Blog 16 (Week 2) (Magazine Cover) 1-2-12

This magazine cover is from the December 2011 issue of Elle Magazine.  Looking at all the subtopics it mentions, the context of the magazine is the holidays.  To the bottom left it clearly says "Gift Guide!" and since it is the most eye-catching (because of the large font size) that alludes to the context.  The purpose for this magazine is to attract women (of all ages) and to appeal to their sense of fashion and femininity by persuading them to purchase the magazine and possibly taking the advice of holiday "gift ideas" that is inside the magazine itself.  Placing a well-known celebrity on the cover also intrigues people because they are drawn to the popularity of celebrities.  I was able to tell this magazine was for women because one of the sub-topics in the upper left hand corner says "the perfect party dress".  Obviously that is aimed at women who are looking for new clothes for a new years party or holiday party.  Unless men are now wearing dresses (besides the female wanna-bes) this magazine is based on female personality and desire.

The rhetorical devices used in this magazine cover are:

1) Placement/Arrangement - placement and arrangement are used with the celebrity picture and the surrounding captions. The biggest words are obviously arranged and placed that way because of the certain attraction to that topic the magazine editors wanted to intrigue.  The placement of the title, in all capital letters and on the top of the page is there for people to quickly identify the magazine they are looking at.

2) Contrast - Contrast is used with the color scheme.  There is an all white back round dotted with black and harsh red letters that make the words stand out.  There is also the celebrity photo with her tan skin that stands out when compared to the white back round.  This rhetorical device helps intrigue readers because of the appeal to their vision.

3)Punctuation Style - In this case i believe punctuation style is a rhetorical device because the sporadic apostrophe marks seem inviting in the eyes of the reader. If the punctuation is exciting then the readers will feel the same way.  And it is because of this that it is a rhetorical device used to achieve the editors purpose for the magazine.

The purpose is achieved for this magazine if a lot of people bought the magazine and also brought business to the stores that are promoted within the magazine as well.  Since the magazine is fairly popular, I would say that the purpose was indeed achieved.