1

Running head: CIRCUS ANIMALS

Circus Animals

Maria Gutierrez

The University of Texas at El Paso

instead takes place in various practices such as the food, clothing and entertainment industries.

Circus animals are part of the animal cruelty topic which can involve the beating, killing and

neglect towards the animals. Circus trainers abuse animals in the process of training them to

perform acts, making the animals go through a series of stress and depression that can even lead

to their death. Acção Animal (Action Animals) and Liga Portuguesa dos Direitos do Animal

(Portuguese League of Animal Rights) are both organizations that help create awareness about

animal rights. The organizations collaborated in the creation of a campaign that helps create

conscience about circus animals, and how the world can do something to stop the abuse. The

poster works along with the credibility, emotions and effectiveness with the audience to create an

impact in the abuse that circus animals go through.

Acção Animal and Liga Portuguesa dos Direitos do Animal are organizations that help

prevent the abuse of any kind towards animals. They are both members of the World Society for

the Protection of Animals and are associated with the Royal Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals. These organizations not only work within their country, instead they work

on making an impact worldwide. Providing public service, production of campaigns, raising of

funds, and providing education about animals and nature are some of the work that these

organizations produce. “Animals are not clowns” is a campaign created by both organizations

Acção Animal and LPDA in order to promote awareness of what circus animals are used for and

provide information in the form of a speech to give the audience a clear understanding of the

matter.

The supporting details that are used in the text help the argument evolve, from the

description of the treatment that animals get to their living conditions as being part of the circus.
 3
Running head: CIRCUS ANIMALS
The paragraph is written as if a circus spokesperson was talking to an audience that will enter a

circus. The text does not include any supporting details such as names of authors that know

about the subject, studies or statistics about the animal cruelty that evolves in the circus. The

credibility of the source develops from the background of both Acção Animal and LPDA, which

are known worldwide and are experts in the area of animal cruelty.

The text is somehow graphic as it uses words such as “whip”, “electric shocks” and

“binding chains” which are the methods that are used by trainers to apply towards the animals in

order for them to perform the acts. The emotions that the text gives are sadness, pain and guilt.

The sadness is obviously portrayed in how much suffering the animals go through in the abuse

they are given this also includes the pain. The feeling of guilt is experimented because the

audience knows they are able to prevent these treatments, but then again they do nothing to help.

The text does a good job transmitting the message that animals are not clowns, because it makes

the audience feel like they are not doing anything to prevent this and somehow they are part of

the show also. The poster does not aim to a specific group, instead is for all ages because it is

about gaining thought of what really happens in a circus and the suffering animals go through.

Kids at a young age can perceive what is happening if parents read the text to them, they will

quickly notice that the circus may be fun for them, but not for the animals. Adults and young

teens are able to get the message straight.

The poster shows a lion with a sad clown face painted on his face; he is depicted behind

his circus cage. The photographer is not mentioned in both websites or in the campaign, but it is

clear that the use of Photoshop or any other kind of software was used to paint the lion’s face.

These alterations in the picture might result in loss of credibility, because lions are not painted as

clowns in the real world. It is clearly understandable that the organizations have credibility in the
 4
Running head: CIRCUS ANIMALS
topic of animal abuse, and that the picture has been altered in order to portray the message which

is “Animals are not clowns.”

The photograph is constructed in a manner in which not a single detail is left out. The

poster is layered starting by a solid black background which gives a gloomy melancholy setting,

followed by the lion, the paint and color that cover his face and finally the bars that he is put

behind. The orientation used is portrait, which helps the audience enjoy the picture without

missing any detail plus leaving room for the text. The genre that is used which is photograph was

appropriate for a campaign against animal abuse in circus because the audience gets to see what

animals feel, and what they are been put as; clowns. Any other genre such as commercials and

articles would have also work because in commercials there is a visual that you get to see the act

of violence, while an article gives you percentages and facts about animal abuse informing in an

educational way by the evidence given.

The emotion the poster portrays runs from sadness, guilt and melancholy. The audience

gets these feelings when seeing the lion trapped and sad, not been able to free himself from his

captivity; also his eyes show the emotion of sadness. The colors that are used in the paint on his

face are dark shades of red, green, blue and white. The use of darks shades in the lion shows

irony because clowns are usually painted with bright colors, this might lead to the representation

of sadness in a clown. The image is powerful because the animal used is the lion, which is seen

as the king of wild animals and showing him trapped and behind a cage gives a feeling of

vulnerability. The size of the image makes it easy for the audience to perceive the details, and

helps the picture be an effective genre for portraying feelings. The audience as well as the

rhetorical section is the general public, in order to create awareness. Children would be drawn to
 5
Running head: CIRCUS ANIMALS
the image of a powerful creature such as a lion portrayed, as clown and the older audience would

notice the abuse the animal has.

The visual and rhetorical part of the poster complement in each other in a way in which

the text tells the audience the story that is behind the picture, the cruelty behind circus animals.

The picture complements the text by adding the emotion of what animals feel and letting the

audience take a look of the reality that undergoes through these performances. If one of them had

to be predominant it would be the rhetorical portion, because it does an effective job telling the

cruelties in a way in which makes you feel part of it. The visual is distributed throughout the

picture and the text on the bottom left corner along with the organizations logos, which are on

the right bottom corner of the page.

A text can provide information and tell what the author wants to portray in a clear and

direct way, but a visual representation is also able to tell a story inclusively share a story in a

more personal way touching the audience in a different way. The sources can vary and the

audience may respond different to each of them, but they help direct a message, which is the

point of the media. Acção Animal and LPDA do an excellent job using both rhetorical and visual

elements in a single source in order to provide the message of animal cruelty and how animals

are not clowns, giving a moral, which is “Don’t be part of the show.”
 6
Running head: CIRCUS ANIMALS
References

Acção Animal. (October 2008). Libera! Junta-se a campanha pelo circo sem animais. Retrieved

from http://accaoanimal.wordpress.com/page/2/.

Liga Portuguesa dos Direitos do Animal ( October 9, 2013). LPDA home. Retrieved from

http://www.lpda.pt/index2.htm