Visual Rhetoric

Catalog description

Why do we care about the visual so much? How do images function to persuade us or inform us? We live in a culture where we are surrounded by images, all affecting our communication and persuasion, whether in social media, news media, art, or various other spaces. In this course, we will study the role of images in public discourse, to see how images function rhetorically both independent of and in relationship with linguistic texts. Students will analyze and interpret various examples of visual rhetoric, from photographs and street art, to graphic novels and infographics and will also produce texts that incorporate images. We will spend a semester together testing the old cliché that “pictures speak louder than words.” Prerequisite: ENG 204 or permission of the instructor. (Offered every odd spring term)