was police brutality. I’m proud of being able to effectively transfer the main arguments of my speech into an art form.

AG: Cover (2014)

I am a highschool student and have lived my whole life in Chicago; the topic I chose for my speech and artwork was police brutality. I chose this topic because police misconduct has increasingly gotten worse in Chicago, and because it affects me personally due to the death of one of my good friends at the hands of our city’s police. The message I want my artwork to send is that police brutality must be put to an end and for new regulations need be put in place. All of us should feel angry about what is happening. We all need to care, especially, about our youth! If we let this abuse of power go on we are saying that it is okay for police to kill the children in our city.

Some of the things I learned when doing research on this topic were that:

• In 2012, the Chicago Police Department shot 57 people, killing 8 of them.
• Between 2002 and 2004, 10,149 complaints were made accusing Chicago Police Department, but only 19 of these complaints led to any suspensions. 85% of the officers weren’t even interviewed about the complains that were made about them.
• In Rialto, California, officers are now obligated to wear tiny cameras that film all of their interactions with the public. This resulted in complaints against Rialto police officers decreasing by 88%, and use of force by officers falling by almost 60%.

I chose a pamphlet as my visual representation, which required the use my computer and a printer supplied with paper and ink. The reason I chose to make a pamphlet was because it allowed me to not only give a visual, but to also give a lot of information that people should know about the topic. If people don’t know the facts, they won’t care to make a change because they won’t understand why it’s so crucial.

In my pamphlet I used description and narration in the personal story section when I wrote about and described an instance where police brutality occurred in my life. My pictures are an example of exemplification because they show rather than tell evidence. I also used process analysis in the solutions section when I outlined what steps must be taken in order to help resolve the issue. I also used amplification, for example, when I stated that police brutality “occurred in 14 of the 25 Chicago Police Districts, that is more than half of the districts.” to emphasize the severity of the issue.

If I could share my pamphlet I think the best place for them to be is at police anti-violence rallies, at funerals or memorials of victims of police brutality, or even just on busy street corners, in order to spread the word more and inform people who normally wouldn’t be so aware or involved in the issue. If I can get people to care about the issue, maybe I can get them to stand up and make a change, which then hopefully will put an end to it.

AG: Outside (2014)

AG: Inside (2014)

Sources

Erye, Pete. “Infographic: A Neutral Look at Police Brutality | Cop Block." Cop Block RSS. N.p., 3 July 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.copblock.org/17484/infographic-a-neutral-look-police-brutality/>.

Hulsey, Emily. "California Town's Simple Solution To Police Brutality Has Lowered Use Of Force By 60 Percent." Independent Journal Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.ijreview.com/2014/07/153997-california-towns-simple-solution-police-brutality-lowered-use-force-60-percent/>.

"IPRA Releases Report on 2012 Chicago Police Shootings | People's Law Office." Peoples Law Office. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://peoples lawoffice.com/ipra-releases-report-on-2012-chicago-police-shootings/>.