Visual Rhetoric StudiesRhetoric • Research

The audience for this paper was simple. I was writing for a group of my peers in my Visual Rhetoric course and Dr. Michelle Smith. I was aware that this project would likely not reach beyond the walls of my Visual Rhetoric course, although I had expected its use in this portfolio.

Rhetorical Situation

Throughout Dr. Michelle Smith’s Visual Rhetoric course, I wondered how the information and visual rhetoric methodologies that we were using could apply to my broader work in visual communication. The connection was further than I would have thought. The course focused on scholarly analyses of classical images, paintings, and photographs. We read the work of Dana Cloud, who extended the definition of the visual ideograph introduced by Edwards and Winkler. Cloud argues in the essay, “To Veil the Threat of Terror” that recurring iconic images shift in meaning based on their context.

I found both the icon and the idea that context matters particularly compelling for my own work. For my final paper, I decided to run with the idea of context, and particularly culture.

The class had also introduced me to the work of Lester Olson, who extended the definition of visual iconology in the case of the political use of images. Iconology, Olson notes, is taken to mean “the study of visual representations in general rather than the specific techniques suggested by other scholars.” Olson focuses his essay on the fundamental shift between the images, “Magna Britannia”, and “Join or Die” which Benjamin Franklin designed to represent the British colonies in America. Olson proceeds by showing how “Magna Britannia was a deliberative work using historical evidence and then that it was also an “apologetic work”(Olson 334), and finally that it was shaped by the audience viewed it. In short, Olson is arguing, that in the two images, which were created about ten years apart from each other comment on the politics of Benjamin Franklin at each time and the wider politics contained in the colonies at the time. By emphasizing the design in light of its rhetorical functions, Olson made an argument for a change in opinion between two images.

As I was trying to find any connection to technical writing, I began researching the field of risk communication, specifically in the case of government documents, where I assumed I would find supposedly unintentional political rhetoric. I very quickly found that the “It’s the Law” poster by OSHA had recently been redesigned to contain more abstracted images, as opposed to photographs. Having studied visual communication, I was aware that the image hadn’t been improved in any meaningful way and the content remained basically the same. So I ran with the idea, and using some research I found that abstraction in visual rhetoric was a lively field to research. I followed the methodology of Olson to create the argument that the minor details of the poster that were changed were a reflection on the organization that created the poster, and it’s move toward deregulation in the years between the posters.

Goals and Constraints

The goal of this work for me was to find a bridge between technical communication and rhetorical theory. I had hoped to find a way to explain that all work is rhetorical, whether by the purpose of the rhetor, the reader or the rhetorical situation. I believe that I did achieve that goal.

The constraints for this project were some of the most narrow that I have come across in academic writing. The assignment was to find an image, particularly a still image, and apply analysis using the same methodology as a scholar that we had read in the class. I decided to explore the field of technical communication a little further to see what other types of images exist in the field. The “It’s the Law” poster was a clear argument.

Reflection

This work was important to me in explaining the connection between my work and my academic studies. The connection between writing, rhetoric, and media, as my master’s program is named was hard for me to find. I struggled with the idea of rhetoric, and also with the reading that we did and contributing meaningfully to the discussions that we had in class. I didn’t come to this program for rhetoric and the coursework in these areas didn’t come naturally to me. I understand the value of rhetoric and its many uses but I found it to be a little exclusive to outsiders just trying to understand its meaning. As a technical writer, I value understand and clear and concise language, which I found to be incredibly lacking in rhetorical theory.

In reflecting on this work, I have to reflect on my experience in my master’s program as a whole. In searching for this connection between rhetoric and media, I found little precedent, but I forged forward. This project interested me because of its visual nature and the connection that I found between technical documentation and visual rhetoric. I also have a background in journalism and uncovering political secrets came naturally to me.

This work in its own goal was a success. I fully understand the connection between culture and visual rhetoric and the sense that image meanings can change over time. I am fascinated because abstraction in images can bring about meaning. In applying rhetoric to my own work, that is where I draw the greatest connection.

Read The Visual Rhetoric Paper: Visual Rhetoric of OSHA: High Risks of Deregulation