Enough is Enough: TIME Magazine’s Response to a Rhetorical Situation

On Valentine’s Day of 2018, a shooter entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and took the lives of seventeen people. The nation reacted in horror as yet another instance of gun violence in schools was stamped in the history books of America. But as the community of Parkland and the rest of the country mourned the loss of life, a sense of urgency and responsibility to prevent another devastating school shooting began to gain traction. This was felt most strongly among the witnesses of the shooting: Parkland’s own students. These students spear-headed a nation-wide (and arguably world-wide) movement known as March for Our Lives in an effort to halt gun violence in the United States and did so with immense bravery and passion. TIME Magazine best captured this movement when it featured five leaders of March for Our Lives on its cover of March 2018, with “ENOUGH.” plastered in bold lettering across the foreground. With this simple yet profound cover, TIME Magazine utilizes various aspects of rhetoric, including visual and textual elements, to effectively address the issue of gun violence in schools across the country. More specifically, TIME Magazine appropriately responds to the “rhetorical situation.”

As best put by American rhetorician Lloyd F. Bitzer, a rhetorical situation is defined as a “natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which strongly invites utterance” (4). In short, a rhetorical situation is a specific occasion that requires an appropriate rhetorical response. It should be noted that a rhetorical situation consists of three elements: exigence, audience, and constraint. Firstly, Bitzer explains that exigence is the issue that prompts the rhetorical response (6). Secondly, in terms of a rhetorical situation, Bitzer defines audience as people who are “capable of being influenced” by the rhetoric and then can act as “mediators of change” (7). Lastly, the constraints of a situation include anything that has the “power to constrain decision and action” that would be necessary to mediate the exigence (8). Constraint can exist in a rhetorical situation in various forms, from a reader’s personal beliefs to the medium in which a text is presented. Additionally, constraints can also stem from the rhetor themself. To fully comprehend the rhetorical situation presented by TIME Magazine, it is essential to understand the three fundamentals of exigence, audience, and constraint. 

In TIME Magazine’s rhetorical situation, the exigence is the need to address the issue of gun violence in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. It is also important to acknowledge the backdrop of this situation, as the United States has been afflicted by a history of deaths as a result of gun violence. According to the book When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools, more than thirty thousand cases of gun-related deaths occur in the United States annually (Bessant and Lohmeyer 39). With this context in mind, the TIME Magazine cover brings attention to the mounting calls of young students, particularly those of the Parkland students of the March for Our Lives organization, to restrict the usage of assault weapons in the United States. As best explained by the March for Our Lives website, the intention is to put a complete end to the unnecessary deaths of students due to gun violence and to create a world in which the country is “free from gun violence in all of its forms” (“How We Save Lives”). The exigence in this situation is rhetorical because if enough people demanded stricter gun reform across the country, politicians and lawmakers would be potentially more inclined to deliver policies that would ensure gun safety. In turn, this would create less occurrences of shootings, particularly in school settings. The fact that the exigence is capable of being modified is fitting of Bitzer’s description of exigence, as well. 

The rhetorical audience in this circumstance is the many readers of TIME Magazine across America who consume this text in either a digital or print form. The audience can also be classified as rhetorical because the readers are capable of being influenced and being mediators of change in the push for gun control. It is important to note the demographics when considering the audience, as well. According to a media bias evaluation by website All Sides, TIME Magazine is a left-leaning publication (“Time Magazine”). Therefore, one can assume that the primary base of TIME’s audience holds more democratic beliefs. Furthermore, TIME magazine traditionally has a generally older audience. According to a study conducted in 2016, the average age of a reader of this publication was fifty years old (Gaille). However, with the popularization of digital media in recent years, the magazine has become accessible to those of younger generations. A 2017 survey found that TIME was the second-most read or subscribed magazine among readers aged thirteen to thirty-five (“What Magazines Are Millennials & Gen Z Actually Reading?”). These demographics are crucial in understanding the audience because it impacts how receptive an audience member will be to receiving the message that TIME Magazine is attempting to communicate. 

The constraints of this situation include the audience demographics, the medium of the text, and the knowledge that is required to fully comprehend the text. Firstly, the audience can be considered a constraint because of its previously mentioned age and political demographics. Because TIME readers are more likely to be liberal, the magazine is able to publish content that a more conservative audience would be less accepting of. In this case, stricter gun control is a polarizing issue that conservatives are typically not in favor of. In contrast, liberals tend to support the passing of more restrictive gun laws. Consequently, TIME Magazine has the ability to comfortably print a cover with such a strong statement against gun use because they are aware that their message will most likely register with its left-leaning audience and that their rhetoric will not fall upon deaf ears. Furthermore, it is important to observe the ages of TIME Magazine’s audience as a constraint. As stated beforehand, the ages of TIME’s readers vary, with most of its print readers being older and its digital readers being younger. In this situation, it can be said that a younger audience will most likely connect with the rhetoric of the magazine cover because it is centered around the issue of gun violence in schools. With this in mind, an older audience may not be as understanding of the goals of the younger population in regard to curbing gun accessibility. 

The medium of the text can be considered a constraint, as it is in the form of a magazine cover. Due to the expansion of digital media, one could argue that print magazines are in decline and are not as widespread. As a result, this potentially constrains the accessibility of this text, especially in print form, among its target audience. However, with the popularization of digital publications comes greater availability to media across online platforms. TIME Magazine happens to fall into this category, as the magazine has an online website featuring its articles and cover stories. In turn, the audience is able to more easily access its content, including the March 2018 cover. 

