Visual rhetoric is anything that can be seen, such as a painting, photograph, comic strip, or movie, that attempts to persuade the reader. All forms of visual rhetoric, like literary rhetoric, contain a point that is meant to be proven. For example, a movie can be a form of visual rhetoric. The movie "Avatar" is a prime example; through visual appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, the producers of "Avatar" attempted to demonstrate the idea of advanced civilization vs. native inhabitants and how conquering a native population was morally wrong. The producers and director used pathos in scenes like when the Mother Tree is sad because she is dying and when all the Avatar men and women are running in fear from the human's attack. "Avatar" was definitely a movie in which the prime purpose was to not only make money but convey an environmentalist opinion.
How can an image be a text?
An image can be a text very easily because like a text, it conveys a message. Even though an image does not use words (although it may), the person looking at the image can interpret what it is saying. Painters, movie producers, and photographers take great care into what exactly goes into their image. Every piece is there for a reason, so for the reader, all of what he/she needs to know is in the image. Also, images evoke feelings in people just like texts do. The same feeling you get from a book you can get from an image. You can empathize with the characters in a painting and feel the same way they do, or certain images can incite anger.
How can images and words work together?
When images and words work together, I believe the result can be very powerful. For example, in a comic strip, words and images work together to create something humorous and satirical. In commercials, the viewer is shown images along with words as a person narrates in the background. Studies have shown that commercials are very effective in making people buy products, so obviously people respond well to images and words mixed together.
Images and words also work well together because they can convey a complicated meaning fairly easily. If an argument was just presented in words, maybe the reader would have a hard time following it and completely lose the meaning. However, when images are added, the reader might suddenly understand the complicated topic.
In this image, the visual rhetoric is very strong. It's purpose is to convince women that the way they can help their men the most and be patriotic is to become a typist for the U.S. It uses positive appeals like convincing women that THEY can help win the war, not just men overseas. This image makes the woman feel important because she thinks, "Wow, I can really do something to help! All I have to do is keep typing!" The coloring of the image is also very effective. It is done in red, white, and blue which emphasizes the patriotic ideas. The message is also conveyed by the woman in the middle; she is pretty and looks so excited to be typing.
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