Rhetorical Analysis

Manipulation as we know can be deceiving but can also be done to highlight a certain object for a certain purpose, to bring to the foreground what mostly matters. Jorgensen's manipulation in the photograph has given the spectator an opportunity to construct a reality for the child that will in effect be proven false once the spectator actually clicks on the photograph to reveal the child's reality. A problem that can be extracted from such use of manipulation is the point that "documentaries bear the personal signature of an authorial personality. They construct an argument, they aim to inform, but also to persuade, even to incite. Not surprisingly, they have provoked debate and been accused of being manipulative" (23 Higgins). Moreover, the …show more content…
This may in effect cause the viewer to begin a search for change that needs to be made whether that being on a personal, societal, or even a global level. Although the photographs used in Jorgensen's document are not his own, he has still found a way to engage with his audience which as stated in an article by Tamara Kay is that "the goal of the documentarian... is to invoke a visceral emotional reaction – outrage, shame, sadness – that compels, motivates and obligates a larger audience to act" (427). Jorgensen has not only given his audience a text explaining the plight of refugee children but has also given the audience a chance to partake in, first the making of a false reality in which the spectator constructs their own meaning of the photograph with a black background and then the understanding of an actual reality in which the original photograph appears as was captured by the photographers. Photographs and videos of refugee children have over the past few years been more visible in the news and throughout social media outlets. These images have unfortunately become a 'norm' that people skip through. Kay who focuses her article on the works of the documentarian Sebastiao Salgado highlights his ability to engage with his audience so that the audience does not just look at the photograph but is made to engage and participate from within the photograph, which is precisely what Jorgensen has done within his document by allowing the viewer to participate and click on the photograph. Now our perception of the photographs has led us to understand the impact of the crisis that refugee children face. An intended outcome is to lead the individual to make a change, make a change because that is the intended purpose when looking upon a document that entails a

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