Blugold Seminar in Critical Reading and Writing
Grounding students in the reading, writing, and rhetorical demands
necessary for success in college and beyond
Faculty Teaching Guide: Visual Rhetoric
Segment: Understanding Perspective
Goals/Purpose:
 To show how visuals affect an audience.
 To inform about the proper use of visuals.
 To show how visual rhetoric connects to other rhetorical terms.
Establishing a Background:




Introduce the term visual rhetoric as visual material that accompanies an
argument for the purposes of appealing to emotions or clarifying numerical data.
Show students two visuals: one of an orangutan running through a clear-cut
forest, and one of a graph showing the deforestation of Borneo throughout the
years. Explain that both visuals are attempting to explain the same thing (the
negative effects of deforestation in Borneo), but that the first visual is doing this
through the appeal of emotions, while the second visual is clarifying numerical
data.
Another possible activity is to show the students an array of pictures/charts/graphs
and have them raise their hand every time a picture comes up that causes an
emotion to stir within them. (See Visuals PowerPoint). This will get the students
thinking about the difference between visuals as pathos and visuals that clarify
numerical data.
Introduce enthymeme as it relates to visual rhetoric. Enthymeme is a rhetorical
syllogism in which A=B and B=C, therefore A=C. Use the deforestation example
as “Deforestation leads to the loss of habitat. The loss of habitat is harmful to
animals. Therefore, deforestation is harmful to animals.” This is a simple
example, but one that help to illustrate the concept of enthymeme. It may also
help here to explain how visuals need to be chosen with specific goals in mind. In
order for the message, “deforestation is harmful to animals,” to come across, the
visual must give the audience all the pieces of the puzzle (the deforestation, the
animal, the harm to the animal). Explain the importance of choosing the right
visual to fit the purpose.
Give the students questions to think about while reading visuals in an argument:
o Is this visual appealing to emotions or clarifying data?
o What emotions do I get from this visual?
o Do these emotions fit the purpose of the argument?
o Does enthymeme work with this visual? If so, what is the reasoning I get
from the syllogism?
Teaching It: Instruction Ideas



Read through Visual Rhetoric: Images as Arguments up to page 110. Use the
concepts and terms discussed in these pages in relation to the article “The Case
Against Marine Mammals in Captivity.” (For notes on how to teach this article
alongside visual rhetoric, see Faculty Guide for Teaching The Case Against
Marine Mammals in Captivity)
Read pages 110-122 and discuss how visual rhetoric is used in advertisements and
cartoons.
o Have the students bring in artifacts (bumper stickers, advertisements,
business cards, etc). Either in small or large groups, have the students
share their artifact and discuss the choices used in creating that artifact.
Students should be answering questions such as:
 What colors are being used and why?
 Where is this artifact usually seen?
 What is the purpose of this artifact?
 Does the color, placement, and size of this artifact work for the
purpose of the argument?
o Another activity is to bring in some political cartoons from any newspaper
(preferably the New York Times or USA Today). Make sure the cartoons
are ones with complexity (if you are having trouble finding some, see
Political Cartoons for Visual Analysis). In large or small groups, have the
students discuss each cartoon as it relates to visual rhetoric. Student
should be asking themselves:
 Do I see a caricature? If so, how does it contribute to the purpose
of the argument?
 What is the purpose of the argument?
 What symbols are being used and what are their meanings?
o It is also important to discuss kairos in relation to cartoons. Many
cartoons are about current issues and have little relevance
days/weeks/months later. For example, cartoons about the rising gas
prices are relevant but cartoons about the 2004 election are not relevant.
Make sure to point this out to the students.
Read pages 122-126 of Visual Rhetoric: Images as Arguments. Read (or just look
at) the article Status and Distribution of the Endangered Gangetic Dolphin
(Platanista gangetica gangetica) in the Brahmaputra River Within India in 2005
and compare its visuals with the visuals in The Case Against Marine Mammals in
Captivity. Ask the students what the key differences are and whether the visuals
work for the purpose of the argument and the type of article. The Gangetic
Dolphin article displays many graphs and charts (used to clarify data) while the
Marine Mammals article uses visuals to appeal to emotions. Both get across
similar information by using visuals, but the visuals are used for different means.
o Another activity is to have the students choose a current issue (provide
newspapers for students struggling to come up with an issue), pick a side
of the issue to argue, and then find or create a visual that would best
support their argument. They would need to follow the guidelines for
choosing a visual, which are outlined in bullet points on pages 123-125.
o It is also important to discuss with the students how text can be used as a
visual. Text size, font, and placement are all ways that written text can be
included as visual rhetoric. For example, newspapers use larger text size
for headlines in order to attract the reader’s eye. Bolded, italicized, and
underlined text can display something as being very important. Text that
is centered shows more importance than text that is pushed off to one side.
By drawing specific attention to certain text, the reader’s eye is drawn to
the text and the reader gives it more thought than regular text.
 Connect to Lay out and format your document using the four
principles of design in WM (Pgs. 52-54)
Follow-up and Making Connections:



Students must also be aware that visuals can be misused and misunderstood.
Show the students a PowerPoint of how the food pyramid has changed over the
years. (See Food Pyramid PowerPoint). Explain to the students how the food
pyramid has changed over the years to fit advancements in nutrition technology.
Discuss how it is important that visuals are used appropriately for the purposes of
the argument and not just as aesthetic appeal.
o Connect to Visual Claims and Visual Fallacies in WM (Pg. 81)
Look at the UWEC website homepage and discuss the visual rhetoric used.
Discussion should center around purpose of website as it relates to:
o Color choice
o Picture choice
o Placement of links
o Font style and size
o Formal vs. Informal design
CULTIVATING COMPLEXITY – Have the students look at their own sources
and discuss (with a partner or in small groups) how their sources use visuals.
They should be answering the questions:
o What visuals are being used?
o Are the visuals being used appropriately?



o If visuals are not used, could they be used to enhance the article?
o Does the text size, font, or placement serve as a visual?
JOINING THE CONVERSATION – Have students brainstorm where visuals
may be used in their own pieces. Have them ask the questions:
o Would a visual enhance my piece?
o What visual would be the best to use?
o Does the visual I have chosen fit my purpose?
o Would another visual work better?
ADDITIONAL WEB RESOURCES:
o The OWL at Purdue offers a wonderful PowerPoint that explains Visual
Rhetoric. It included notes on what to discuss with the class and puts
more emphasis on the use of text as visuals.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/729/01/
Connections to Writing Matters
o Pages 52-54
 See above
o Pages 54-55
 Add visuals when they enhance the reader’s understanding and are
appropriate to your writing situation
 It is important to use visuals appropriately and not place
them to take up space.
 Visuals should be carefully chosen and specific to the
needs of the argument.
 Read Reference Box on page 55 for how different visuals
should be used.
o Page 72
 Use visuals in the disciplines
 Visuals are used differently in different disciplines which is
why it is important to choose visuals that fit the needs of
the audience and the purpose of the project
o Page 81
 See above