jdiorio – Introduction to Digital Publishing

Corruption in Nigeria – Obinze and Chief

Jillian DiOrio, Mannat Bhatia, Collin Bowers

1.Proposal

We will be focusing on the scene in Chapter Two where Obinze talks about how he became successful with Chief. Particularly when they have dinner for the first time at Chief’s place and Obinze recognizes the business/political hierarchy that goes on, and how it is corrupt. “Corruption takes many forms, starting with embezzlement, bribery, rituals, and election rigging. In fact, corruption levels are highest in Nigeria’s political system. In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, corruption is seen as normal (Uzochukwu, 2014).” By corrupt, we mean that Nigerian men within power are known for bribery and subordination. Early in the novel, Obinze takes note of Chief’s personality and tendencies and later realizes that Chief may be corrupt. Adichie describes Obinzes feelings, “Obinze felt repulsion and longing; he pitied them, but he also imagined being like them” (Adichie 30). We chose this specific section of the novel because Chief is a character who is described as a “big man”. This refers to him being wealthy, holding a high political status, and being an egomaniac. Chief’s character in this particular scene shows an underlying issue with the correlation between political status and wealth.Chief says “Everybody is hungry in this country, even the rich men are hungry, but nobody is honest” (Adichie 30). Chief holding a wealthy status in Nigeria allows him to easily get what he wants through fraud or bribery because of the corrupt government. The author depicted Chief in this way to show the culture of corruption and materialism. Not only do Chief and Obinze exemplify the political corruption in Nigeria, but Nneoma says to Obinze “Even Chief has some white men that he brings in for show when he needs them. That is how Nigeria works. I’m telling you” (Adichie 31). This quote describes that white people are considered as a token in Nigeria and are the ones who make things happen. This shows that most characters, in one way or another, have been impacted by the political corruption in Nigeria.

We chose this specific topic because of the political corruption in Nigeria that is currently affecting immigrants. The Business-Anti-Corruption Portal Group which is a collection of free anti-corruption compliance and risk management resources including e-learning training, country risk profiles, and due diligence tools is a site that focuses on all aspects of corruption in Nigeria. A specific section in this source describes how Nigeria’s civil society is affected by corruption:

“Civil society in Nigeria is weak, fragmented and lacks resources, although there is a positive trend in its development (BTI 2016). While the landscape of civil society organizations is among Africa’s most vibrant (FitW 2016), civil society organizations continue to suffer from weak representation and limited organizational resources (BTI 2016). Labor unions suffer from similar limitations (BTI 2016). Private media and religious groups have increasingly taken on the tasks of civil society (BTI 2016)” (GAN Integrity).

We can tie this civil society corruption to Obinze’s mother and her situation within the University that she works at. In this situation, Obinze’s mother called out another professor for misusing University funds publicly. The accused Professor was insulted and decided to slap her. She wrote articles about this and many students got involved. This then let to Obinze’s mother leaving due to sabbatical. We can incorporate this in our storyboard by adding a dialogue element where Obinze is at the dinner with Chief and he realizes Chief’s corrupt tendencies and it reminds him of the situation that his mother is in, and how Nigeria’s civil social and specifically labor unions are “weak, fragmented, and lack resources” (GAN Integrity).

To visualize this ongoing social issue we will be creating a storyboard. In this storyboard we will be tying multiple scenes from the book, Americanah, to provide insight to the political issues and corruption in Nigeria. These issues will be supported by our research and give real world insight. We chose the storyboard medium because we felt that it would best portray the nepotism and bribery in politics within Nigeria. Our storyboard viewers will demonstrate empathy and consideration for the immigrants affected by the discreditable government in Nigeria. By creating a storyboard that contains still images, it allows for expansion into the virtual reality realm. This gives the ability to bring the storyboard to life and create realistic scenarios. By transferring the story to virtual reality, viewers will be so in the moment that the story will leave a lasting impact on them.

