Rhetorical Rationale:

One of the most relevant and important topics of any election year is the voting process.

Because the 2020 election is prevalent in a time of a pandemic and mass change, utilizing the

right to vote has never been more needed. A goal for the United States has always been to

increase voter turnout, but especially young voter turnout as young people hold the future in their

hands. Voting should be an important subject matter to all because of the power it carries.

Although many may believe that one singular vote will not make or break an election, if many

people have this idea, the collectiveness of abstaining from voting can really have an impact. No

matter the age of the voter, expressing your ideas through voting is the purpose of living in a

democratic system. Whether one is a first-time voter, or could be potentially voting for the last

time, the opinions and preferences of Americans are what create the government and country that

we live in today. Creating genres that target voters of all ages was important to me as to not leave

any group out or uninformed.

The purpose behind making the TikTok video that I created was to gain the opinions of

people my age to be influential in showing other young voters that they too can share their voice

and message regardless of their political opinions. One of the most popular apps not only in the

United States but also the world is TikTok. TikToks are short 15 second or one minute long

videos that can really be about anything from dancing to teaching someone about voting (in my

case). Learning how to make the video took a bit of time, however, I know that it would be worth

is as these videos can “blow up” and become viral even if the person who posted them does not

have a large following. Understanding this, I knew that this would be a great platform to reach

many young voters. The purpose behind the song “Yellow” by Coldplay follows a current

TikTok trend where the creator will sing the song followed by a series of images that make them
happy, or their “yellow.” The text I added explained what was going to be shown in the video

and emphasizes the idea that “YOU” should vote. This helps make the targeted viewer feel more

directed as if the video is meant for them personally. I loved reading what my friends had to say

about why they think voting is important and overall, I think the video turned out fantastic.

The aim of the Instagram post was to reach middle aged, working adults who may not

necessarily know what time the polls are open in their state and how they can become informed

on who is on the ballot. The slide with the map of the United States and the associated polling

times was important for me to include just in case people from states other than my own desired

the information. Including the tid-bit about the sample ballots was important for me too. This not

only encourages extra research and information, but to get out the vote. Although I feel that the

privilege to vote is exciting and needs no incentive, I decided to include a link to a website where

adults can search their state laws to learn about time off from work for voting. The colors in the

Instagram post were also important to me as sometimes scrolling through social media can

become overwhelming with crowded posts. I specifically wanted distinctive colors such as blue

and red to represent the Democratic party and the Republican party. This not only would

immediately alert the viewer that this was a post about the election but would maybe intrigue

them to stop scrolling and to read the post.

Lastly, posting a flyer in a nursing or retirement home for senior citizens to be able to

access was necessary for me as many elderly people do not use social media. Informing them on

how they can get a ride to the polls via two different car services encourages voting by providing

means of transportation. I focused mainly on the top two most popular taxi-like services in the

country: Uber and Lyft. These companies created discount plans for their incentive to get people

to the polls to vote. However, I took this up a step and realized that this can be used towards the
benefit of nursing and retirement home citizens who no longer are able to drive. Because most

elderly people are not great with smartphones or do not have one, they cannot access these ride

apps. Therefore, I included information at the bottom of the flyer on how to get help from staff

members to schedule a ride. I wanted to keep the flyer simple but eye-catching with the logos of

the companies and the date of the election in bright red. I alternated the colors of the text

paragraphs in red and blue to signify both the Democratic party and the Republican party.

These genres I believe to be successful because of their direct target towards the intended

audiences. They were significant to the “To Vote or Not To Vote” topic and provided different,

yet relevant piece of information that would be helpful for their associated audiences. However,

next time, one thing that I would have liked to have added is an addition of information to the

Instagram post about mail-in/absentee ballots and how to properly return them given that this

year specifically has an increase in this type of ballot. All in all, my favorite genre to create was

definitely the TikTok as I loved reading the responses that my friends wrote because I got to

learn why they choose to vote and why voting is important to them and why it should be

important to all. I believe that the success of this project is accomplished by the use of all three

genre pieces together providing the ultimate outlet of information and knowledge regarding

voting and its benefits.