Purpose
This activity will help you practice identifying and evaluating how rhetorical appeals—ethos, pathos, and logos—function in digital media. By focusing on a YouTube video and its creator’s page, you’ll consider how credibility, emotional connection, and logic work together to influence audiences. You will also create a digital deliverable targeted to a very specific, niche demographic using Canva (free version) to demonstrate how rhetorical appeals can inform a particular community that you identify with.
Instructions
Watch the provided YouTube video carefully at least twice.
- First viewing: just observe and absorb.
- Second viewing: take detailed notes on tone of voice, visuals, text on screen, music, and message.
Explore the creator’s social media page.
- Look for patterns across their content: comedy, activism, education, lifestyle, trends, etc.
- Notice how they present themselves (bio, profile picture, hashtags, captions, and consistency).
Analyze the video using rhetorical appeals:
- Ethos (Credibility): How does the creator build trust or establish expertise? Do they seem knowledgeable, authentic, or relatable? Provide specific examples.
- Pathos (Emotion): What emotions does the video attempt to spark (laughter, empathy, outrage, belonging, excitement)? How do visuals, music, or tone contribute?
- Logos (Logic): What claims or arguments are being made? Do they use facts, statistics, cause-and-effect reasoning, or examples?
Create a Canva Deliverable (Required).
- Using the free version of Canva, design a deliverable (flyer, infographic, social media post, or mini-presentation) that communicates key truths from the video or related topic.
- Your deliverable must be tailored for a very specific and niche demographic, ideally one that reflects your own identity intersections (e.g., “first-generation Afro-Latinx college students in STEM,” NOT “college students” in general).
- Incorporate at least 2 credible sources from Galileo into your design. These must be cited directly within the deliverable (APA citation style) and submitted with the other documents at the same time.
- Be intentional about design choices (color, font, layout, visuals) to ensure the piece resonates with your target audience.
Examples of Too Broad vs. Niche Populations:
- Too broad: “teens,” “women,” “college students,” “immigrants.”
- Extremely niche: “queer Muslim women navigating first-year college life in the U.S.,” “rural first-generation male students in Georgia studying mechanical engineering,” “Black single mothers in Atlanta pursuing nursing degrees.”
Discussion Post (Initial Post, 100 words minimum).
- Begin with a brief description of the video and creator’s page.
- Provide your rhetorical analysis (ethos, pathos, logos) supported with specific evidence.
- Connect your analysis to 2 models/theories from class discussions.
Describe your Canva deliverable, including:
- The niche demographic it is designed for.
- Why this demographic needs this specific deliverable.
- How rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) are used in your design.
Peer Critiques (2 responses required).
- Respond to five classmates’ posts by critiquing their Canva deliverable and rhetorical analysis.
- Your critique must address ethos, pathos, and logos:
- How effectively did they use each? You must have a critique.
- How could the rhetorical appeals be improved for the niche audience they selected? You must have a critique.
When responding to a peer’s post, your reply must be thoughtful, typed directly into the discussion board, and move the conversation forward by applying theories from the Mbongi assignments of Health and Medical Rhetorics— link below. Theories assigned before this date will not count and will result in a zero. In your response, briefly summarize your peer’s main points, offer meaningful input that extends their analysis, and reference at least one relevant theory from the assigned readings to deepen the discussion. Avoid surface-level comments like “I agree” or “Great post.” Instead, provide specific insights, examples, or questions that show engagement with both your peer’s ideas and the course concepts.
Link: https://jordanwiggins.org/unit-6-2/
Submission Requirements
- Typed, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.
- Minimum of 100 words for the initial post.
- Written in paragraph form.
- Canva deliverable must be linked or uploaded with your post.
Jordan Wiggins 