Script & Storyboard

Introduction: Recreate Obinze’s meeting with the Chief at his house. Chief’s house is really a mansion with a luxurious interior design, it is a home that most people would dream of. Obinze notices Chief’s “big man” personality and realizes his corrupt tendencies. Once, Obinze understands this, he begins to reflect on his mother’s situation. This contains a memory of discussion with Obinze and his mother, about her feelings about the university, and the civil corruption that ties to that situation.

Section 1: Obinze going to Chiefs party and learning about his personality. He then reflects on how Chief is corrupt. This section is inspired from chapter 2 in Americanah by Adichie.

Box 1:
Nneoma: “Chief, this is my cousin, Obinze. His mother is my father’s sister, the professor”
Nneoma: “She is the one that paid my school fees from beginning to end. If not for her, I don’t know where I would be today.”
Obinze: “Good evening, sir”
Caption: Nneoma introduces Chief to Obinze.
Setting: Chief’s mansion, for a dinner party.

Box 2:
No dialogue
Everyone: *Enjoys their dinner and engages in small conversations*
Caption: The conversations go on, and everyone enjoy their meals.
Setting: Chief’s mansion, for a dinner party.

Box 3:
Chief: “Come and see me again, next week”
Obinze: “Will do, Chief”

Caption: Chief gives Obinze a gift of red wine, and wants to see Chief again, so they can get to know each other better.
Setting: Chief’s mansion

Box 4:
Nneoma: “Obinze, keep hanging around Chief until he does something for you”
Obinze: *Obinze thinks to himself why he should continue to hang around Chief*

Caption: Obinze and Nneoma talking about how Obinze should continue to hang out with Chief (pg 28)
Setting: Obinze’s car, driving home from Chief’s dinner

Box 5:
Obinze: “Chief, if there is something I can help you do, please tell me. You can depend on me”
Chief: “We need more people like you in this country. People from good families, with good home training. You are a gentleman, I can see it in your eyes.”

Caption: Chief has been drinking and is upset/frustrated. He talks about people stabbing him in the back, Obinez offers his help. Chief replies by praising Obinze’s character traits. (Adichie 31)
Setting: Chief’s mansion, another gathering

Box 6:
Chief: “I’m going to buy seven properties for five million each. You know what they’re listed for on the books? One million. You know what the real worth is? Fifty million.”
Chief: “I need someone to front this deal”
Obinze: “Yes, sir, I can do that.”

Caption: Obinze finally gets a job opportunity from Chief, although the job may be unethical.
Setting: Continuation of the previous box, Chief’s mansion

Box 7:
Nneoma: “This is your opportunity! The Zed, shine your eyes! They call it a big-big name, evaluation consulting but it is not difficult. You undervalue the properties and make sure it looks as if you are following due process”
Nneoma: “And after you register your own company, you must find a white man. Find one of your white friends in England. Tell everybody he is your General Manager. You will see how doors will open for you because you have an oyinbo General Manager. Even Chief has some white men that he brings in for show when he needs the,. That is how Nigeria works. I’m telling you”

Caption: Nneoma is excited for Obinze’s job opportunity and gives him advice on why he should do this job for Chief. She also gives further insight on how political Nigeria works (pg 32)
Setting: Nneoma’s bedroom

Box 8:
No dialogue just picture

Caption: Obinze goes through with the job, and closes the deal on the properties. He begins to realize how easy his life has become from working for an unethical business man.
Setting: Obinze is shaking hands with Chief after closing the deal.

Box 9:
Chief: “The earth is seemly flat”
Everyone in the room: “Exactly! You are correct, Chief! Thank you!
Obinze: *thinking to himself* “It seems as if rich Nigerian men think they’re better than everyone else and want everyone around them to acknowledge his power”

Setting: Back at Chief’s for dinner party

Box 10:
Obinze: *Thinks to himself* I have everything I have ever wanted but somehow I am still not satisfied. Chief seems to have control over everyone and is bringing me down the same path.

Caption: Obinze has an epiphany, and realizes that Chief may be a corrupt, egomaniac, and sleazy businessman. (pg 21)
Setting: Obinze’s thoughts.

