PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

47McConaughey and Forrest Whitaker have very distinct voices and are often seen asspokespeople for good causes. 106These radio PSAs encourage all races and ages to do something different, to takea risk by trying something new. The first radio spot is read by Matthew McConaughey.Would it be crazy if you just stopped? Everything? Packed your bags and left?For a week. A month. A year. What if you left for two years? Would people thinkyou lost your mind?What if you were going far away to help in a village… on the edge of the Gobidesert. A village crowded with Buddhist temples, not skyscrapers. A place wherethere isn't a word for electricity, but a thousand words for 'community.'Would it be crazy to go 5,000 miles from home to spend time with people the restof the world has forgotten? What if you were going to improve their lives and, inthe process, improved your own?Would that be crazy?Peace Corps. Life is calling. How far will you go?As with the print advertisement in figure 2.1, this PSA emphasizes the act of doingsomething “crazy,” something outside of convention. This strategy demonstrates thatbeing in the Peace Corps means stepping outside of the norms of daily life and doingsomething that is seemingly crazy, like leave your life for two years. This ad alsoreinforces the idea that Peace Corps service will not only enhance the lives of others, butalso enhance the volunteer’s life.This advertisement is meant to appeal to a broad, general audience. This isevidenced by the fact that the exact same message is directly translated into Spanish andplayed on Hispanic radio broadcasts. The radio spots are the only PSAs created for aSpanish-speaking audience. With this strategy the message is universal to the general