1. Wrt 105: practices of academic writing
Dr. Rusty Bartels
Wednesday, November 14th, 2018
Week 12, Day 2

2. Overview
Danesi
Birdsell & Groarke
Parting Thoughts
Wrap-up

3. Danesi – VR Analysis
Pedagogical & ethical orientation —> power of visual persuasion
“We read images at a connotative level and thus rhetorically. Its goal is not to just illuminate the structure of a visual text but to show its ethical, social, political, and ideological functions” (8)
QUESTION: Not just as visual consumers, but as potential visual producers, how might you think about each of these elements in making visual design choices?

4. Danesi – VR Analysis
Bimodality, as an analytical tool, allows for us to view how singular choices contribute to a holistic view
A question we can ask is: if I changed [this 1 element] of any visual object, how would its holistic meaning change? Would it?

5. Danesi
what is the cultural significance, cultural utility, of visual images and visual communication?
What role does it/do they play not just socioculturally, but in our day-to-day lived experiences?

6. Danesi Baudrillard: Simulacrum Effect
“That the power of visual images is such that we can no longer distinguish, or want to distinguish, between the real and the hyperreal (the world created by images)” (11)
And that “Hyperreal worlds are experienced as more meaningful than real worlds, which are perceived as banal and boring” (11)

7. In Conclusion…
But, to wrap this all up, our purposes of looking at visual objects as rhetorical objects is in that element of argument, of persuasion, of communication with a purpose.
So, how will you consider the visual in your composition?

8. Birdsell & Groarke: Revisit 1996
Arguing for the validity of visual argument — that language is not the only way to argue
In 2007 piece, identify their previous (1996) arguments:
An acceptance of visual meaning”
“Broader recognition of the argumentative aspects of representation and resemblance”
“Better account of the relationship between images and contexts in which they occur” (103)

9. Birdsell & Groarke (2007)
Really looking at how visuals can be used to convey argument, and approaching argument from the perspective of the Appeals
While the appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) we typically see in relation to language, they can also apply to images/visuals
And as we look at the relationship between language and visual, we can recall the conversations from Birdsell & Groarke (1996) and Barthes

10. Birdsell & Groarke (2007)
Further, Birdsell & Groarke re-introduces a concept we read about previously in Jones - Pragma-Dialectics
interpreting communication “in a way that renders them comprehensible, sincere, relevant, consistent, and appropriate in the context of the other speech acts that surround them” (104)
Again, while this is from language, we can apply the same principle to visuals/images

11. Birdsell & Groarke (2007): 5 Modes of Visual Meaning
Visual Flag:
“attract attention to a message conveyed to some audience” (104)
Visual demonstration:
“convey information” (105)
e.g. Graph or chart
Visual metaphor:
“conveys some claim figuratively” (105)
Visual symbols:
“allow them to stand for something they represent” (105)
based on presumption of a shared symbolic vocabulary
visual archetypes:
“visual symbol” (105) (e.g. Pinocchio)
“culturally pervasive narratives” (105)
multiple meanings can co-exist

12. Bridsell & Groarke (2007): Freewrite
Are you incorporating any visuals/images in your Assignment #3 composition?
If you are not incorporating visuals/images, how are you thinking about visual elements (e.g. Line spacing, font size/style, etc.)?
Given the visuals that you are or aren’t using, what “modes of visual meaning” might apply to your composition?
Visual Flag
Visual Demonstration
Visual Metaphor
Visual Symbols
Visual Archetype

13. Birdsell & Groarke (2007): Small Group
Identify at least one image that you feel conveys an argument — this can be from one of your compositions, or it can be something that you’ve found online
The key is that you must consider it persuasively
Given that image/those images…
What is the audience? Purpose? Context?
What modes of visual meaning apply?
What is a mode you might change or add to either change the meaning of the image or make it more persuasive?
Visual Flag
Visual Demonstration
Visual Metaphor
Visual Symbols
Visual Archetype

14. In Conclusion…
How do you come to understand the broader conversations around your issue? How do you enter into, become a participant in, those conversations? (Literacy)
How do we convey our arguments? What modes, mediums, and genres do we use? How might those shift depending on the claims that we are making and the audience(s) we are speaking to? (Genre)
What are the qualities of an effective argument? How do we approach dis/agreement? (Argument)
How do we support our claims? How do we use data? Evidence? How do we know we’re effective? (All)

15. Wrap-up Today: Finished Unit 3
Wrap up conversation around (visual) argument
Next time:
No class Friday
But I will be in my office (HBC 208) from 8:00am – 12:00pm
Assignment #3 Due by beginning of class
Don’t forget to ask for an extension if you need it.
No more reading.
Monday after break we’ll introduce the Final Portfolio