Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

Jacob Lopez
Raymond Cedillo
David Moreno
University of Texas at El Paso

Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

Every morning of everyday some unfortunate people have to rise out of their cardboard
dens, with their grumbling stomachs begging for food, but their empty wallets not allowing it.
However, there is one organization who attempts to do all that is possible to improve the
situation for these unfortunate individuals. The Salvation Army is an organization with roots
deeply seeded all the way back in 1889. This organization focuses on helping those who are
finically crippled or without homes. The Salvation Army uses many tools to achieve this goal,
including the internet. The website for the organization is precisely constructed to allow the
plead for help of these individuals to be heard by using design aspects and rhetorical devices to
appeal to us morally, emotional, and logically.
The Salvation Army as mentioned above has deeply seeded roots. Those roots are heavily
influenced by the Church of Christianity. Thus when the organization utilizes emotional appeal,
it connects deeply with its audience. For example, the web developer constructed this website to
affect us emotionally, hoping that we will feel for those in need and donate our help through the
website. The Salvation Armys main tool for emotional appeal, is simply their actual pictures
from past salvations and the color schemes used through the entirety of their website. The
pictures in their website are quite emotional and touching, it disturbs the viewer because it is
obvious that the people in their pictures presented, are real people and the problems they face are
real and crucial. When you first arrive onto The Salvation Army website you are struck by a
picture of a family dealing with hunger. The picture is accompanied with the caption No child in
our community deserves to go hungry and Emergency Assistance Needed
(www.salvationarmytexas.org). This is particularly powerful since the viewer will picture
themselves along with their family in this situation. This invokes a sense of necessary action in
the viewer forcing them to continue reading the website or possibly even donating to help The

Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

Salvation Army. Another element that the organizations website utilizes is the use of color. The
colors Red, Black, and White are used through the website. Red tends to stand for physical health
and typically prove a serious visual impact that grabs the viewers attention. This works very
much like an alarm, capturing the viewer and automatically letting them know its importance.
The color black is often interpreted as mentioned on Color-Wheel-Pro.com to show power and
strength (www.fatrabbitcreative.com). The website also mentions that the color white is use to
show innocence and goodness (www.fatrabbitcreative.com). Both of these colors appeal to our
emotional appeal as the organization presents its self as a strong and righteous savor for even
those that have lost all hope. Although examples of emotional appeal are abundant in The
Salvation Army website there are also many examples of Ethos, moral appeal.
As mentioned above The Salvation Armys mission is based on the aspect of the bible and
the love of god to meet human needs in the name of the lord without discrimination which helps
outline them as a special organization. The organizations website states all committed to
furthering the mission of The Salvation Army and helping those in need in Jesus name.
(www.salvationarmytexas.org). This is a use of ethos as the mention of Jesus Christ and their
great mission. The mention of Jesus Christ is especially powerful as it gives the organization and
website a sense of righteousness through moral appeal. Additionally, the organizations name
includes the word salvation, once again reference to the righteous of Jesus Christ; who died for
our salvation. Another characteristic of The Salvation Army is that their members are some of the
few people to help in disasters apart from other organizations such as the American Red Cross.
The website states this is in reference to the soldiers of the Salvation Army Soldiers abstain
from the use of alcoholic beverages, drugs, and tobacco. (www.salvationarmytexas.org). This is
a powerful use of ethos as it mentions that only the righteous and morally sound that abstain

Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

from the use of negative substances make up the Salvation Army. The website does a great job of
utilizing ethos efficiently with many mentions of god and the bible. It also states that the
Salvation Army is composed of only morally sound individual prepared to carry the love and
care of god to those more unfortunate. All in all, we have discussed how the website successfully
connects with its audience through the appeal of morals and emotion with the use of text,
pictures and color. Lastly we will discuss the use of data and statistics to appeal to the viewer
through a logical approach.
The Salvation Army website uses Logos in the form of statistics and data evaluation. A
perfect example of this is found when navigating to their 2016 Annual Report Page. The
website mentions that when children live in poverty they are 32 times more likely to remain in
poverty. (www.salvationarmytexas.org). This specifically targets logos as it gives a number
value and uses a statistic to demand people to join their cause and help to break the vicious cycle
of poverty. It invokes people to take actions because if they fail to do so nothing will change and
the problem of poverty will not be eliminated. Another great example of how the Salvation Army
website uses data is in reference to the hunger relief that the organization provides. This is found
when navigating to the Hunger Relief tab. The website states that more than 48.8 million
people face hunger daily in the United States. (www.salvationarmytexas.org). In addition to this
the site also states how much help the organization is able to provide, The Salvation Army
serves more than 56 million meals to anyone in need (www.salvationarmytexas.org). This is a
highly effective use of logos as it examples precisely how many people suffer from hunger in the
US. It also precisely mentions how many meals the organization can give out to help combat this
problem thus adding to the organizations credibility.

Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

In conclusion the Salvation Armys website is highly effective in spreading it message

and mission. It uses pathos to allow the pain of these individuals to be acknowledged. The
organization also uses its influences from the Church of Christianity to instill a sense of moral
righteousness around its purpose. Lastly Logos is provided through statics and data to show the
change and help that the organization provides. All and all, the organization allows the plead for
help of unfortunate people to be heard around the world by using a effectively constructed
website and allows people to take action and alleviate the situation.

Reading Head: Rhetorical Analysis of The Salvation Army

Resources

Home - Salvation Army Texas. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2016, from

http://www.salvationarmytexas.org/
By accenting certain parts of the page with a different color, they direct the viewer
exactly where they want them to go. (n.d.). Psychology of Black and White and What
They Mean for Your Business. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from
https://www.fatrabbitcreative.com/blog/psychology-of-black-and-white-and-what-theymean-for-your-business