Chapter 6: Visual Rhetoric
6.1 Classical Rhetoric
Classical rhetoric is concerned with all the means by which you as a speaker (rhetor) try to persuade
your public of a particular point of view. You can do this by properly meeting five criteria.
- Inventio – you should choose content, arguments, examples and anecdotes appropriate for
your objective and your public. And be sure that what you choose matches the circumstances
and the time (Kairos is perfect timing).
- Dispositio – you should be smart in how you structure the content of your speech and your
arguments.
- Elocutio – you should express the content with great feeling for style with humor, or with
unusual examples of language use, such as comparisons, repetitions and plays on words.
- Memoria – you should make sure you are familiar with the story by practicing well and check
whether it reads well and flows smoothly.
- Actio – finally, you should present the text. You can increase the impact of your speech by
maintaining eye contact with your audience, by effective use of your voice, being convincing
and employing appropriate gestures.
6.4 Ethos, pathos and logos
How do images contribute to the credibility of the sender, how does the image touch the emotions of
the viewer most effectively, and in what ways can images work as arguments?
Ethos is the credibility of the rhetor, the person or institution who wants to persuade the viewer of a
message by means of an image. For example, a doctor who recommends toothpaste is more
believable because of the authority he has.
Pathos is about emotions, using human emotions when it comes to attracting the target audience.
For example when you see an image of a seal cub bludgeoned to death as a means of persuading the
viewer to donate money to protect seals.
Logos is about rational arguments, it is much more logical when it is based on evidence.
For example, a political campaign saying ‘our country is doing great’ by giving you data about the GDP
from last year compared to this year.
6.7 Visual schemes: regularities
Rhyme: Unox ad, where the shape suggested by a goose in flight mirrors that of a Unox sausage. The
perspective has been carefully chosen to achieve maximum visual rhyme.
Verbo-pictorial scheme: the text is supplemented by the image. In the Gloss advert, the pouting lips
form part of the text.
Repetitio: repetition of an image or message ensures that the message is remembered for longer. It is
hammered into the memory of the viewer.
Contrast: contrast is an exceptionally powerful means of capturing attention. The performance of the
national chief of the Assembly of First Nations in the Canadian parliament attracts extra attention as a
result of the contrast in clothing and stance.
6.8 Tropes: irregularities
Tropes are devices related to content, that use content related irregularities to cause the reader to
stumble over the text. They present the viewer with a puzzle.
Metaphor: a metaphor clarifies an object or idea by describing it in terms of something else with
similar characteristics. ‘If I say that a man did something like a lion, it’s a comparison, and if I say that
he is a lion, it’s a metaphor.’.
6.1 Classical Rhetoric
Classical rhetoric is concerned with all the means by which you as a speaker (rhetor) try to persuade
your public of a particular point of view. You can do this by properly meeting five criteria.
- Inventio – you should choose content, arguments, examples and anecdotes appropriate for
your objective and your public. And be sure that what you choose matches the circumstances
and the time (Kairos is perfect timing).
- Dispositio – you should be smart in how you structure the content of your speech and your
arguments.
- Elocutio – you should express the content with great feeling for style with humor, or with
unusual examples of language use, such as comparisons, repetitions and plays on words.
- Memoria – you should make sure you are familiar with the story by practicing well and check
whether it reads well and flows smoothly.
- Actio – finally, you should present the text. You can increase the impact of your speech by
maintaining eye contact with your audience, by effective use of your voice, being convincing
and employing appropriate gestures.
6.4 Ethos, pathos and logos
How do images contribute to the credibility of the sender, how does the image touch the emotions of
the viewer most effectively, and in what ways can images work as arguments?
Ethos is the credibility of the rhetor, the person or institution who wants to persuade the viewer of a
message by means of an image. For example, a doctor who recommends toothpaste is more
believable because of the authority he has.
Pathos is about emotions, using human emotions when it comes to attracting the target audience.
For example when you see an image of a seal cub bludgeoned to death as a means of persuading the
viewer to donate money to protect seals.
Logos is about rational arguments, it is much more logical when it is based on evidence.
For example, a political campaign saying ‘our country is doing great’ by giving you data about the GDP
from last year compared to this year.
6.7 Visual schemes: regularities
Rhyme: Unox ad, where the shape suggested by a goose in flight mirrors that of a Unox sausage. The
perspective has been carefully chosen to achieve maximum visual rhyme.
Verbo-pictorial scheme: the text is supplemented by the image. In the Gloss advert, the pouting lips
form part of the text.
Repetitio: repetition of an image or message ensures that the message is remembered for longer. It is
hammered into the memory of the viewer.
Contrast: contrast is an exceptionally powerful means of capturing attention. The performance of the
national chief of the Assembly of First Nations in the Canadian parliament attracts extra attention as a
result of the contrast in clothing and stance.
6.8 Tropes: irregularities
Tropes are devices related to content, that use content related irregularities to cause the reader to
stumble over the text. They present the viewer with a puzzle.
Metaphor: a metaphor clarifies an object or idea by describing it in terms of something else with
similar characteristics. ‘If I say that a man did something like a lion, it’s a comparison, and if I say that
he is a lion, it’s a metaphor.’.
