Tag: rhetorical analysis

 

Ploughshares is a literary journal that is run by mostly professionals. According to the “About” page, the literary journal publishes “four times a year” and has a literary blog that “publishes new writing daily”. The “About” page also mentions that Ploughshares has a base in “Emerson College in downtown Boston”. The visual rhetorical analysis that I will conduct demonstrates that Ploughshares has an efficient multimodal organization that is responsible for its success. This analysis also displays how compared to other literary magazines, Ploughshares focuses more on underappreciated writers and presents its website with an air of sophistication.

Ploughshares’ audience consists of Emerson College students, local residents, up-and-coming writers from around the country, fans of literature, and those with academic degrees. The “FAQ” page mentions that Ploughshares is “guest-edited by a prominent writer who explores different literary circles”. By having a recognizable writer edit two of its issues, Ploughshares becomes a more respectable literary journal that may be appealing to those who are more academically inclined. The “FAQ” page also states that the price for subscription is “$35 for one year”. The “Issues: Ploughshares” page displays that a printed issue is “$14.00”, while a digital copy is “$6.99”. This makes it safe to assume that the average viewer would be in the middle class.

 

In terms of context, Ploughshares sells its issues both in print and digitally. This can be seen on the “Issues: Ploughshares” page. However, as shown by the “Solos: Ploughshares” page, Ploughshares only sells its solos digitally through “Kindle, Nook, iPad, or Kobo”.

The purpose of Ploughshares is to promote up-coming writers, provide a broader spectrum of literature to viewers, and to endorse underappreciated writers. Within the “Emerging Writer’s Contest” page, Ploughshares encourages up-and-coming writers and acknowledges “three genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry”. Unlike the Tin House or the Paris Review, Ploughshares has a unique section called Look2 Essays. On the “Look2 Essay” page, it explains that “this series seeks to publish essays about underappreciated and overlooked writers”. The “Look2 Essay” page further comments that its goal is to bring “critical attention to the neglected writer and his or her relevance to a contemporary audience”. This shows that Ploughshares is unique.  The literary journal goes beyond just introducing viewers to unheard of writers. Ploughshares also wants to give its viewers the chance to thoroughly contemplate the impact that this unknown writer may have on today’s society, which is something that other literary journals don’t do. This indicates that Ploughshares is a more cultured literary magazine. From what we’ve seen so far, the genre of Ploughshares is a combination of being informative and entertaining.

In Ploughshares, the diction is short and to the point as exhibited in the “Ploughshares” page with a small description underneath each article. The description gives readers the chance to know what they’re about to look at before clicking the article. The small description is a good thing, since a larger description would have caused the audience to lose interest. The main color theme of Ploughshares is this majestic navy-blue. For me, personally, the color gives off the feeling of the changing of seasons, in particularly, from winter to spring. Although navy-blue is the primary color, the different shades of blue help create this effect of seasons changing. With the lighter colors of blue on the “Ploughshares” page, it seems to give off the sense that winter is giving way to spring. The color of the text is light brown, which reminds me of the Earth, creating another connection to spring, a time in which the Earth is vibrant with life. The headings are also a dark navy-blue, and it creates a nice contrast with the light brown text. Despite the nice effect that it creates, the color of the text may be hard to read for some people. However, this can be fixed by making the font a little bigger that way the aesthetic won’t have to be changed. In comparison, on the “Home” page of Tin House, there is no unique color scheme. It is more casual compared to the color palette of Ploughshares. Another comparison could be made with The Paris Review, which uses hot neon pink on its “Sign In” page and throughout the rest of its website. This can be seen as distracting and be considered a bit too much for the eyes. Ploughshares’ navy-blue color adds a sort of elegance to the page that is not seen in the other sites. Going back to Ploughshares’ main page, I noticed that, despite the color, the font is still readable. The font also tends to resemble a newspaper.