____________________________________________________________________________

Section 2: Obinze connects his mother’s university issues to Chief’s political power and his corrupt tendencies. This section is inspired from chapter 4 in Americanah by Adichie.

Box 1:

Obinze: * to himself* “Mother was a part of a big scandal at the University she teaches at. She was discriminated against by her bosses and colleagues”

Caption: Obinze begins to reflect on his mother’s situation with the university, and his feelings toward it.
Setting: Obinze’s thoughts

Box 2:
Obinze Mother: “Me and the committee found out that you are misusing university funds!”
Professor: “Who are you to talk to me like that” *SLAP*

Caption: Flashback of the specific situation with Obinze’s mother and the school. She publicly accused another professor of misusing university funds, and he slapped her.
Setting: The University in a public setting

Box 3:
Obinze Mother: “Son we need to go to Lagos, I was put on sabbatical leave due to the incident at the university.”
Obinze: “Why can’t we just stay here?

Caption: Obinze’s mother being put on a “sabbatical” after the situation
Setting: Obinze’s home in Nsukka.

Box 4:
Obinze Mother: “Equal rights for all!”
*civil society organizations continue to suffer from weak representation and limited organizational resources*

Caption: Obinze’s mother going/participating in strikes for equality and justice. Incorporates research.
Setting: Downtown/Outside the University.

Box 5:
Nneoma: Obinze, you’re still not ready! We needed to be Chief’s 10 minutes ago.

Caption: After Obinze’s flashback he is very sad, and doesn’t want to go to Chief’s house, but his wife pressures him.
Setting: Present day, Obinze and Nnenoma’s bedroom.

Box 6:
Chief: “I like that girl. Give her to me and I will give you a nice plot of land.”
Middle Class Man: “Sir, that is my wife you are talking about. You have no respect for women!”

Caption: After this flashback, Obinze realizes that Chief is exactly like the other rich men in Nigeria that treat others, especially women, unequally.
Setting: Obinze’s thoughts.

Box 7:
Obinze: “Dear Ifemelu, I am not proud of the man I have become. These rich politicians have taken over me and have made me into the man I never thought I would become. It’s time for a change and im hoping you can help me see my old self.”

Caption: Obinze becomes disgusted with himself, and wants to make a change. He realizes that he not only associates himself with these kinds of people, but he may become one of them. Whether he wants to or not.
Setting: Obinze’s Office writing out his feelings.

Bibliography

“Nigeria Corruption Report.” Business Anti-Corruption Portal, May 2017, www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/nigeria/.

Nigerian Corruption Report from the Business Anti-Corruption Portal is a profile-like information page about the corrupt aspects of Nigerian government. It goes through each section of government, analyzes it, and determines its corrupt, if so, how corrupt and why it’s corrupt. The Business Anti Corruption Portal is the most used resource for this content. It has been around since 2004, and is comprised of a team of international leaders within this industry. We used this source to connect the personality traits of Chief, with real world corruption characteristics. We also used this source to connect Obinze’s mothers’ situation with her University and the strikes that she inevitably participated in, to real world issues with Nigeria’s civil society.

Oji, Mazi Kanu, and Valerie U. Oji. Corruption in Nigeria : The Fight and Movement to Cure the Malady. UPA, 2010. EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=603009&site=eds-live&s ope=site.

Corruption in Nigeria addresses the effects of corruption in Nigeria and provides a concise overview for a lasting solution. Offering insight from the authors’ original thinking and experiences, the book traces corruption from colonial rule through nearly fifty years of successive civilian and military government, counter coupes, and ethical reform programs that were launched using Mazi A. Kanu Oji’s ideas. The experience of Nigeria, as the most populous country in Africa with great potential for becoming one of the world’s leading nation-states, is relevant to African studies, political science, public administration, and leadership studies, as well as U.S. and global policy interests on health and human rights, ethical leadership, and governance in Africa. This source was a big help when it came to addressing the overall corruption in Nigeria and showing how strong it truly is.

