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Understanding Visual Rhetoric Analysis

This document defines visual rhetoric as using images to communicate and support an argument. It discusses how visual arguments come in many forms like advertisements, illustrations, and photos. The document provides guidance on how to analyze images by considering questions like the creator, purpose, audience, context, and catalyst. It suggests looking at major components, verbal clues, positions, traits, imagery, composition, contrasts and what is included versus left out. Finally, it notes that the analysis should consider conventions of the specific genre.

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127 views2 pages

Understanding Visual Rhetoric Analysis

This document defines visual rhetoric as using images to communicate and support an argument. It discusses how visual arguments come in many forms like advertisements, illustrations, and photos. The document provides guidance on how to analyze images by considering questions like the creator, purpose, audience, context, and catalyst. It suggests looking at major components, verbal clues, positions, traits, imagery, composition, contrasts and what is included versus left out. Finally, it notes that the analysis should consider conventions of the specific genre.

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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How do all the little parts contribute to the effectiveness of the creator's purpose?

What is Visual Rhetoric?


● A use of an image (or series of images) to communicate a position and offer
evidence that will support that position
● Includes:
○ Use of images as an argument
○ The way elements are arranged on a page
○ Typography (font, bolding, etc)
○ Analysis of pre-existing images and visuals

Visual arguments come in a variety of forms: Advertisements, illustrations, charts,


graphs/tables, diagrams, web pages, pictures/photographs, cartoons

How to analyze an image:


1. Look for WHAT and HOW: determine the main argument and how the little
choices contribute to the holistic argument
2. Start with big questions before jumping into more minute details
a. (S) Who (or what organization) created the visual?
b. (P) What is the purpose of the visual argument? In other words, what
issue is it addressing?
c. (A) Who is the intended audience? Is this audience hostile, friendly, or
neutral?
d. (C) What was the context in which this image was produced?
e. (E) What was the exigence, or catalyst, behind the creation of this image?

Things to look for… (CAT)


● Major components, such as characters, visual details, colors, symbols, fonts
● Verbal clues, such as titles, tag lines, date, author, dialogue
● The positions/actions of any characters, especially relative to one another or to
their surroundings
● Traits of the characters or objects
● Significant images, including repeated or patterned imagery
● Composition lines (parallel, crossing)
● Position and size of details: exaggerations, focal points, or emphases of other
kinds
● Concrete items that may represent abstract ideas
● Contrasts of lightness and darkness, of color, of shape, of size
● What is included versus what is left out
Remember…
● Challenge assumptions that photographs and video footage represent “truth” that
is absolute and not subject to interpretation and manipulation
● Specific techniques used in print texts (contrasts, metaphors, repetition) are also
used in non-print text to further a purpose or argument

Keep in mind that every genre has its own conventions. Adapt your analysis to consider
the usual ways of representing ideas visually within that genre.

● Photographs use composition lines, contrast, and color to establish


relationships between people and objects
● Political cartoons use exaggeration to emphasize traits of characters and
symbolism to communicate concepts and situations in a compact way
● Paintings use color and symbolism, and may often use allusion to tell a story
about their subjects
● Posters and advertisements use color and composition to attract attention, and
symbolism and imagery to persuade
● Graphs and charts select sets of data and present them in a manner that makes
them easy to interpret, sometimes showing trends or contrasts

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