For issues and solos, Ploughshares provides images that match the content of the writing without spoiling the piece. For example, on the “George Washington’s Teeth” page, the image of the book can be associated with its title. The purpose of these images is to lure the audience into reading these writing pieces. This means that these images must have been well thought out before being used by the staff.  The staff may have picked these images for the writing pieces with a certain mindset. When talking about images on this website, I believe that it must be noted that there are very few images on the “Ploughshares” page. This page consists of an image of the latest issue and a picture of the guest editor. I disagree with the placement of the guest editor’s picture. I believe that the picture should be higher up on the “Ploughshares” page that way people get a chance to see the guest editor, since if the picture is at the bottom of the page, then there is a chance people will overlook the image and fail to give the guest editor the credit they deserve. Despite this minor issue, I do believe that the lack of pictures on the main page isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, the limited number of pictures on the home page, when compared to other literary journals, makes Ploughshares seem more formal.

While looking through the website, I happened to notice that there are no videos. Although a video would seem more appealing to some viewers, I don’t really believe it is required, since there are a ton of images in the “Issues: Ploughshares” and “Solos: Ploughshares” pages. Videos would also hinder Ploughshares refined aesthetic.

For Ploughshares, the informational architecture is nicely developed. The search bar is placed where everyone can see it on the “Ploughshares” page. The tabs are at the top and are easy to use. Each tab has options to choose from, except for the shop and blog tab. This adds an extra layer of organization. For instance, a viewer can just hover their mouse over the solos tab, giving them the option of choosing to look at the issues by genre or by year. The only thing that really bothered me was that in order to go back to the “Ploughshares” page, I had to click the title of the page. I think this can easily be fixed by having a home tab.

The user experience seems to be calming. The website is visually appealing and has a distinct professionalism. The fact that it’s easy to find what you are looking for is another reason why it is so relaxing to use.

While Ploughshares did have some issues, it still managed to be intriguing and efficient. It is also important to point out that the issues that Ploughshares did have were minor and easy to fix. The rest of the website seemed to be well organized and put together in a manner that was endearing to the eyes. Ploughshares’ multimodal organization is functional and effective, which contributes to its success as a literary journal. Ploughshares also stands out from other literary journals with its recognition towards underappreciated writers and its tendency to present itself in a dignified and intellectual manner.

Works Cited

About.” About | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/about.

“Emerging Writer’s Contest.” Emerging Writer’s Contest | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/submit/emerging-writers-contest.

“FAQ.” FAQ | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/help/faq#How do I subscribe?

“Issues: Ploughshares.” Issues | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/issues.

“Look2 Essay.” Look2 Essay | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/submit/look2-essay.

Mays, Nancy K., et al. “Solos: Ploughshares.” Solos | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/solos.

“Ploughshares.” Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/.

Reid, Kiley. “George Washington’s Teeth.” George Washington’s Teeth | Ploughshares, www.pshares.org/solos/george-washingtons-teeth.

“Sign In.” The Paris Review, www.theparisreview.org/.

Smith, Patricia, et al. “Home.” Tin House, 5 Feb. 2020, tinhouse.com/.

 

 

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Vxjg7s19DLAw8AHXSUonHVMtmv02zTMS

Tin House is a literary magazine dedicated to publishing the original works of lesser known authors, poets, and other creatives. The site maintains its simplicity with easy navigation of the site and little to no overcrowding. All while maintaining a sense of organization and vitality.

Starting at the home page, several works are posted and available upon scrolling down. With these publications are large bold title images followed by the entire writings which are accessible by selecting the “read more” option.

On the upper left, there is a side navigation bar that can be used to travel to various parts of the site.

Starting with books, here you can see an array of options with their covers on display. Most of them are graphical and colorful.

Next, there is a podcast tab. Found here are various podcasts ranging from different genres which allows the read an array of options. Upon clicking on a podcast, the title, author, and podcast synopsis is shown. To the left is an audio player embedded into the page which allows the reader to listen to the podcast freely without leaving the site or creating an account with a 3^rd party podcast player.

Overall, Tin House offers a use friendly and accessible experience with its simplistic design and integration of various resources within the site.