Iyam, David. “‘Full’ Men and ‘Powerful’ Women: The Reconstruction of Gender Status among the Bias of Southeastern Nigeria.” Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, vol. 30, no. 3, 1996, pp. 387–408. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/485807.

Wealth plays an important role in acquiring a social position; it is to her that we owe the differentiation between persons classified in a hierarchy based on social prestige; but once rich, women discover that there is a distinction based on sex. The social and economic success of a woman rarely allows her to climb the social ladder; in fact, it sometimes has the opposite effect, that of lowering its position. bias research in southwestern Nigeria suggests that a woman’s respect for social and economic wealth does not give her access to a more privileged social position or political authority. although this respect is greater than that accorded to the occupational group to which it belongs. In addition, it is no longer the difference in gender roles that explains gender inequality, but deep differentiation between the sexes. Wealth has become an important foundation from which even women in seemingly egalitarian cultures place themselves in clearly defined social squares within the social hierarchy. This source was a help when it came to backing up the wealthy man status of Chief throughout the novel and also gave insight on what Obinze was trying to avoid becoming.

Okwuagbala Uzochukwu Mike P. (2014, November 25). Corruption in Nigeria: Review, Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Retrieved from https://soapboxie.com/world-politics/Corruption-in-Nigeria

Corruption in Nigeria is one of its biggest challenges. Apparently corruption is found in every part of society. Corruption is a broad topic that could be separated into smaller sections. It could be the illegitimate use of power to benefit a personal interest, the offering of a bribe to an official so the truth could be hidden, embezzlement of public funds, and any act that is considered to be criminal in nature. In the political nature in Nigeria, due to the level of corruption, politicians find it difficult to align themselves. They believe once they take any position in politics they’re stuck and have to use corrupt trick to fill their pockets.

Nigeria, which is the setting of our script and storyboard. Most importantly, it was the setting of the novel, Americannah. This source has very valuable information to help us. First, it connects to our proposal. What exactly is corruption, and what does it entail in Nigeria? Corruption in Nigeria can be interpreted in many different ways. It starts with embezzlement and ends with the Nigeria’s political system, where corruption levels are highest. Obinze comes into contact many times with political corruption. Obinze doesn’t like the way Chief is and how everyone acts when around Chief. Chief also has Obinze go and participate in a shady act for him. Obviously, when Chief first brings this opportunity to Obinze, he looks forward to it due to the rewards he gets. Eventually, Obinze feels as if his life has gone down a wrong path and isn’t what he wanted in his life.

Refugee Comic

This is a comic I found giving a visual representation of what it is like to flee a country and the things one would see and experience.

Peer Reviewed Source on Refugees

The peer reviewed source I found on the Stevenson Library database is called “Violence Experience among Immigrants and Refugees: A Cross-Sectional Study in Italy”. I chose to focus on immigrants and refugees from Italy because that is where my grandparents are from.

This source focuses on a study that was done to gain an insight into the extent and type of episodes of violence of immigrants and refugees in Italy. Italy is among the countries with the highest number of migrants. After arriving in their new country, immigrants face many difficulties, for example, social isolation, unemployment, poverty, language difficulties, cultural background, and stressful living conditions, and these factors have been suggested as possible determinants of immigrants’ health. Therefore, this makes them a particularly vulnerable population and although efforts have been made in promoting health equity, being an immigrant is associated with a lower use of the different levels of healthcare and a greater risk for several negative health-related outcomes. the primary objective of the current investigation was to gain an insight into the extent and type of the episodes of violence among a large group of immigrants and refugees in Italy and then to assess their association with different characteristics.

This study showed different tables with statistics from the study to prove what was being said in the article. This study overall gave really good insight into how much violence occurs to immigrants and refugees in Italy and how they are physically and psychologically effected by it. The results of this study add to the scarce literature on violence within immigrants and refugees and they must be used to strengthen interventions and policies aimed at preventing violence from occurring among this population.

https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=29&sid=8931542c-cb6d-40b6-945e-686c415e6463%40pdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=rzh&AN=131926485

“How refugee children make American education stronger”

The news article “How refugee children make American education stronger” was posted on June 21, 2018 by The Conversation. The article focuses on how people have mixed emotions and are divided on the issue of if refugees should be accepted into our school systems. Over the years there has been a decline in refugees migrating to the US or UK. People who see refugees as a drain on public resources may see this decline as a positive. Many people though see this decline as a loss to our schools and communities.

