Jordan Mitchell
Dr. Licastro
ENG 256
2/14/20
Rhetorical Analysis of The Paris Review
- Introduction: The Paris Review is a literary magazine that was created in 1953, with the express purpose of emphasizing creative works without the main point being to criticize it. The content that the Paris Review publishes is very intellectual in nature and minimalistic in design. This leads me to believe that the primary audience is upper-middle to upper class highly educated white women between the ages of 30-60.
- First, the use of the color pink as being the only defining color gives the website a very feminine vibe.
- The slightly cursive font of the “the” in The Paris Review, followed by a serif font type also further reinforces the dainty and minimalistic feel of the website.
- The lack of color and the use of minimalism shows that the website is mainly interested in attracting older viewers as younger generations would more than likely find this website boring.
- The ease of the site’s user experience also points to an older audience. With the majority of websites tending to move away from drop-down menus, the Paris Reviews entire site is navigated using dropdown menus, and scrolling.
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- The context the Paris Review comes in, which is not only an online subscription but a physical magazine also points to older audiences.
- Members of younger generations tend to move away from paper materials in favor of digital copies.
- The reasoning behind the audiences being upper-middle to the middle class are because of the subscription process and price.
- In order to fully view the majority of their creative content, you have to subscribe to the Paris Review. However, one subscription cost $49 a year and your average middle-class family will not be paying close to $50 for a literary magazine when there are numerous free literary websites available.
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- The Paris Review’s primary audience is assumed to be white also because there is not a large emphasis on writers of color.
- Even during Black history month, there is no article or mention of celebrating Black writers. Also, among their featured writers, almost all of them are white.
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- Building on that, the type of content published in the Paris Review is not for the everyday person who is looking for entertainment.
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- There are numerous academic interviews, such as the interview with Helen Vendler. In fact, the first article that you see is a work by Chantel Tattoli which is essentially about antique postcards.
- Conclusion: The Paris reviews content is definitely aimed at older affluent white women primarily as the use of color creates a feminine feeling, navigation is easy, the website still offers physical subscriptions that cost at a minimum $49, there are no featured authors of color even during Black history month and the subject matter is often very dull.
Works Cited
About. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theparisreview.org/about/
Cole, H. (2017, June 12). Helen Vendler, The Art of Criticism No. 3. Retrieved from https://theparisreview.org/interviews/1324/helen-vendler-the-art-of-criticism-no-3-helen-vendler
Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theparisreview.org/
Subscriptions. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ssl.drgnetwork.com/ecom/TPR/app/live/subscriptions?org=TPR&publ=PR&key_code=ENAPRFX&type=S&gift_key=TESTFXG
Tattoli, C. (2020, February 13). How to Leave Your Lover with Lemons. Retrieved from https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/02/13/how-to-leave-your-lover-with-lemons/