Works Cited

  Smith, Patricia, et al. “Home.” Tin House, 5 Feb. 2020, tinhouse.com/.

“Carmen Maria Machado : In the Dream House.” Tin House, tinhouse.com/podcast/carmen-maria-machado-in-the-dream-house/.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18AuxVsGW0r_kb18a3buBjm_ExiSKRAs6/view?usp=sharing

Introduction/Thesis: Today I’m analyzing The Paris Review, an online publication that has a variety of ways to create, share, and appreciate art. Its publication holds a clean, upscale, and artistic presence that is easy to use for their specific audience who views art and creation as a lifestyle rather than a hobby.

Audience/Context/Genres: (Home Page) Its audience is upper class men and women who are art enthusiasts. You can see this by the font choice, it is professional yet stylistic, and reminds us of a classy and modern Paris. The name itself, The Paris Review, Paris is known to be extravagant whether in fashion, art, or fine dining. (Interviews Page) They mention names throughout that the general public would not know, like Rae Armentrout. She is a highly established writer they interviewed, so these aren’t really everyday people. The publication can be found online and in print. As we can see here there are genres like poetry, fiction, art, and photography. (Guernica) When you look at a publication like Guernica, you see genres like politics, bodies and nature. This publication is more about public issues or radical and daring type of information. So clearly someone who goes on The Paris Review will most likely not read Guernica.

Color: (Home Page) When we look at the colors we see here it is mostly black text on a white background. The text does highlight pink when you scan over it and is also used to highlight some headers or words that they want to bring attention too, such as the subscriber button and current issue.

Font: ( Home Page) The words of titles or headers are in a thicker font, again bringing the reader’s attention there. The font in general has a classic elegance look to it, only bring cohesion to their Paris upscale art theme.

Layout/Spatial: (Fiction Page) The layout is generally the same. There is always some side information, sometimes other articles readers might like, or in this case side navigation bar. In fact, when you scroll on every page, the main navigation bar always stays in place along with the side bar which makes navigating super easy. Between the layout and spacing, it is very clean, sophisticated, and well organized, making it an easy user experience while staying true to their theme.

Visual: (Art and Photography Page) As you can see there are a lot of visuals on this website, we will focus in on Dave Hardy. This image is of his sculpture which is incredibly modern and is so sophisticated and artistic that it is actually the cover of The Paris Review’s newest issue.

Aural: (Podcast Page) And lastly, there is aural mode present in both the podcasts and videos. This is an excellence affordance as it gives the audience a break from all the reading and gives them a different way to experience different works, gain information, and even take it on the go with them. So again, this is meant for people who really eat, sleep, and breathe art, or see it as a high status.

Conclusion : Overall, The Paris Review stands out as an art publication and has a very cohesive theme, is easy to use, and is appealing to its specific audience that is looking to immerse themselves in the world of art.

References

“Art and Photography.” The Paris Review, https://www.theparisreview.org/art-photography. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

Brian, Reed. “Rae Armentrout, The Art of Poetry.” The Paris Review, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/7507/rae-armantrout-the-art-of-poetry-no-106-rae-armantrout. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

Dave, Hardy, and Passarello Elena. “Dave Hardy: New and Recent Sculptures.” The Paris Review, https://www.theparisreview.org/art-photography/7508/dave-hardy-new-and-recent-sculptures-dave-hardy-elena-passarello. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

“Fiction.” The Paris Review, https://www.theparisreview.org/fiction. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

“Home Page.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

”Home Page.” The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

“Podcast.” The Paris Review, https://www.theparisreview.org/podcast/6051/odd-planets. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SIjbAv5v6hJ3_s_YaSNUw1FsgccR4zuf/view?usp=sharing

Introduction:

This is The Paris review, and this is the website I will be performing my rhetorical analysis on. The Paris review is an online subscription-based magazine that provides reviews about all categories of art. Such as paintings, readings, poetry, etc.

