Week Six: Visual Rhetoric
A Peek at the Week
This week we were told to read "Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environment" by Hock, "Theory of Visual Rhetoric" and "Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts" by Foss, and a lecture slideshow. Each of these medias are summarized below:
- In the writing "Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environment", Hock discusses how visual rhetoric has been enhanced and urges teachers to understand how to discuss hybrid writing and rhetorical features with students. The author writes that there are three key features to digital rhetoric which includes audience stance, transparency, and hybridity. Then, the author uses multiple examples that help the reader learn these features meaning by providing a breakdown through multiple examples. Later in the writing, the author reflects on what students should know and ends by discussing design.
- The excerpt "Theory of Visual Rhetoric" is a deep dive into the realm of visual rhetoric. This article begins by defining rhetoric and discussing the evolution of rhetoric to include visual rhetoric. In the writing, the author breaks down visual rhetoric into two categories: communitive and perspective. For communitive visual rhetoric, there are three parts that are involved which include symbolism, human involvement, and appeals. On the other hand, for perspective visual rhetoric there are also three parts: nature, function, and evaluation. With that said, the author discusses the deductive and inductive applications of visual rhetoric as well.
- In the website reading "Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts", the topic of rhetorical analysis on both textual writings and visual rhetoric are discussed. This article includes many examples to help readers understand and interpret the material. To begin, the author discusses the symbols and images followed by defining analysis. Then, the author writes about bumper stickers in which they use to show an analysis. With that said, the author breaks analysis into four parts: read, define situation (SOAP), identify rhetorical strategies, and find the purpose.
- The lecture slides assigned this week take a look into visual rhetorical theory. To begin, visual rhetoric is defined as well as the different applications for it. According to Dr. Tucker, the applications for visual rhetoric are "Use of images as argument, arrangement of elements on a page, use of typography (fonts, etc.), and analysis of existing images and visuals" (Tucker, slide 2). Furthermore, the slides reveal that images are effective due to their differences in shape, color, realism, etc. These differences are what aids in providing meaning. Then, the slides discuss the different types of shapes (geometric, organic, and abstract) as well as their respective meanings and symbolism. Later in the presentation, different elements on a webpage are analyzed. To end the slides, the steps to conduct visual rhetorical analysis are listed: write down observations, determine importance, consider message, and determine audience.
Connections
These writings connect with others that we have analyzed because it talks about rhetoric which we learned last week. Then, all of the themes of the previous weeks build upon one another to help us get to this point of visual rhetoric. In order to understand visual rhetoric, we had to understand how we have built virtual communities, participate, etc. to get there.
Visual of the Week
The image below shows visual rhetoric because it uses different types of typography. Although the topics of this week are more extensive than font types and shapes, it provides insight into one of the various components of visual rhetoric.
Contributions to Learning
This week contributed to my learning of digital writing because it elaborated more on what I would see on a day-to-day basis. It reflected on how new technology is changing the game for writers because it is opening platforms and changing how we write. With technology, rhetoric is evolving to include a multitude of things.
Ponder This
Where have you seen visual rhetoric before?
Sources
Tucker, V. (2024, November 8). Visual Rhetorical Theory [PowerPoint Slides]. Canvas@ODU.
Typography art: Canvas prints & wall art. iCanvas. (n.d.). https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/style/typography
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