Figure 4, an advertisement in The New Yorker for the play Hand to God, employs inverted cliché and religious diction to allude to the content of the play and to interest the reader (Hand to God).
Large white text announces, “Broadway’s Going to Hell in a Hand Puppet.” The advertisement is a play on the phrase ‘going to hell in a hand basket,’ which describes a rapidly deteriorating situation. Though this inverted cliché, the ad introduces the reader with something familiar with a unique twist specific to the play, which features a hand puppet character. Not only does the advertisement disclose to the audience that the play is on Broadway and includes a hand puppet, it suggests that the play is revolutionary, unconventional, and controversial, …show more content…
His face is hidden from below the nose, appearing as if he is peering mischievously at the reader from behind a puppet stage. “Going to Hell in a Hand Puppet” is an especially accurate description of the play, as Tyrone, an inanimate object, becomes seemingly sentient through animation by an insecure adolescent. Puppets are typically found in children’s programs, such as Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, and are portrayed as friendly, loveable personalities. In stark contrast, Tyrone is, according to The New York Times, “satanic” (The Associated Press). A New Yorker review finds Tyrone threatening his wearer, “You try to so much as take me off your hand, next time you wake up it’ll be with me stapled to your arm” (Schulman, Michael). The text of the Hand to God advertisement engages the target audience by playing on the stereotype of the amiable puppet and issuing a statement the audience does not expect. How can a loveable puppet, such as Elmo or Kermit the Frog, be related to ‘going to hell’? The assumed target audience is familiar with puppet characters in the media and may be intrigued by the associations that the Hand to God is making between puppets and darker
Large white text announces, “Broadway’s Going to Hell in a Hand Puppet.” The advertisement is a play on the phrase ‘going to hell in a hand basket,’ which describes a rapidly deteriorating situation. Though this inverted cliché, the ad introduces the reader with something familiar with a unique twist specific to the play, which features a hand puppet character. Not only does the advertisement disclose to the audience that the play is on Broadway and includes a hand puppet, it suggests that the play is revolutionary, unconventional, and controversial, …show more content…
His face is hidden from below the nose, appearing as if he is peering mischievously at the reader from behind a puppet stage. “Going to Hell in a Hand Puppet” is an especially accurate description of the play, as Tyrone, an inanimate object, becomes seemingly sentient through animation by an insecure adolescent. Puppets are typically found in children’s programs, such as Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, and are portrayed as friendly, loveable personalities. In stark contrast, Tyrone is, according to The New York Times, “satanic” (The Associated Press). A New Yorker review finds Tyrone threatening his wearer, “You try to so much as take me off your hand, next time you wake up it’ll be with me stapled to your arm” (Schulman, Michael). The text of the Hand to God advertisement engages the target audience by playing on the stereotype of the amiable puppet and issuing a statement the audience does not expect. How can a loveable puppet, such as Elmo or Kermit the Frog, be related to ‘going to hell’? The assumed target audience is familiar with puppet characters in the media and may be intrigued by the associations that the Hand to God is making between puppets and darker