This article took different quotes from people stating how they were missing out on diversity and opportunities of interaction to better round themselves due to the lack of refugees that are being allowed in the US. Many of the refugees who are accepted into high education institutions are making a difference in their own lives and to the schools. Many educational establishments are placing strong emphasis on global citizenship and cross-cultural engagement to better round young people and bring new views and innovation into their lives.

This article strongly focuses on understanding different cultures and how these refugees are bringing new ideas and views into the school systems. It allows kids to understand and learn prejudice and citizenship along with allowing teachers to ask questions about culture and family values through others.

This article took a different viewpoint on refugees in education from my other article because it focuses on kids in the school systems and how they are making a difference. While my other article really touched more on how kids could not attended these schools because they were refugees and had not funding or way to get to the US.

http://theconversation.com/how-refugee-children-make-american-education-stronger-97908

“Education remains an impossible dream for many refugees and migrants”

The news article “Education remains an impossible dream for many refugees and migrants” was posted on March 6, 2019 by UN News. This article focuses on how many young children in the UK dream about going to college but most of them know that it will not be possible. Many of these kids cannot get funding for loans and are charged fees for being from overseas. Many of the refugee camps in Greece and overseas do not offer any formal education, and if there is a slight education system most of them do not have the proper supplies or funding to give an adequate education.

This article was written to give people an insight to see how hard it is for refugees to get an education in America. It gives a lot of insight into the different applications and steps that these kids have to go through and most of the time they just get denied. This work was done to help to create many different funding campaigns and bring awareness to people who are willing to help. These children and schools overseas are in dire need of funding and support. This article also contains facts and information from the Education Cannot Wait program and UNICEF.

I found out that many people are hesitant to fund some of these programs because they are not sure that refugees will have the learning ability to complete schooling or move forward with their lives. I found this to be extremely surprising and almost rude because these refugees are trying to make their lives better so why would they not take the schooling seriously?

The final conclusion of the article is to show that most of these children are fleeing from violence or just want a fresh start. A way to get higher education is just the beginning of them starting their lives and proper schooling and funding plays a significant role in helping them to find stability and support.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1034141

Connecting with Carlos Hernandez

Our class had the pleasure of having Carlos Hernandez come and speak with us about digital publishing and how he got to where he is today with his career. We also had the opportunity to ask him questions and really get our questions answered about him. Although I was not able to make it to his book reading, I am really glad he was able to come and speak with our class.

He started by giving us some really good insight about poems and digital publishing along with some tips for those who want to become writers of all kinds for later down the road. Our class found out that publishing poetry is expensive in print due to all of the line breaks but in digital publishing the cost does not change. Digital publishing also allows for much more interaction than paper publishing because of links and hypertext. He specifically talked about his one poem “In Lieu of the Stories My Santera Abuela Should Have Told Me Herself, This Poem”, and actually read it to our class for everyone to get the chance to listen to it. He took real life scenarios about his family that his mother told him and turned it into a piece of work. He made us realize that a lot of writing comes from hard things that have happened in peoples lives.

Not only does Carlos have poems and short stories but he also just signed a 2 book publishing deal with Disney. He told us that this all started by someone reading his works and passing it along to people and before he knew it he was signing a deal. This is where one of his major points came in to start writing now and take the rejection and build on your skills and grow as a writer to improve and make connections because you never know who is reading you work on the web. His final touch was on how writing and publishing is a new world for women and people of color because it is allowing them to tell their stories. They have the ability to use their own voices and tell their own personal stories instead of having someone do research and write on a topic they are not really familiar with.