Thesis:

The Paris review provides efficient navigation for the large amount of information that was recorded from decades ago. It does it so by providing an interface that is appealing to its targeted audience and that is those are involved in that high-class art scene.

Body

At First glance of the front page you will notice the large amount of white space that is in the background. The font style that is being used appears to have that similar of times new roman. Because of using times new roman throughout my whole college career, I see it as one of the more professional fonts, which automatically makes me think this website leans towards the professional side. The color scheme of the website is a black, white, a grayish blue, with hot pink accents.

The Paris review provides daily content about readings and some criticism on that piece. For example this reading called “How to Leave your Lover with Lemons” by Chantel Tattoli is one of the daily pieces. The review breaks down everything in the reading in a way to where an ordinary joe would not have thought of.

The Paris review provides more than just reading, they also provide podcasts of reading, such as this one called “before the light” In the podcast they have guest readers read poems or pieces that they created themselves. This way the listener can hear the work the way the author intended it to be heard.

Another form of media is video, the Paris review provides video footage of interviews they have with authors of the reading. Such as this one titled “j.Robert Lennon’s First time” where the author discusses his ideas that went into making his book.

If you noticed that throughout the website, you could see the spatial pattern being followed. There is a three-column pattern that contain a thumbnail of what the link will be. Along with a side column that helps the reader organize the links in whichever order is provided. When you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page you will see an image drawn that is consistent throughout the website and links to sign up to their newsletter, upcoming events and to their store.

The store provides printed out copies of these reviews and some unique pieces of authors that only those who are very much involved in the art scene would know.

Conclusions

In conclusion, The Paris Review provides those who are in the high-class art scene an user-friendly web interface, so that they are able to receive the information they please.

 

 

References

“J.Robert Lennons First Time.” The Paris Review, www.theparisreview.org/video.

 

Tattoli, Chantel. “How to Leave Your Lover with Lemons.” The Paris Review, 13 Feb. 2020, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/02/13/how-to-leave-your-lover-with-lemons/.

 

Saunders, Rae ArmantroutEmma ClineGeorge. “Before the Light ” The Paris Review, www.theparisreview.org/podcast/6047/before-the-light.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ji38K0pEGFpB_1gZse65m-GUqwF4Eux/view

For this assignment, I will be analyzing the Paris Review, a literary magazine and website for lovers of fiction, photography and more across the world. In this assignment I will analyzing the Paris Review spatially, gesturally, aurally, visually and linguistically. The Paris Review’s combined efforts as a multi-modal publication, as well as their long history, has allowed them to cultivate an incredible resource for writers and readers alike. However, the website itself is not the greatest user experience.

The Paris Review literary magazine got their start in 1953. The literary magazine is still published to this day, and shares content with the website. The website began in 1996 and has been publishing poetry and interviews since. These articles are not short news articles: they are developed stories and reviews that will take time to read. As such, most readers are likely on their laptops instead of their phones. The Paris Review appeals to people who appreciate many different types of literary pieces. Book reviews, poetry and author interviews can be found all over the site.

Anyone who loves reading and writing has a place on this website. The demographic age appears to be in the 18-40 range, as literary magazines are popular with younger people. Rather than favor any specific gender, the website could be appealing to anybody. The website describes itself as a place for writers to publish and read good writing (no matter how varied that definition of ‘good’ is, as in all different types of writing) Articles written by the publication itself & other writers are found on the site. There is also a podcast. The website creates a sort of hub for creative writing ventures.

The Paris Review has a very limited, but appealing, use of colors. It’s mainly black and white, with a very interesting pink motif. Things that are pink include the current issue number, the subscribe button, newsletter sign-up, events, store and the highlighted article on the front page. The only issue is the prominence of white space on the website. It doesn’t take away from the design, but it is very plain overall. After some research, I found that the Paris Review’s font is Garamond Premier Pro. This is a professional font, which fits the “regal” theme that the publication gives off. It is not distracting and is also very visually pleasing.

