Visual rhetoric and composition
The study and practice of visual rhetoric took a more prominent role in the field of composition studies towards the end of the twentieth century and onward. Proponents of its inclusion in composition typically point to the increasingly visual nature of society, and the increasing presence of visual texts. Literacy, they argue, can no longer be limited only to written text and must also include an understanding of the visual.[1][2] The exact role of visual rhetoric in the composition classroom, however, is unclear.
Despite this focus on new media, the inclusion of visual rhetoric in composition studies is distinct from a media theory of composition, though the two are obviously related. Visual rhetoric focuses on the rhetorical nature of all visual texts while new media tends to focus on electronic mediums.
Background
Visual rhetoric in the teaching of Composition
Visual rhetoric or “visual modes of representation” has been present in composition courses for decades but only as a complementary component “for writing assignments and instructions” since it was considered as “a less sophisticated, less precise mode of conveying semiotic content than written language.”[3] Nevertheless, many experts in composition studies, including Flower and Hayes and Palmeri, draw a parallel between “alphabetic writing and the visual arts” because both entail an engagement “in composing as a recursive process of discovery – a process in which composers [or in this context, students]…explore, transform, and rearrange materials (words, images, objects).”[4]
Elements of Visual Rhetoric
Image
Color
Text
Font
Layout
Alignment
Accessibility
Analysis of Visual Rhetoric
Purpose
Audience
Delivery
Reception
Context
Timelines
Coherency
Teaching Visual Rhetoric and Composition
Scholarship has highlighted that the way students compose and interpret texts are directly related to the ideologies and assumptions they hold and how the way their experiences are culturally and historically situated. Imagery representations students receive, analyze, create or deliver would emerge from their views and knowledges within their diverse contexts and various identities. [5] Pedagogical applications of visual rhetoric have then a twofold aim: it can teach students to ‘read’ and critique the rhetorical moves and purposes within and behind certain visual representations, such as an analysis of multimodal text. It can also enable writers and designers to process their own rhetorical choices as they design their own visuals, bringing to their process aspects of their multiple social-cultural backgrounds as their lived experiences become starting points for knowledge construction.
Visual rhetoric, especially in digital environments, is also aligned with the notion of a commitment to diversity as students become designers, invoking a rhetoric that attends to abilities encompassing other definitions of literacy beyond verbal reading and writing. [6][7][8] For example, sequential narrative assignments were well received by students as an easier alternative to rigid structures of traditional academic essays.[9] The multifaceted nature of these miscellaneous representations creates an arena for discussions on political, historical, social and cultural impacts behind those choices to take place in the composition class. Working towards raising students’ awareness of the impact their diverse backgrounds have on their rhetorical choices, teachers will be contributing to forming more conscious and perceptive consumers and composers. [10]
See also
References
- ^ a b George, Diana. "From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing." College Composition and Communication (2002).
- ^ a b Hill, Charles. "Reading the Visual in College Writing Classes." Intertexts: Reading Pedagogy in College Writing Classrooms. Ed. Marguerite Helmers. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003.
- ^ Ritter, Kelly (2012). Exploring composition studies : sites, issues, and perspectives. Paul Kei Matsuda. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87421-883-1. OCLC 808375319.
- ^ Palmeri, Jason (2012). Remixing composition : a history of multimodal writing pedagogy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-3089-8. OCLC 759909913.
- ^ Hocks, M. E. (2003). Understanding visual rhetoric in digital writing environments. College composition and communication, 629-656.
- ^ Hocks, M. E. (2003). Understanding visual rhetoric in digital writing environments. College composition and communication, 629-656.
- ^ Kress, G., & Selander, S. (2012). Multimodal design, learning and cultures of recognition. The internet and higher education, 15(4), 265-268.
- ^ Arola, K. L., Ball, C. E., & Sheppard, J. (2014). Writer/designer: A guide to making multimodal projects. Macmillan Higher Education.
- ^ Gatta, O. (2013). English 3135: Visual rhetoric. Composition Studies, 41(2), 78-86.
- ^ Gatta, O. (2013). English 3135: Visual rhetoric. Composition Studies, 41(2), 78-86.