Overall, it was a pleasure to have Carlos in class and I gained a lot of great insight about digital publishing and how great it is to have and know. He gave great advice to our whole class and hopefully those who want to become writers or poets got a lot of great insight on what they need to do to succeed and grow their careers.

STEM for LIRS

For my grant idea I want to be able to work with LIRS because from their website they do not have many extra curricular for the refugees. My idea is to find out more about if they have a computers and potentially put software on the computers and implement a STEM program. Technology is the way of the world and it is a great skill for these refugees to learn and could potentially help them find employment. Stevenson University students from any of the sciences, CIS, or math department can help these refugees learn some of these different programs. Not only would it be super beneficial to the refugees but also to the Stevenson University students by allowing them to give their time into helping others who have the potential to succeed, they just need the resources. Details on budget and more info will be determined once connecting with LIRS to find out what resources they already have. I think that this would be a great grant that would be extremely helpful and be a great service learning task for Stevenson Students.

Timing in Life is Key

From attending the Entrepreneurship Career Panel I gained a lot of insight on how much hard work it takes to build your own brand. This career panel included John Dinkel who is the principal of Dinkel Business Development LLC, Chris Daley who is the founder and principal of Whirlaway LLC, Andrew Murphywho is partner and owner ofFlying Frog Publishing, Elizabeth Trimm who is branch manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Andy Brown who is founder and CEO of Eat Pizza, and Garrett Pfeifer who inherited his fathers business Maryland Brand Management. All of these entrepreneurs have built their own brands from the ground up and each told a significant story of how they got into entrepreneurship. Many of thir stories included timing in life and knowing that they could do so much more than their bosses. The one that stood out to me the most was Garrett Pfeifer who inherited the family business from his father. Maryland Brand Management is a company that creates designs for clothing like shirts, hats, leggings, and polo’s He told the story of how his father started the business, he would go to every Ravens game and would sell shirts during the tailgates doing his best to make money and get the brand out while. His friends would always tell him to give up and just enjoy the tailgate with them but his father pushed through and followed his dream. This is where Garrett got his inspiration, his father told him that if he continued to sell shirts for $1 it would only take selling 1,000,000 shirts to make $1,000,000 dollars. Along with telling their stories they each gave the audience three words of advice. The words of advice they gave included:

build networks early
prepare to work hard and be humble
know your strengths & weaknesses
learn and understand sales
understand what you are willing to give up to get what you want
know your “why” and your passion
set goals early
don’t let anyone get in your way
get lots of input but be ready to ignore it

All of the advice and input they gave really made an impact on my thoughts of entrepreneurship and how much work it truly takes to get where you want to be.

This event really connected to our course because in digital publishing it is all about how you design and portray the point you are trying to get across. These entrepreneurs had to build their own brand and image from the ground up. By interacting with people and selling their company is all about the way they come off the and connection they make with their customers which is exactly what needs to be done in digital publishing. Not only did the career panel connect to class but it also connect to my future career goals. This panel really taught me how to prepare myself and set myself up for success but also potential failure. I want to become a Web Designer for a company where I can create and update their website content and design. By taking the different advice from the panelist I can set myself up to be able to attain my career goals in the best way.

Analyzing Writing and Designing

There are many non-profit organizations out there looking to help refugees and immigrants seek asylum. Below is a rhetorical analysis of the non-profit website www.lirs.org. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service was designed to help refugees escape life threatening situations and get the attention of volunteers/donors to help. By taking the time to analyze the audience, purpose, context, author and genre of this website will determine if the site is truly effective or not. LIRS has many positive design choices along with a very persuasive intention and delivery to make a change, making LIRS an effective website to gain donors and inform refugees on the steps they need to take to gain safety.

These smart design choices begin right on the landing page of the site in the navigation bar. Without having to scroll you immediately see an orange button that stands out and grabs your attention through a linguistic and gestural mode of communication. The capital letters make it known that it is important and the button makes it interactive for the donors. This shows that LIRS primary audience is donors/volunteers and their main goal is to get donors to help make a change. The secondary audience is the refugees who are seeking asylum and looking to learn more. We know this due to the different tabs that are in the navigation bar, by providing different resources and how to take action will help the refugees get a better understanding of the non-profit.

