THE RHETORICAL SITUATION

Purpose

Audience

Rhetorical appeal

Modes & media

Purpose

Chris Peterson, creator of BurgerMap, seeks to gather and show the “world’s best burgers” through an interactive map that users contribute to. Viewers can move around the map, search, and filter their search areas in order to find what they’re looking for.

Audience

The primary audience is people who enjoy burgers and travel.

Rhetorical appeals

Peterson establishes ethos by presenting rules for contributors to follow, and by crediting OpenStreetMap as his source map. Peterson and his contributors (the world-traveling burger lovers who submit reviews) also appeals to readers’ sense of logos by using clear categories of information; they appeal to pathos through humor, as in when Peterson writes: “Keep it real! Be honest with your reviews. Be civil with your comments. We’re all in this together.”

Modes & Media

Mode = visual and written

This map conveys information about burger joints around the world through visual and textual elements. Without visuals, the map would simply be a list of city, place, and road names; the visuals give those names geographical and spatial relevance. Without text, we wouldn’t be able to find streets or other locations. Because this map is interactive, we can navigate by clicking to zoom in to specific locations and information, and even contribute our own burger reviews and photos.

Medium = digital Because this map is digital, anyone with an Internet connection can access it. Users can highlight different information, depending on their needs.