Introduction
There are a number of literary techniques that can be used in a piece of poetry, to help distinguish it from any other piece of writing. Among these techniques is the backstory, sometimes known as Background exposure, which is fundamentally the process of telling the stories that come before the current story. In this way, the reader can easily understand the cause of the event being talked about, as well as link it to the consequences.
The project also seeks to show how the technique can be applied in day-to-day life. For this purpose a poster has been designed and the contents therein will be the primary components to guide the discussion on the technique. In this regard, a brief description of the accompanying poster shall be provided, with all its elements outlined. From here, the discussion will go into how each of the elements on the poster is related to the literary technique.
Description
As required by the instructions the poster was designed in such a manner that it was sellable. I settled for a poster to market a specially designed wooden crate, which can be used for growing vegetables and spices, especially for individuals living in houses without cultivation space. The wood used for the crate is specially treated to ensure that it does not rot, once it comes in contact with water, as is bound to happen for an item that will be filled with soil. Among its other special qualities are ease of assembling and physical appeal.
A picture of the crate, herein known as the Backyard Minibox, complete with the earth and growing plants forms the foundation of the poster. The picture sits at the centre, where it gets more attention. On top of the crate, is the introductory question, which is rhetoric in nature. It reads Want your vegetables fresh and delivered in a crate? This text is written in green.
Below the box, is an explanation (not exactly an answer to the question) of how one can get his/her vegetables fresh and delivered in a crate. It reads Harvest them from your own Backyard Minibox. This text is written in a darker shade of green. Adjacent to this explanation, is a list of the positives of this Minibox is provided.
The list reads: Rot proof, easy to assemble, leak proof and appealing to the eye. This text is in red and placed on a yellow background. To complete the text contained in the poster, is the information on where the box can be obtained from, and it is wrapped above the plants in the box. It is in dark green and it reads Available at all Retail Stores countrywide. Finally, there is a red bounding box that encircles the poster’s contents.
This poster by and large illustrates how the literary technique of background exposure works. First the minibox (pictured) represents the current item that we are talking about. Having positioned the crate in the poster, it needs text to explain what it is, and why one needs to have it. Hence the introductory question.
This text looks into the need of individuals to have their vegetables fresh. It also plays along with the fact that most vegetables are delivered in crates. Combining the two notions yields the question, which is meant to catch the attention of the reader while at the same time guiding him to notice the crate and vegetables as two separate entities. In other words, the question is the background explaining the crate’s presence in the poster.
The explanation, below the crate, also helps direct the attention of the reader to the crate and its use. The list of advantages now comes as an explanation of why one needs to own the backyard minibox, and together with picture, it forms the current subject of discussion. The information on where the minibox can be obtained from also comes in to help push the discussion forward.
Conclusion
The poster, at first glance does not give out all the details explained above. It is much like poetry which refuses to say what it means and instead depending on the techniques around which it is framed to give meaning to the reader.
This project has illustrated how the background exposure literary technique can be applied in advertising, primarily through the media of posters. By extension, the project leads to the conclusion that no message can be delivered in one simple line. This is the reason why posters and most other print advertising always have a picture and accompanying text to help drive the point home.
In summary, it can be said that for any piece of communication, there has to be background information, whose role is to guide us to the current message. This combination generally combines well to help convey the message without the target persons identifying the intricacies involved in packaging it.
In general, it can be said that the literary techniques listed above help make the poster a work of poetry.