The Paris Review includes all sorts of media. Photography, videos and audio clips can be found on the site’s articles. However, each of these forms of media are also given their own special treatment. Photographers are often given their own articles to display their pieces. Book authors, play writers and the website’s founder, George Plimpton, have their own videos under the “Video” section. Multiple podcasts also exist on the website! A series of interviews titled “92Y Interviews”, and 2 seasons of a podcast on all sorts of important literary information and discussion.

While the website itself is functional, there are a few key issues with it. For one, as you can see on the podcast page, the sidebar seems to not work properly when scrolling. On the front page the suggested articles disappear quite quickly, leaving white space for about 90% of the page. However, other areas of the site are well designed, such as the search function for the sites large collection of fiction. Interviews, poetry, letters, essays, art and photography are also featured and fully searchable. The website spans nearly any genre, as it includes most creative writing formats. Most pieces of writing featured by themselves on the website are fiction. The nonfiction pieces are usually interviews and articles about writers.

While many aspects of the site are appealing, it has one fatal flaw: it is not free! To read articles in full, a subscription is required. Other websites with subscriptions at least allow for one or two free articles. While the videos and podcast are free to consume, all pieces of writing are only partially readable. The only exception to this I could find were published essasys. A subscription is required to read any full article, poem or fictional piece. Considering the literary magazine and the website do not share the same exact content, I find this decision to be problematic. I don’t fault the people at the Paris Review, but other websites are able to provide a ton more information for free.

While the Paris Review is a solid website, it certainly has its flaws. I can appreciate the large collection of literary and photographical content that the site provides. However, the actual design of the site itself is far too simplistic. Also, a lot more could have been done to improve the user experience. The lack of features and available content without a subscription turns a great site into a lackluster one.

 

Sources:

Ball, Cheryl E., et al. Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. Second Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018. Print.

The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

Quora. https://www.quora.com/What-font-does-the-Paris-Review-use. Accessed 14 Feb. 2020.

This rhetorical essay analyzes both the structure and purpose of American literary magazine “Tin House” and its impact on the reader as well as the overall success of the magazine. 

Audience, purpose, context, and genre

Tin House was first published in the spring of 1999 (tinhouse.com). It is said to be a cross between both journal and magazine style writing (tinhouse.com). It was created to offer a variety of reading including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and interviews (tinhouse.com).  

Tin House is intent on not only publishing established authors but the “undiscovered” writers as well (tinhouse.com).  Publisher of Tin House Win McCormack said “I wanted to create a literary magazine for the many passionate readers who are not necessarily literary academics or publishing professionals.” (tinhouse.com). Particularly, this is what separates them from other magazines and journals. The implementation of different genres is what makes Tin House unique.

Color, font, media, information architecture, and use experience

When considering the interface of the magazine, both the modes and affordances of the magazine play a huge role in the creation of all Tin House issues. In particular, the aspect of color draws and maintains the reader’s attention. 

Each magazine has a cover with a portrait that most closely relates to the theme of the issue. This is apparent in books published by Tin House as well.

In addition, information architecture is a prominent affordance for Tin House. The Tin House website is structured in order to give viewers a better understanding of exactly what they do. 

The website is artsy with drawings and portraits on the homepage. It is very easy to navigate and includes 10 sections of interest on their menu.  

This menu includes books, workshop, podcast, tour dates, magazine, tin house online, shop, resources, search, and internship followed by their social media tags.  

These tags are Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram which are open links for viewers to click. With this broad range of selections, the website is easy to navigate and understand. 

The font displayed on the website also contributes to the user experience of readers. The font of the logo is neatly displayed, making it very readable and visible for all audiences. 

It is bigger than all other writing on the web page making it known that this is the title of the magazine therefore the reader does not get lost. 

In addition, the logo is all the same font in black with the “I” in Tin House having the color red in it as well. The colors of the website seem to be both black and red with the majority of the website being written in black. The logo also has a mini house above the words Tin House.  

As stated, colors are portrayed heavily on the website through their publications. 

The homepage includes their latest and upcoming publications displayed by a picture that is more than likely the cover of the books or magazines. In addition, the summer workshop they are offering is also advertised along with a podcast titled “Between the Covers” Tin House also published.

