The Public Image of Saving Our Avian Resources S O A R
SOAR has been highly rated and praised on the websites. Obviously, it’s public
image has been represented through several aspects. Specializing in raptor
rehabilitation, SOAR in a great extent, establishes a complete and comprehensive
social image. Their main website have some description about SOAR. Also, on the
other non-profits rated websites, people who have been involved give them relatively
positive comments.
Text
The website is the text. On their main website, they give a kind of introduction of
their organization. This is a good example of identity in ethos. According to Heinrich
in Thank you for arguing “get people to describe themselves. Usually the first thing
they mention reveals their best sense of who they are.” (Heinrichs, p375). This
introduction gives this organization a definition. The text in this whole introduction
page includes it’s establish history, and shows what this organization is like by
showing its goals, mission, documentary photographs and a few stuff in this
organization. There is a proof, which makes exact example as a logo. (Heinrich, p380)
Their public image mainly shows by a kind of connection between the wild birds and
people, which is the theme of this organization. In Thank you for arguing, one of
rhetorical strategy in pathos is sympathy, which means that “Registering concern for
your audience’s emotions.” (Heinrichs, p377) For example, the text in this
introduction website most is to show their relationship and friendship with eagles
(wild birds). Many photos of people and eagles together represent a very clear sense
of what this organization is about and who they are going to deal with. Not only are
the photos of their volunteers and eagles during their activities, they also have their
stuff photos with eagles. This kind of phenomenon works well in their communication
of people and wild birds by using sympathy to make audiences pay attention on them.
In this way, audiences will concern their logos more obviously by making resonance
with audiences.
Author
The author of this website is not listed, but the main directors of this organization
are all specialized in biology or in environment education. In another aspect, the
author of this text could be more than one person. One possible reason that they do
not list the name of author is that this organization is non-profits and organized by
volunteers so that the authors of context and photos will not be just one person. This
is also a good example of logos. According to Heinrichs, “Any cliché, belief, or value
that can serve as your audience’s boiled-down public opinion.” (Heinrichs, p380) This
perspective illustrates this organization is not served by one person so that they do not
have one particular author, whereas they have multiple people been involved. In this
way, their group loyalty will be enhanced due to this commonplace strategy.
Audience
The audience of this organization is undefined, but can be anybody. In Thank you
for arguing, belief is a good tool that can make access to audience, which use
expectation of people. “(Expectation) make an audience expect something good or
bad, and the appropriate emotion will follow.” (Heinrichs, p377)
For example,
people in Iowa City will be one part of audience. The reason is that this organization
is sited in the western Iowa. Besides, the wild birds such as hawk is a kind of image of
Iowa and the people in there. As a result, the Iowa people might be the audiences.
Also, because this organization is serve to the wild animals, which are very closer to
the nature. People have important relationship and friendship with nature and animals.
Therefore, people who love nature or love animals, or those who feel responsible for
connection with nature are mostly audiences. As a result, pathos works well there by
using sympathy of people. On the introduction website, they specially illustrate that
some hospitals are not suitable for visitors and also they limit the human contact so
that there will be some limitation on the people that they face to, such as children or
people who are lack of education. “Aristotle called this eunoia-an apparent
willingness to sacrifice your own interests for the greater good” (Heinrichs, p370).
This point shows ethos that caring, they are doing what is good for birds, not for say,
their entertainment. Their strength and actions is mainly to help birds.
Purposes
The purposes are clear that they wrote them as their goals, this is a connection
between purpose and pathos, because the goals as their identity are to give audience a
conception with their goals and purpose as a group. (Heinrichs, p374) First of all, they
serve to build a raptor rehabilitation system on western Iowa. Second, Making
connections between people and individual wild animals in order to make people pay
more attention on nature resources, animals and environment. Third, give more
educational opportunities to people. (“About SOAR” Web). The organization finds a
rational reason to be existed by using pathos and ethos. Primarily, the basic purpose of
this Saving Our Avian Resources organization is to save the wild animals who have
avian and then make them go back to their home. This may serves a more healthy
environment and ecosystem. Also, in another perspective, after saving by human, wild
birds might have a kind of friendship with human. This is what the pathos work here
with emotion in sympathy (Heinrichs, p377), this image of organization is added a
symbol of harmony of nature with people. Audiences of this organization will be
affected by their image of animals and human so that there will be more people pay
attention on the animals and natural environment. This third point uses pathos as a
kind of way to imply people that their educational purpose is ethical so that people
will more precisely know that their organization is very ethical. However, there is
another situation, this organization uses concession as a tool to support one of their
purpose. According to Heinrichs in Thank you for arguing, making concession helps
to strength own advantage. (Hernrichs, page3). On the website, they illustrate the
opposite perspective that because they limit the direct the contact of birds and human
in birds hospital. After the birds are saved, they have photos of ceremony that people
have directly contact with birds. They make a kind of concession that although those
birds are sick and so that they cannot have connection with people, after caring by the
organization, birds are free to play with humans. This contrast enforces the image of
organization. These points server well to their purposes. One of them is to give more
education to people, and another is to make more attention of human on nature
resources. These concession and the opposite affect have a kind of contrast, which
makes this organization’s purposes more rational and positive.
Setting
This Saving Our Avian Resources S O A R organization’s introduction is set on
its main website, which is very easy to access. In this way, many people are able to go
to their website and read their context and see their photos with wild birds. The spread
of information is fast and convenient. Because setting up a website does not cost too
much, this point will also strength their non-profits image in the public. Besides,
audiences are easy to discuss and communicate with this organization. On website,
they have access to post their own thoughts. This is also another example of
disinterest and caring, which is by using own conclusion because there is rightness
from many other people. (Heinrichs, p376) Especially on the website that rated
organizations, people have ability to say what they thought about this organization or
their own experience about volunteering in it.
In Conclusion, the public image of Saving Our Avian Resources S O A R
organization gives most positive image such as nature, save animals, get involved
with many people, have specialization and knowledge, have access for people to
connect with wild birds.
Work cited:
Heinrichs, Jay. Thank you for arguing. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.print.
Saving Our Avian Resources. 2010-2015. 21 Sep 2015. <http://www.soarraptors.org/>
Saving Our Avian Resources. S O A R. Web GreatNonProfits 21 Sep
2015.<http://greatnonprofits.org/org/saving-our-avian-resources-s-o-a-r>