The overall intention of the LIRS website is to persuade people to donate and volunteer their money and time to help spread the word and support the refugees. It is very clear that this is the main purpose due to the linguistics and visuals all over the website. Between the TAKE ACTION tab and the large DONATE button it is very clear that they are looking for donations and volunteers. Not only is the purpose indicated through the drop down menu but the site also states its mission and its values under the ABOUT US tab. When reading through the author of the site truly persuades you to want to help the refugees, even if it is only a little it make a change in someone else’s world.

Purpose — This image shows the dropdown menu indicating the purpose of this website.

When analyzing this non-profit it is clear to tell that the medium is the web. This medium is used for many reasons including it is easy to access and it has the ability to reach many people, especially in todays society where everyone is constantly on their phones, tablets, or computers. This was a very smart move on the authors end because it gives the donors the ability to donate from the click of their mouse or fingers and it also allows for many people to easy learn more information just by searching the web. Through this medium the site has the ability to touch on many of the modes of communication including linguistic, visual, spatial, and gestural. These can all be reached through different text, fonts, images, white spacing, and buttons throughout the site. The different categories of the site are organized in the navigation bar at the top of the homepage and the site uses a very attention grabbing color scheme that includes white, navy, and a pop of orange to really gain emphasis. It makes use of different heading sizes, along with incorporating images at the top of every page to bring in the emotion. If the person viewing the site sees these emotional picture of children and families in need, they are more likely to donate money or time to supporting the refugees.

Child — This is one of the images on the LIRS website that could trigger a person viewing the site to become a donor.

The implied author behind the scenes of this website is the The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services but the actual authors are the people behind the scenes. Some of these name include board chair, Michael Rinehart, vice chair, Linda Stoterau, interim president and CEO, Pat Nichols, director for marketing and communications, Danielle Bernard, and director of outreach, Folabi Olagbaju. All of these people have made it possible for there to be content on this website. This is a trustworthy source due to the fact that all of these people involved have had past experience and knowledge of refugees and three people on the board are actually former refugees who are now trying to help others. A lot of people come together to make this site possible so the author comes across as very knowledgeable and gives a lot of insight because everyone on the team has experienced different encounters. This author is looking to raise awareness and gain support of the refugees and immigrants and the website they have produced definitely back up that reputation. The author of the site also gives off a very organized vibe due to the clean cut colors and layout of the site overall.

news postings — This is a screenshot of some of the news articles and blog posts that have been put on the website to show that the author continues to do research and gain information to help.

The LIRS website is put under the genre of nonprofit. You can clearly tell this because of the layout of the site and the content it shows. Many nonprofits have rows and top navigation, it is the standard layout for a site that is made for a nonprofit. Not only that but the large images that are placed throughout the site allow for emotion and that is one of the main factors in drawing people in to donate. The sites linguistics are mainly geared toward the helping and the wellbeing of refugees and immigrants and there are many call to actions which all people to interact and donate. You could also say that LIRS is an educational site as well due to the fact that it gives a lot of information for the refugees or people learning about refugees to gain information.

After analyzing the entire LIRS site it is clear that they have a motive and want to help. But there are also some things that could be changed to help gain them more donors and attention. Some of these things include incorporating more videos to really get empathy from the users. As a social media user I would also recommend that they use their social media platforms to their advantage and incorporate hashtags and more links to their social platforms since social media is currently the way of the world. They make use of many different fonts and heading sizes which is a great way to gain attention and make a point. But I do not think that everything has to be in capitals because it starts to take away the point of emphasis. You only want to capitalize the words you want to take a lot of meaning and to make a point with. Overall, I feel that this site was made in an effective manner and does its goal of persuading people to donate and want to make a change through its linguistics, visuals, gestures, and spatial layout.

Works Cited:

Lutheran Immigration and Refugees Service. 2019. www.lirs.org/. Accessed February 11 2019.