Displayed on the homepage is a letter to all viewers and readers stating that Tin House Online will no longer be publishing original work any longer. 

Tin House recently switched from print magazine to digital only. As the new year approaches, they have decided to focus on their divisions named Tin House Books and Tin House Workshop (tinhouse.com).

In the letter, Tin House’s new Workshop Residential Program is announced along with the statement that 2020 will bring a record number of issues for Tin House!

Works Cited

“Home | Tin House”. Tin House, https://tinhouse.com/. Accessed 13 Feb 2020.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hlwR08EaQIDO5g7JEivjawxHyGJEmmD1/view?usp=sharing

 

 

http://drive.google.com/open?id=1Kuiu71VjINW9ge5RRBa6HCGJ-Gbq0Ilz

Hi, I’m Essence Smith and today I will be analyzing The Paris Review, a multi-modal digital and print publication that inhabits a variety of reading material, such as fiction, poetry and photography, while also incorporating interviews with various authors and artists to promote their work. The modes that I will distinguish are visual, gestural, spatial, aural and linguistic, and together these attempts to attract middle to upper-class people who like to read in their spare time, however, the website is visually unappealing and not user-friendly.

Starting off with the front page, visually we are met with a completely white background with grey and hot pink, scattered promotion boxes. This color scheme produces a more modern and look, while unfortunately harsh on the eyes, which could be harder for older people and others with vision problems to read. The colors may attract younger readers; however, the text is a Times New Roman style font, aiming to look sophisticated but does not appeal to younger audiences. Gesturally, the user is able to click on various titles, pictures and navigation bars. The top navigation has a few drop-down boxes that further break-down specific content, and at the very top social media and a sign-in button for subscribers. Although, the abundance of advertisements are embedded into the webpages, some appearing at the top of the page and others plastered down the side of them. This may confuse the audience who may think they are clicking on an article when really, it’s a link to an ad which could have a risk of viruses. The spatial arrangement includes a lot of empty, white space, that if not filled or loaded with more ads would and will be completely blank.

The Video tab is slightly cluttered with links that may be overwhelming to new viewers. On this tab, the site has videos of interviews with quite a few authors, where you can click and listen without having to open a separate browser tab. This contributes to the aural mode and offers more accessibility to disabled viewers.

In the top navigation under The Review in the drop-down box there is a list of writing genres that the user can click on, and there is a page where you can filter by author last name and decade of when the writings were published on the side. And if you click on an excerpt, you can begin reading. However, in order to read the entire thing, you have to sign up and subscribe with your email, which to a casual viewer is not user-friendly. Linguistically, the type of language and writing style varies from author to author, however, the older decade publications will not appeal to younger audiences as the language used back then is very different than present times.

Overall, the modern and higher-end style of The Paris Review may be attracted to older, middle and upper-class readers, but mostly not younger ones. The white, pink and grey background is harsh on the eyes and would not appeal to anyone that needs glasses or has any vision issues. Although the website has multi-modal features, visually the website is not appealing and the amount of advertisements and promotions to subscribe to read is hardly new-user-friendly.

Sources

Ball, Cheryl E., et al. Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. “Chapter 1: What Are Multimodal Projects?” Second Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018. Print.

The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ogy2Y89keyh-gc1Z41Kig9OKOkjQrv0U

 

According to the “About Guernica” page, Guernica is an online “non-profit magazine focused on the intersection of arts and politics”. This dynamic multimodal magazine publishes creative writing, journalistic pieces, art, photography, and many more— they are truly an arts magazine. A visual rhetorical analysis of Guernica shows an inviting homepage and a strong, clear identity.

Guernica has a very inviting homepage. The first thing I noticed is the tall, slender, bolded, all-capped title of the magazine followed by their tagline above the top navigation bar. The modern font suggests the forward-thinking work that they publish. Top navigation has the content categories, making it easier for the viewer to access what they want to read specifically. One thing that’s quite distracting is the advertisement banner below the top nav but above the latest post. It shouldn’t be the first image viewers see, but it makes sense in the context of this nonprofit magazine: they need funding. Although, I do think the ad should either go on the sides or at the bottom of the page.

