When it comes to the point in a relationship where a couple has to “do long distance”, it is either the kiss of death or makes their relationship even stronger. There is no doubt that long distance relationships take hard work, as the couple will have to go through obstacles and will need a great amount of trust in one another. When the couple is reunited, hopefully, the reunion will be sweet and their relationship will still be going strong. As Thomas Haynes Bayly once said, “Distance makes the heart grow fonder,” and for some people this is very true. Carissa, the author of the article, “Long Distance Relationships” shares her experience and what she thinks makes a long distance relationship work. The author’s writing reaches out to a certain group of women who are the typical dating age and who are going through a similar situation that Carissa did. In the article “LongDistance Relationships,” she uses personal experiences, visuals, and structure to create a sense of certainty to convince her reader that they can make a long distance relationship work.
Nothing connects a reader to the author more than personal experiences, and that is exactly what Carissa, the author of the article, does right from the start. She starts the article off with some background information on her long distance relationship. When the reader reads the article she cannot help but think of her long distance relationship and compare her situation to Carissa’s. Carissa says, “I’d either drive 3.5 hours when we were both in Texas or get on a 3.5 hour flight when he was in Alaska.” By sharing personal experiences, the author is able to easily connect to her reader by evoking a feeling of friendship that will make the reader want to share about their experience in a long distance relationship. Especially to a female audience, making the connection of friendship will make them more receptive to what the author is trying to say. The result being that the reader wants to make sure that her and her boyfriend make it work by putting into action the advice the author shares.
During the other sections of the article, the author shares a personal experience about each topic she shares on how to make a long distance relationship work/last. In the “Keep Yourself Busy” section, she states, “Luckily for me, I got to plan a wedding so that took up plenty of my time! But if I didn’t go out and be with other people I still would’ve gone crazy.” Giving advice creates a bridge between the reader and the author and connects the two by the author giving the implication that she is talking directly to the reader. By adding these little personal anecdotes into her article, Carissa is not only able to connect to her reader on a personal level but is able to boost her credibility on her authority to share advice on long distance relationships. When searching for advice people go to someone who has gone through the situation before and has experience. Women like to go to their friends in situations like these and since Carissa has created a bond of friendship, her reader feels confident in the advice she has to share about maintaining a long distance relationship.
Along with personal experiences, visuals are another big rhetorical tool an author can use to make that connection with their reader. In Carissa’s article, the first thing the reader sees when they start to read the article is an image of two people standing on opposite sides of the world with sad faces. The caption of the picture is “No Fair.” Since the reader of the article will most likely be in a long distance relationship herself, it is important for the author to provide visuals that allows the reader to relate to the topic at hand. It can be assumed that this is what people in a long distance relationship say when they have to be away from their significant other. By adding in this picture the author evokes a somber mood as the reader realizes that they feel exactly the same way the two people in the picture feel. After going through her experiences and sharing what it takes and what it important to have in a long distance relationship, the author inserts a picture of herself and her husband that she had a long distance relationship with. Inserting this picture helps prove to her readers that long distance relationship can work and helps strengthens their relationship. The picture of her and her husband also makes the article more personal, which strengthens the bond of friendship the author has created. Overall, the images supported the author’s argument because it helped the reader to visualize what a long distance relationship requires. Through the heartache that may be encountered one’s relationship can grow stronger and learn to conquer hard things. The images help hook the reader into reading the article and it strengthens the effectiveness the structure of the article has on the reader.
The structure of the article is another tool the author uses, which is very apparent and makes it easy for the reader to read. The author made bolded headings for each section that she is going to talk about, making it so that the reader knows what exactly helped make the authors relationship work. By breaking her argument down into sections it was strengthened because it was clear on what she was going to say but also kept the reader reading. This is because especially on a blog, if there is a big block of text it is very hard for the reader to keep interest. Within the sections, the author follows a certain structure as well. In each section, Carissa gives advice on how each suggestion will help a long distance relationship and then will share a personal experience about that particular topic. The structure of the article not only makes it easier for the reader to understand but it helps make the article more fluid. The structure of the article helps the reader logically go through the argument to help them understand her argument from point to point. Organization is a key factor in making sure the reader fully understands and can keep track of what is being said in the article. The author, organizes the article perfectly to showcase each of her points that she brings up to convince her audience that they too can make a long distance relationship work.
Carissa develops an effective argument through the use of personal experiences, visuals, and structure. All three of these devices convince and reassure her audience that they too, can survive and make a long distance relationship work. Through these tools, she is able to connect with her audience on a very personal level.
