So, early Saturday morning, while everyone else was preparing for the big football game, I found myself scouring the RCAH for texts to interact with and note my observations of for this Mini Assignment 2. There were many options from which to choose that I found lining bulletin boards, hallways, doorways, bathroom stalls, and practically any available surface to which paper could be affixed using scotch tape. I finally found an appropriate document regarding the Swine Flu. The document was intended to raise awareness regarding the sickness and avoid it within the close quarters of a college campus.
The flyer was three-hole punched, printed on white, flat-finish paper, and printed in color. The text was printed giving only the information, there were no graphics or images. The layout of the flyer had some text printed in a bright green box, however. The color caught my eye as I was scouting for documents and made me stop and pause at this one for a second. The block printed font made the flyer's information look clean, official, and scientifically based I thought. The way the flyer was printed almost gave it some credibility and authority which made me stop to read it. The way the document was set up, the paragraph of information in the middle of the document I totally skipped over, but the rest of the text I automatically skimmed.
The flyer was hanging on the wall in the Snyder lounge. It was slightly above the average eye level (it was a little over my eye level still and I am pretty tall for a girl, standing at 5' 8.5"). A disadvantage to the way it was presented was that it was off to the side of the lounge in a spot where not much attention is received by passersby; however, it was advantageously hung where there were not many other flyers in the area to compete with the attention of a potential audience as there would be on, say, a bulletin board.
The message of the flyer is clearly conveyed, the flyer's central message tells students to stay healthy and avoid the flu. The flyer's center of gravity is the text inside the green box. As an audience member, I found the term "safety" more resonating than the actual text talking about avoiding the flu. Being "safe" first catches my attention when I see the document.
Upon seeing the flyer, I noticed it over the surroundings because of the bright color and large print; it is aesthetically pleasing. Because I had intentionally gone into the lounge looking for an encounter with a document, the entire scenario was almost artificial; however, I feel that the interaction itself was not drastically altered based on this. When I entered the lounge, I was scanning the walls looking for documents. I began by walking toward the front desk; nothing was especially eye-catching, so I turned around and as I headed toward the Gallery, this document caught me in my line of vision. I walked closer to the document in order to read it. After finding this piece of text, first, my eye saw the green box, then I immediately read "Stay Spartan Safe". I did not then understand the message of the text until I went down to the next item on the page: "Avoid the Flu". I next read the first four bullets of the bulleted section. After that, my eye jumped down to the bottom green box. Then, because I was still engaged with the document, I skimmed the paragraph in the middle and then read the MSU logo at the bottom of the page and noted the website address provided.
The key ideas or main points of this piece of information are to keep from getting sick and the ways to do that. The points discussed to not get sick were all representing common sense, they included washing one's hands and covering their mouth, staying home if one is sick, and keeping people who known to be sick away from healthy people.
As a reader, I had some questions while I interacted with the text. When it was said to "Stay Spartan Safe", I asked myself "What is dangerous?" and "What is 'Spartan Safe" (is it different from other sorts of safety)?" These questions were answered by the statement "Avoid the Flu" and the paragraph describing H1N1. When the document told me to avoid the flu, I automatically thought "Well...duh. But what do they mean? How?" The bulleted points answer this question.
There is an expectation formed by the reader when first seeing the document that they will tell you how to maintain personal safety and take care of yourself. The reader almost expects that they will delve deeper into their explanations than these basic, sensible sorts of responses regarding personal hygiene. The document, therefore, does not fully live up to this expectation of the reader.
Within this text, there is a distinct relationship between the writer and the audience. The writer presents himself authoritatively. This matter of health is obviously a serious one in their mind and not a joking matter. The font is straightforward and simple to read. There is a "to the point" writing style employed, using brief, terse sentences. Furthermore, the writer does not really ask the reader to do these things to stay healthy, the writer is telling and instructing the reader. I see the writer as possibly a health official. Also, the writer makes several assumptions of the reader. The first is that the reader is a typical college student and they have little experience in caring fully for themselves. All "Spartans" are grouped together. The writer is distant from their audience. The writer presents himself as someone who possesses a higher knowledge over the readers. The writer first grabs his reader's attention at the top. The writer moves in closer to the reader during the paragraph in the middle of the page; there is a personal interaction between the writer and the audience here. Students are given a personal responsibility to "help out" and avoid the spread of the flu; then the instructions are given. The "foreground" of the flyer can be seen as the main point of the flyer, to keep students safe and not to spread the disease as well as the ways to do that. The flyer centers around staying healthy. To the sides (figuratively, not literally) are texts conveying who is telling the reader and who the information comes from, the personal benefits of staying well are seen first and as one fades back, the moral responsibility to keep other students healthy is seen secondly.
All in all, I feel that the text was communicative and achieved its aim. I do intend to stay healthy, and will be doing the things listed on the flyer (even if not because the flyer told me to do so). The flyer served as a reminder of my personal health and its importance when sicknesses such as H1N1 are circulating, and it gave me a chance to analyze the way I look at information is presented to me.
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