In addition to the audience demographics and the text’s medium, the knowledge necessary to understand the text could be considered a constraint because the text is responding to an incredibly layered, multifaceted situation that requires contextual information. While this cover is addressing the shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, it is also taking into account the preceding cases of gun violence that have plagued the country. According to the Sandy Hook Promise, there have been 1,316 school shootings in the United States since the year of 1970 (“16 Facts About Gun Violence and School Shootings”). Without understanding the context of school shootings in the history of the United States, one cannot not understand the urgency of the text’s message. Moreover, it is essential to be aware of who the figures featured on the cover of the magazine are: Emma González, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Alex Wind, and Jaclyn Corin. The audience simply cannot interpret the significance of this TIME Magazine cover without having the previous knowledge that these five students were witnesses to the Parkland shooting. It is also vital for the audience to know that the students are leaders of the March for Our Lives movement and are strong supporters of gun control and reform. With these pieces of information, the audience can entirely register the text’s rhetoric and the gravity of the single word emboldened on the magazine’s cover: “ENOUGH.”  

With all the exigence, audience, and constraints taken into account, one is able to more adequately evaluate the text’s overall effectiveness in its endeavor to respond to the rhetorical situation. This text can be considered appropriate for the situation because it tactfully utilizes numerous rhetorical elements and strategies to respond to the exigence, appeal to its audience, and utilizes its constraints. For instance, TIME Magazine applies multiple modes of communication in its text that enhance its efficacy. Explained by literary scholars at the New London Group, modes of communication are deliberate aspects of a text that exist to skillfully convey a message to an audience (Ball, et al. 14). Of the five modes of communication (visual, spatial, aural, gestural, linguistic), TIME’s 2018 cover best utilizes the visual and gestural modes of communication. Visually, the magazine cover is simple in its composition. It features the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student-activists, the iconic TIME lettering in the background, and “ENOUGH.” in bold print in the foreground. However, this uncomplicated design is incredibly impactful because it is direct and blunt; the reader can immediately grasp the intended response of the magazine cover. The fact that the word “ENOUGH” is in bold across the front of the cover also adds to its unambiguous nature because it clearly communicates the text’s message. Finally, the famous TIME Magazine logo is a visual aid in this situation because it adds a layer of credibility, since TIME is a publication known across the globe for its reporting and dialogue on current events. As for the gestural mode of communication (gestures, expressions, etc.), the cover expresses its message primarily through the body language and facial expressions of the Parkland activists. All five of the students in the photograph have a serious, somber look about them as they stare directly into the lens of the camera. In particular, the body language of Emma Gonzáles (front) is also incredibly telling, as her arms are crossed in front of her body to convey a no-nonsense attitude. These gestural elements are an integral part in the overall function of the rhetorical response because they evoke feelings in the audience and appeal to pathos, which in turn creates an investment in the response that TIME is attempting to impart regarding the issue of gun control. On the whole, TIME Magazine’s cover is a fitting response to the situation because it incorporates powerful rhetorical elements that directly address the exigence and the audience while utilizing constraints.

Though gun violence in schools is a heavy, multilayered topic, TIME Magazine’s cover expertly brings the issue to the forefront with a call to action. Using the three components of the rhetorical situation (exigence, audience, and constraints), TIME is able to directly respond to the national matter regarding gun violence and gun control and to appeal to its more liberal audience. Though limited by certain factors, such as the convoluted context required to understand the situation, the magazine also makes use of its constraints. Additionally, the visual and gestural modes of communication featured on the magazine cover reinforces the overall strength of the rhetorical response through layout, composition, and human expression. The TIME Magazine cover of March 2018 is incredibly impactful not only in the rhetorical sense, but in its greater significance in the context of the United States’ history. The cover powerfully communicated the urgent need for substantial change in the gun laws of the country with a single word: enough.

Works Cited

Ball, Cheryl E., and Kristin L. Arola. “What Are Multimodal Projects?” Writer/Designer, edited by Jennifer Sheppard, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018, p. 14. Accessed 7 Oct. 2021.

Bessant, Judith, and Ben A. Lohmeyer. When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools, Rowman & Littlefield, 2021, p. 39, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zi89EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA145&dq=goals+of+the+march+for+our+lives&ots=IhfNmeiETr&sig=fu1KoRTbVRc_EqVrpRaeLd3D1V4#v=onepage&q=goals%20of%20the%20march%20for%20our%20lives&f=false. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.

Bitzer, Lloyd F. “The Rhetorical Situation.” Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. 25, 1992, pp. 4, 6-8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40237697. Accessed 5 October 2021.

Gaille, Brandon. “43 Distressing Time Magazine Demographics.” BrandonGaille.com, 14 Jan. 2017, brandongaille.com/43-distressing-time-magazine-demographics/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.

“How We Save Lives.” March For Our Lives, March Four Our Lives, 19 Aug. 2021, marchforourlives.com/policy/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021.

“What Magazines Are Millennials & Gen Z Actually Reading?” YPulse, YPulse, 16 Oct. 2017, www.ypulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/What_Magazines_Are_Millennials_Gen_Z_Actually_Reading_10.16.2017.pdf. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.

“Time Magazine.” AllSides, AllSides.com, 1 Mar. 2021, www.allsides.com/news-source/time-magazine-news-media-bias. Accessed 6 Oct. 2021. 

“16 Facts About Gun Violence and School Shootings.” Sandy Hook Promise, Sandy Hook Promise, 9 Sept. 2021, www.sandyhookpromise.org/gun-violence/16-facts-about-gun-violence-and-school-shootings/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.