Word-Visual Combinations: Exploring Comics, Ads, and More!

This week we will be discussing word-visual combinations, with specific reference to Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. Throughout history, words and visuals have often been seen as oppositions. Although beginning as one, they gradually separated into distinct forms of communication. According to McCloud, there was a time where pictures were “obsessed with resemblance, light, color, and all things visible,” while writing was “rich in invisible treasures, senses, emotions, spirituality, [and] philosophy” (145). These two forms of communication couldn’t have been more contrasting; however, they are now seen as almost interchangeable.

In our current society, word-visual combinations are commonplace, allowing for a variety of unique communication methods. Comics, advertisements, and memes are perfect examples of word-visual combinations, but their utilization of those elements can be quite different.

Figure 1: Anti-bullying ad by StopBullying.gov

Look back to Understanding Comics, specifically pages 152-155. McCloud demonstrates 7 word-visual techniques, each with its own effect on the context and message of the comic. In short, the 7 techniques are:

Word specific-- The words are more important than the visuals. The visuals don’t necessarily add to what’s been said or described.

Picture specific-- The visuals are more important than the words. The words only serve to add sound to the visuals that are telling the story.

Duo-specific-- The words and the visuals are expressing the same message.The visuals reflect everything that the words are saying and vice versa.

Additive-- The words or visuals are used to enhance the other element.

Parallel-- The words and visuals don’t match each other with the information they’re both conveying; they both serve to provide a separate meaning.

Montage-- The words become a part of the image itself.

Interdependent-- The words and visuals work together to express ideas that can’t be conveyed when both components are isolated.

Prompt:

Referencing the categories of word-visual combinations, find one example of any of the combinations. Attach an image of your example and consider the following questions:

• What type of word-image combination did you find?
• Where did you find it? What is the context?
• How do the words and images convey a message/tell a story?
• Is the type of word-visual combination used appropriate? How might changing the combination also change the meaning?
• What medium is this technique most commonly used? (comics, ads, memes, etc.)

Identifying Strategies of Persuasion in Visual Ads: the Truth Initiative

This week we are going to discuss classical (i.e., ancient) theories of rhetoric. We will apply these theories to visual-verbal modes of communication to hopefully gain a better understanding of how visuals may influence human behavior, attitudes, actions, and beliefs. 

As the authors of "Why Rhetoric" explain, "learning to recognize these concepts will help you understand other people's arguments" (45). The authors of "Understanding the Strategies of Persuasion" agree, emphasizing that rhetorical analysis of visual-verbal texts will "help us understand how arguments work and how we can respond critically to them" (Alfano and O’Brien 29). So . . .let's get started! 

Take a moment to view the following public service announcement created by the Truth Initiative, a non-profit organization (formerly known as the American Legacy Foundation) that aims to prevent teenagers from smoking and to encourage current smokers to stop. This commercial is part of this organization’s youth-focused campaign, Truth.com, and was “released” in the fall of 2017 on prime-time television. 

Figure 1: Public Service Announcement by the Truth Initiative/ 2017

Before we begin discussing the rhetorical strategies we see in the ad, let's define the rhetorical situation. 

• The purpose--the purpose of this ad is to encourage young people to never smoke.
• The audience--the target audience of this ad is teenagers and young adults. 
• The context--this video aired for the first time on August 24, 2017 during prime-time television (7-10pm) on major television networks. It was published on YouTube on November 22, 2017. Since then it has aired on major television channels in the evening. The ad references a statistical finding from a 2013 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. There are many other things to consider about the context (the when and where) of the ad but I think these factors will come out in our discussion of the ad. 

PROMPT: 

1. Watch the ad one more time. 
2. Now, drawing on your assigned reading for the Thursday (1/24), identify 1 rhetorical strategy used in the ad. Be sure to reference one of the readings to define this particular rhetorical strategy. Support your claim (i.e., that the ad deploys that strategy) with evidence from the ad. You may want to post a screenshot of the scene you are referring to or just mention at what point in the ad we can see what you are talking about. 
3. Considering the purpose, audience, and context of the ad (that is, its rhetorical situation outlined above), do you think this is an effective rhetorical strategy? 

Perhaps you will see a specific strategy of argumentation (Alfano & O'Brien p. 24) or mode of persuasion (33). Perhaps you will identify a logical fallacy (37) or an exaggerated use of pathos (41). Or maybe you will want to think about whether or not the strategies used in the ad are kairotic or timely considering what was happening in the world at the time (50). 

NOTE: You should not identify ALL the rhetorical strategies you see (there are many!). Just pick one, name it, define it, and support your claim with evidence from the ad. 

Once you post your response, remember to come back to the blog to see how people have responded to your analysis. Take the time to respond to other's ideas as well!

Welcome to the Visual Rhetoric 2019 Course Blog!

Hi there! This blog is a collaborative project that we sustain all semester as we try to figure out what "visual rhetoric" is and how we can better understand the "visual culture" in which we live. You will each have a turn to manage this online environment by posting found images, contemporary case studies involving visual communication, and --of course-- your astute observations on the course readings that will delight the class and viewers around the world!

Fig 1:  Image from ENGL 3920 Spring 2019 Course Syllabus 

To get started, let's introduce ourselves! Please take a moment to comment on this post by saying hello and telling us a little about yourself. Include a picture that illustrates something about YOU (but don't tell us why you chose the picture that you did).

I'll start. Hello everyone! I am Professor Vinson. I have been teaching writing for about a decade. I was born and raised in a desert so I love the heat (and miss it terribly right about now). I am really looking forward to teaching Visual Rhetoric again. I think there are some very interesting things happening in our visual culture right now. I can't wait to discuss it with you!

Fig 2: She-Ra, the heroine of a 1980s cartoon