After perusing the homepage, I estimated that Guernica’s ideal audience is educated and worldly 25 to 50-year olds who care about art and global sociopolitical issues. The magazine’s tagline, “15 years of global art & politics”, alluded to the global focus and audience. After I scrolled down to the bottom of the homepage and clicked the “ADVERTISE” button, on the page, Guernica actually provides demographic data on their readers from a 2010 survey to provide advertisers a baseline when deciding on ads to put out on the website. My estimation was pretty close! According to the data, Guernica’s readers range in age, are college educated, support indie brands, and are socially conscious.

Going back to the homepage, as I scroll down, I see all of Guernica’s most recent posts with the author, categories, and tags clearly labeled. Spatially, these posts are positioned in various ways from alternating alignments to all left-aligned. The photos accompanying these posts are abstract, encouraging viewers to click on them to see what the posts are about. This all guides the eye, keeping the homepage interesting, exciting, and inviting, promoting gestural interaction.

The bottom navigation section houses all of Guernica’s organizational information— things not necessarily interesting to the average reader (except for the “About” page) hence its placement at the bottom of the page. The two red “DONATE” buttons, one above the top navigation and one on the bottom, emphasizes that Guernica is a nonprofit and implores readers to invest in this publication.

On the “About Guernica” page, they explicitly state that they publish work that has “incisive ideas and necessary questions . . . exploring identity, conflict, culture, justice, science, and beyond.” They also list acclaimed writers that they’ve published like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Alexander Chee, which adds to Guernica’s credibility and makes the reader feel secure that this is a legitimate publication. When scrolling through the work they’ve published, it’s extremely clear that they are dedicated to the purpose and values that they’ve expressed in the “About Guernica” page, demonstrating professionalism and consistency.

After clicking “What About Your Grandmother, Jeanine?” by Aya de Leon, I noticed that the categories, date, large title, premise, and author are visibly displayed with a large attributed feature photo. Scrolling, I like that the text took up the entire screen, beseeching the reader to solely focus on the text instead of them being distracted by cluttered side navigation bars and ads like in the Paris Review. Multiple hyperlinks interspersed in the text shows that Guernica isn’t selfish with views and wants to genuinely share ideas and thoughts, a value they stated in their “About Guernica” page. Like the “DONATE” buttons, the social media links are at the beginning and end of the posts, encouraging readers to share the work and the ideas. According to the “About Guernica” page, they support writers at “every stage of their career” so I love that they include a small author bio and their social media to encourage readers to support the writers and artists. Below that, there’s a “Read Next” section, showing several posts. After clicking “Alexandria Peary: Declined”, I noticed that the post was published six years ago! The title “Read Next” implies that the posts in the section is in chronological order and that’s not the case, so instead, the title of the section should be “You Might Also Like” since these posts are recommendations dealing with similar subject matter. The comment section below encourages readers to spark conversation about the above piece.

Scrolling up to click the “MORE…” button in the top navigation bar, an “Explore” page loads with links to more work based on genre (i.e. “fiction”), format (i.e. “audio”), and topic (i.e. “race”). Guernica has dedicated sections to articles with an audio component and a video. I clicked the “The Empty City”, and then started the audio where someone read the poem and I could follow along, reading the poem below. In “SIMA Docs: Marie’s Dictionary”, the video played on the website and a short description was underneath it, combining the visual, aural, and linguistic modes.

The modes complement each other and when used effectively, it engages with the reader’s senses and enhances their experience. Guernica is an amazing online arts magazine, that utilizes all five modes remarkably, displaying an inviting homepage and a strong, clear identity.

