Nutritious fact labels are directed to all consumers to inform them on the many ingredients, serving sizes, calories, vitamins, sugars, and salts. These labels are on almost every product that is bought for consumption to prevent the lack of knowledge for the product. Nutritious labels are almost always black and white so it is easily read and noticeable. However the words are so small so you don't focus to much and notice the serving size is not the whole bag most of the time. Labels are especially important to suppliers and consumers to describe the content to avoid a negative reaction or outcome due to not knowing what the product is composed of. We as people have different bodies that react to different things, if you consume a product that you don't know its contents you could have an allergic reaction and not even know the root of the problem without this source of information. Retailers normally break down big bags of chips into smaller serving sizes on the label to avoid showing a large number of calorie consumption. Nutrition label writers also use words like less than to persuade the consumer feel this is more of a healthier alternative than it really is. With this language they are trying to minimize the fat, sugars, and salt content. Writers use the rhetorical appeal logos to persuade you with so many facts that you should not be able to question the content which makes the writer more credible. Readers appreciate the feeling of knowing the content in the product before consumption. Without this important genre we would not be able to determine the measurement of the calories, sugars or salts. Therefore we would not be able to make informed decisions on all the products we use and consume on a daily basis. I don't feel one nutritious label can be better than the next because they are all stating facts which all use the same type of rhetorical appeal in the same ways to get the point across to all readers and consumers. The most important piece of content is the list of ingredients that are present in this product so you have the knowledge to make an informed decision on whether the product fits you as a consumer. The writers main focus is to let the reader know all the facts. I see that on every nutritious label they list almost all vitamins even if this product doesn't contain that one because at first glance you would think it contains them all. Unless you really look hard on the label you wouldn't notice the huge zeros next to most of the vitamin list. These labels all have the same conventions and appeal to the same audience based on the structure and way the information is presented. Also, they all share the same type of information about the product. The content that is ignored is always smaller than the other print an located closer to the bottom so you have to exert more energy to read it.
Redfern,
ReplyDeleteNice job here on your PB1A. I like how you chose a specific textual genre—nutritious food labels—and noticed some of the patterns that they tend to have. Here are some of your smart idea that really stood out to me that I’d like to comment on:
-“Retailers normally break down big bags of chips into smaller serving sizes on the label to avoid showing a large number of calorie consumption” (Yep. That decision is a rhetorical tactic—they want you to buy the product, but also not feel like you’re eating junk food.)
-“Nutrition label writers also use words like less than to persuade the consumer feel this is more of a healthier alternative than it really is. With this language they are trying to minimize the fat, sugars, and salt content.” (Awesome. That little slice of language—“less than”—can have a big impact on readers, and I’m glad that’s where you focusing.
Moving forward, my biggest piece of advice is to take these observations and tie them to specific, actual food labels—instead of talking “about” food labels, generally, tell me what’s going on in 1 specific food label, then another, then another. Quoting the original sources themselves is the best way that to get specific and convince your audience of your claims. All told, though, solid work here, Redfern.
In ENG 101-108, I’m trying to train you to become super-observant so that you can get down to the nittiest of details and adhere (if that’s what you want to do) to the audience’s expectations for all the different genres that you’ll write here on out. By gaining a deeper and more critical reading awareness, you’ll be able to adopt/adapt writer’s choices (their writing) into your own writing.
One other side thought: I’d like to encourage you to play around with your font/formatting—sometimes it looked like one big word blog. Break it up and toss in some images if you think that’ll enhance your readers’ experience.
Z
Thanks so much for your incite it will definitely be reflected in my PB1B!
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DeleteI like how you inlcuded what the nutrition label includes. It gave us the genre you where talking about from the beginning. I like how you stated facts about the labels. Its good that you gave examples of different kinds of chips with labels. And just like Mr.DP said i think you should play around with the format so it wont look like just one big writing peice.
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