Reseach Proposal AH.docx - Hurtado 1 Alejandro Hurtado...

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Alejandro Hurtado
Professor Arban
ENC1102
8 October 2021
Literature Review of Visual Rhetoric Research
Review of the Literature
I have decided to focus my study on Visual rhetoric. Two sources that teach the theory of
visual rhetoric are “Theory of Visual Arts” by Sonja Foss and “What Makes an Image Worth a
Thousand Words? Teaching Strategic Visual Analysis and Synthesis via Semiotics” by Sameera
Durrani. According to Foss, “visual rhetoric now has two meanings in the discipline of rhetoric.
It is used to mean both a visual object or artifact and a perspective on the study of visual data. In
the first sense, visual rhetoric is a product individuals create as they use visual symbols for the
purpose of communicating. In the second, it is a perspective scholars apply that focuses on the
symbolic processes by which images perform communication.” Visual rhetoric is how visuals
can be used to communicate something to an audience using symbols, art, photography, graphics,
etcetera.
One of the conversations I studied was how visual rhetoric applies to presentations. An
example is how to make a successful poster, covered in “Effective Visual Design and
Communication Practices for Research Posters: Exemplars Based on the Theory and Practice of
Multimedia Learning and Rhetoric,” by Pedwell, Hardy, and Rowland. This article explains how
to make a successful poster using visual rhetoric. Posters must be coherent, use signaling, be

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redundant, and use contiguity. Rhetoric is then used by applying ethos, logos, and pathos.
Another example is how visual rhetoric is used to make a good PowerPoint, using the source
“Breaking Bad Habits: Teaching Effective PowerPoint Use to Working Graduate Students,” by
Gretchen Vik. This source teaches how to use PowerPoint effectively using visual rhetoric.
Students tend to have bad habits such as slides that are distracting with different bells and
whistles, too many words, and not enough images. The article then gives practical solutions to
fix this. Both authors have focused on the aspect of visual rhetoric which involves making a
successful presentation. They agree that too many words are distracting and that images can be
used strategically to communicate effectively to an audience.