Obviously, world hunger can be recognized as an inarguable global issue, but luckily, many ways of possible civic engagement have been developed, which allow individuals to help ease this exigence. Freerice.com, acts as a great way for human beings to quickly, and conveniently join the cause to stop world hunger. If your unfamiliar with the website, what happens is...
A category is chosen, and questions within that category are displayed in a multiple-choice lay out. The person at home, online, is expected to select what they believe to be the correct answer, and if they choose correctly, 10 grams of rice is donated to the World Food Programme, an organization dedicated to solving and combatting global hunger. Free Rice allows humans to educate themselves, and feed the undernourished at the same time, for free.
What I find to be interesting about Free Rice, is it's ability to establish such a strong pathos with the audience, without actually advocating the World Food Programme. Visitors to the site simply find the entire concept so interesting, and fresh, that they motivate themselves to dig deeper into the exigence. In turn, the self-established pathos within the audience, causes the public advocates who've designed and sponsored the site to form an incredible, ethos, as well. It's as if these advocates are introducing the world to a cause, without shoving the facts down their throat, and that technique has worked as a great way to open up the cause to a vast, eclectic group of people.
It's likely that I could choose to perform a speech that discusses the issue of world hunger, and that proposes a possible solution to the problem. I will definitely use Free Rice as an example of how to establish pathos within an audience, and how to establish ethos within myself. I believe that the best way to advocate a cause is to invite others into the proposed solution, rather than guilting them or forcing them into it, and Free Rice acts as a great example of this strategy. I also believe that ethos should be established silently, which Free Rice also accomplishes. Lastly, a goal for any speech I will ever perform, will be to build interest among the audience, and Free Rice undoubtably builds interest within it's large, global audience.
Advocacy and engagement are happening on multiple levels here. And how about that medium (the Internet)?!
ReplyDeleteWe used to get on Free Rice all the time at my high school! I always did the Spanish version for extra credit. I also really like that the site offers category selections, to keep it fun and interesting. It's a great way to get people involved in helping to end world hunger while both entertaining and educating them.
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