Works Cited
“About Guernica.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/about/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

“Advertise.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/about/advertise/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

“Audio.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/format/audio/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Bazzett, Michael. “The Empty City.” Guernica, 10 Jan. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/the-empty-city/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

de Leon, Aya. “What About Your Grandmother, Jeanine?” Guernica, 12 Feb. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/what-about-your-grandmother-jeanine/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

“Explore.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/explore/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Guernica. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Tattoli, Chantel. “How to Leave Your Lover with Lemons.” the Paris Review, 13 Feb. 2020, https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/02/13/how-to-leave-your-lover-with-lemons/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Peary, Alexandria. “Alexandria Peary: Declined.” Guernica, 23 Jun. 2014, https://www.guernicamag.com/alexandria-peary-declined/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

“Video.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/format/video/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Wang, Mary. “SIMA Docs: Marie’s Dictionary.” Guernica, 6 Sep. 2019, https://www.guernicamag.com/sima-docs-maries-dictionary/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/07ysyvjbxuzm0wy/AAA5oml9bZk2WPRkjqdWOh9aa?dl=0

Tin House is a website that , in a rhetorical analysis of the website there is a lot to explore in the layout and design of the website to make it easy for readers to follow

Upon entering the website there is a clear header with the title Tin House, beneath the title it says magazine, books, workshop; because those are things this company provides. In the top right corner there is a set of three lines which features widgets that allow for quick access and movement through the website. These widgets include but are not limited to; books, workshop, podcast, ect.. On the far-right corner of the page there is a shopping cart so viewers can shop on this website, below there is a widget for both shopping and searching.

 

Below the main header, which is centered in the page, the rest of the articles follow the layout. There is an alternating image block which features 6 rotating images of different publications. There are then three images directly below which feature other important things for their website.

 

Genre

Tin House is a place for people so submit their work for others to read. Most recently we can actually see a post stating that they are changing their posting rules, they will no longer be publishing original work to their page. They have transitioned to only accepting submissions from authors with representation. They post many different types of literary work; fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. They also feature general posts which come from the Tin House themselves.

Audience

The audience for Tin House could have previously been anyone looking to have their original work posted to a website, however with recent changes there will probably be a shift in viewership. Authors who have been published by the website, avid readers, agents, podcasters, and those looking to intern or work for tin house will be the main readers to the website due to the changes. Everyday people who want their work published- not someone already famous

Context

They post content for people to read, while also selling both books and magazines. People are also able to come to this website for podcasts.

Purpose

To inform people of new and interesting literary work.

MODES

Linguistic

The website uses a very clear and concise language for all of their posts. Each post begins with a  picture, followed by a genre, date, title and author. Their language is not highly displayed through these individual posts because it is only a short excerpt, to see more the viewer must click to continue reading. Since each post is written by different authors there are a set of guidelines and instructions that must be followed before an authors work would be posted.

Visual

This website is very visually appealing. The background is white, the font is a bold black serif font which does is clear and easy to read. The webpage itself has no true colors. The featured images have colors, and three defining parts of each post which display the; Genre, Date, and read more, which are shown in red font. Anything in read font is going to lead to a clickable link.

Aural

The Tin House features no audio except for in their podcasts which readers must choose to click on.

Spatial

The spatial orientation of each article is laid out very nicely. It is directly in the center of the page, each title photo is the same length and width to keep a even margin space on the side of each post. However, the actual writing for each post is not centered, it is flushed to the left side of the title photo. This spacing is also very pleasing, the uncentered text still lays nicely along with the display photo for each article.

In the pages that feature books or magazines for sale, instead of centered images there are rows which contain four images of the piece for sale. The images are again all the same size and spacing. These are all in color and feature black text below which states the title and authors name.

Gestural

The gestural factor to the website is the ability to click on the widgets. These titles bring the reader to the exact page they would like to end up on. They have a clear message and result when clicking upon these subheadings.

Overtime this webpage has not changed much about how they choose to post their articles. In a poem, posted December 2019 compared to a poem posted June 2018 the layout is not much different. The only difference you will be between these two poems is that in Waiting for Happiness, there is an image of a book at the end of the poem, because this poem will be featured in this book.