English Assignment using the Hyphen Magazine

Hi, it's Ria, I thought for one of my daily postings I'd put up four paragraphs I started for an English assignment using the Hyphen Magazine. The goal of the assignment was to identify the different appeals in a magazine or television show and explain how the advertiser defines the reader or viewer.

"The strongest appeal exemplified in the Hyphen Magazines is affiliation. Affiliation is the desired connection between a family member, a significant other, or a friend. Since the magazine is specifically written to acknowledge Asian Americans, the magazine gives the idea of a group of people coming together as one. The first ad is a group of young teens going out to an Apature event where Asian Americans can express themselves artistically. The images manifested a euphoric array of colors and random objects capturing the reader's attention. Another ad is a picture of a man and woman together in which both persons are wearing Asian related shirts representing their culture proudly. The relationships you have with people are an important aspect in life and the magazine favors these types of relationships using ads. The idea of people working together to achieve a goal is one of the many messages the magazine is trying to portray.

Another appeal drawn in the magazine is guidance. Many of the ads influences the reader to register to vote. One of the ads uses the words "Empower yourself and fellow APAs" by "registering to vote Democrat today." The statement blatantly guides the reader to vote Democrat. Another ad achieves the same message by using big font for the words to catch the readers attention. The ad states "Change it up. Vote. Election day November 4th." which clearly induces the reader to register to vote and support Asians in an political aspect. The ad also states "Where we're at & where we're not" and then lists places where Asians have successfully represented their culture. The magazine believes Asians are not recognized for their efforts in society. The idea of voting gives Asians the power to help our culture achieve the breakthrough of acceptance and gaining an honorable place in this world. To support the people of Asians in places others did not believe Asians are capable of being is one step closer to accomplishing this goal.

The third appeal expressed in the magazine is attention. Attention is the need to be looked at. One of the ad features various Asian related t-shirts, which displays the need to express one's race. The ad states "clothing for a new state of mind", which is encouraging Asians to accept the Asian American culture and be aware of certain stereotypes targeting their race. Another ad attracts Asians specifically, which draws the attention to one race. The shirts the people are wearing are all Asian related, which illustrates the idea of wanting to show society he/she identifies as their kind. The magazine uses these images to illustrate the idea of not getting attention by one's beauty, but rather acknowledged for one's skin. Hyphen magazine believe Asian Americans are not involved as much as we should be in society. By drawing attention to oneself as little as wearing a t-shirt is a big enough remark to express themselves positively. The image the shirt depicts can capture another's attention, which can act as a chain reaction to pass the importance of the message.

Lastly, the least expressed appeal is curiosity. Curiosity is being "interested in the world you and intrigued by tid bits of knowledge and new developments." One ad is one of the previous ads discussed about voting, but also asks questions as well such as "Are you wondering why Bush is still your President?" or "Did you find yourself at the war protest with a friend?", which creates a curiosity to the reader to why the following questions appeal to their emotions. Because the reader is probably affected by the cause he/she is curious to what he/she can do about the situation. Another ad displays diversified areas of the world. All the sceneries characterize the idea of peacefulness and serenity. In the middle of the collage of pictures are the words "explore your options." The ad does not discuss which options to explore, which gives the reader the curiosity of what the advertiser means. The advertiser can be implying the reader to look beyond their limits or express your need for your culture by traveling to other places."