My initial reaction to hearing the term “visual rhetoric” was, “hmm… I’ve never really thought of that.” Then, after letting the idea process, I thought about political cartoons, and how they can be a prime example of this. Doug Eyman defines this term in his piece Defining and Locating Digital Rhetoric. Eyman states, “Unlike digital rhetoric, visual rhetoric has a longer history (although the question of definition has remained less than concrete throughout).” He then continues to cite Roland Barthes’ The Rhetoric of the Image. Barthes suggests that the rhetoric of an image is subject to physical constraints. However, its meaning can be read and understood in a rhetorical analysis.
Now comes the idea of political cartoons. (Disclaimer: I use examples in this post that do not reflect my personal opinion). Take the image below found from https://www.usnews.com/cartoons/economy-cartoons.
This image shows an egg cracked, and the words “consumer confidence” written on the egg shell. This goes back to how costs on eggs have been increasing in the United States as of lately. President Donald Trump pledged to decrease the costs of food on his first day back in office. However, the complete opposite has happened, which is cracking the confidence in consumers and their beliefs in the economy.
This shows visual rhetoric being portrayed as it uses metaphors, symbolism, and exaggeration to prove or make a point. It is not something found on the surface view of an image or written piece. The use of rhetoric can be found everywhere, especially while analyzing the work presented to us.
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