My intention here is to acknowledge two problems that I believe all scholars of "the visible" will encounter at some point in their work. Both showed up early in my research on commemorative artworks, but I suspect that they crash everyone's party at some point. I have no "solution" to these problems, but I believe they should, actually must, be addressed in work on visual rhetoric. The first, "readability," is both a practical and theoretical problem having to do with the possibilities of interpretation in visual culture. The second, which I'll simply label "materiality" for the moment, has a presence in numerous arenas beyond the study of visual culture, but remains nearly unaddressed and nearly unacknowledged in rhetorical work on visual images.
The first party crasher, "readability," probably makes its presence felt in all of our venues at least occasionally, but it haunts our work all the time. At the simplest and most practical level, readability is a hermeneutic problem. But it is a special problem of interpretation, not just the "same old" questions that come up in any work involving the production of signs and meaning. We try very hard to reduce the special problem to the same old problems, as evidenced by terms like visual, media, and computer "literacy." The question is this: What makes us so confident that our "readings" of visual signs are legitimate or defensible? Okay, that does sound a whole lot like the "same old" hermeneutic questions, but I don't believe it is the same in the case of visual rhetoric as in spoken or written discourse. Or at least, it doesn't seem the same, given the degree of skepticism registered by readers and students about interpretations of visual signs. Leaving aside for a moment the possibility that my interpretations just aren't very good and that that's what's provoking this response, our own colleagues and my students seem to pose far more and greater challenges to such interpretations than they do to those of a speech or a written document. For them, apparently, even in the wake of deconstruction, natural language seems safer, easier, and more stable in its capacity of meaning generation than does the visual image. I wonder why that is the case, and particularly so in a culture in which "seeing is believing" and a "picture is worth a thousand words."
It is possible, of course, that this is an idiosyncratic problem, but I doubt it.
Heinrichs had previously worked as a journalist before becoming a full time writer and advocate for rhetoric. He utilizes illustrative examples to convey rhetorical concepts. Furthermore, chapter four reveals the most valuable logos and pathos tactic. Lastly, this book’s use should be continued in this course.
Having such an image before our eyes, often we fail to recognize the message it is trying to display from a certain point of view. Through Clark’s statement, it is evident that a photograph holds a graphic message, which mirrors the representation of our way of thinking with the world sights, which therefore engages other
I am interested in the role of visual rhetoric in maintaining this "war of position" between military, environmental, arms-control, pacifist, industrial, scientific and federal interests [in post-Cold War culture]. Issues in this research include the nature of verbal and visual codes in nuclear representations (e.g., in critical disagreement over the success of nuclear landscape photography in evoking viewer knowledge of the deadly, invisible radiation which "really" suffuses its depicted objects), the uses to which images are put in various social contexts (e.g., in museum exhibits commemorating the Japanese atomic bombings), and the consequences of images for existing power relations between nuclear authorities and citizens (e.g., in legitimating the "accelerated" -- and arguably incomplete -- cleanup of contaminated nuclear weapons plants by federal agencies and their contractors) . . .
Due to the demand many packaging for the fish can find its was back to sea, or when fishermen are out at sea they can leave their garbage. Many nets from the boats and gears can also be found in the water, that fish can later see as food, eat it, and die; this ties back to extinction in fish. There is much pollution and decline stocks in fish because it is very hard to regulate the seas. To fulfill the growing demand for seafood, many companies are forced to fish beyond areas that are supposed to be non-fishing zones. This is because there are hardly any laws or restrictions telling them where they can and cannot fish. Sally Driscoll and Tom Warhol report in, ‘Overfishing’, that itt wasn’t until 1956 where we saw our first regulation, the United Nations organized the first UN Convention of the Law of the Sea or the NCLOS which helped promote rights of all countries by establishing boundaries off shore. Meaning that some seafood fished in certain areas of the ocean cannot be sold in certain countries, and in some areas it is illegal to fish unless you have a permit from that country. Economy also helps make it harder to regulate the seas, in ‘Overfishing’ it is explained that Preisdent Barack Obama brought up Antiquities Act of 1906, that let fishermen expand their fishing areas. The United Nations FAO estimates that 25 percent of all fish trapped in nets are labeled unusable or not licensed for fishing by the
Anaya portrays moments in Antonio’s life where he is beginning to grow maturely and question his future in life and what he is destined to do. ‘“Now I have come to live near the river, and yet near the llano. I love them both, and yet I am of neither, I wonder which life I will choose?”[Antonio says]. “Ay hijito,” [Ultima] chuckled, “do not trouble yourself with those thoughts. You have plenty of time to find yourself”’ (41). Ultima assures him to not hurry in life that it will all come to him, what he is destined in life. As Antonio takes on adventures with Ultima he beings to question what he is to become as he grows up. Antonio is confused wondering which lifestyle he is to follow, his father’s dream to become a Vaquero or mother’s dream to be a priest. Antonio views Ultima as wisdom and guidance and relies upon her judgment in determining the course of his life. Anaya uses Ultima to teach Antonio metaphorically through examples of nature, that there are life forces to trees, winds, and the earth but the ...
Baxandall, Michael. "Exhibiting intention: Some preconditions of the visual display of culturally purposeful objects." Exhibiting cultures: The poetics and politics of museum display (1991): 33-41.
A popular contemporary graffiti artist, Banksy, creates intriguing and intricate designs for public display on regular and everyday streets. His rising popularity serves as a catalyst for the renowned importance of the attainability of visual literacy. Visual literacy is the ability to understand and interpret the message of a visual image or object, and having this skill is becoming increasingly important in todays culture. According to Zemliansky, the first crucial step towards developing visual literacy is to treat visual messages as text and arguments. Although the message of most visual images are ambiguous, it is still logical to surmise that different ideas can stem from one image because of our varying perception due to varying experiences,
Past the political satire and laughable motifs in the book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, the purpose of this story is to show everything ignoble and tactless of the human species in general and that humans are truly disgusting. Also exploring the idea of a utopia. Swift uses the literary device of political satire to show how childish and ignorant human acts were. This is because during Swift's time in the eighteenth century, Britain was modernizing at this time. The reader follows the four narrative travels of the main character, Lemuel Gulliver. Each of the four voyages Gulliver has traveled to, is a different society that portrays one of the main ideals of the eighteenth century in Britain. The four places Gulliver has traveled to were Lilliput; being Gulliver's first voyage, Brobdingnag; his second voyage, Laputa; the third voyage, and lastly to the land of the Houyhnhms; being his last voyage and afterwards traveling back home to England. The experience from being exposed to these four societies has had a huge impact on how Gulliver now sees humans.
Lets take a look at the first stop in Gulliver's travels, Lilliput. Lilliput is inhabitited by people who are only six inches tall. Gulliver seems like a gigant. The Liliputians have a structured government and social lifestyles. The government has a senate, officials, a council, and an emperor. The government has several parrells to the England government. Gulliver tells us that these competitions, to choose the officials, who can 'Dance on the Rope', are often the cause of fatal accidents. Flimnap, in fact, would havekilled himself ina recent fall had not one of the king's "cushions" broken his fall. The king's "cushion" represents George I's mistress, who aided Walpole in his return to power after a "fall." Another comparison between Lilliput and England, Reldresal, a Lilliputian government officer. He represents Walpole's successor, he payed Gulliver a special visit. His purpose is to acquaint Gulliver further with domestic and international politics, and to enlist Gulliver for assists in protecting their land from invasion, corresponding to the Tories and the treats to France. In Lilliput, the warring parties are the High-Heels , the Tories, and the Low-Heels , the Whigs. Just as George I favored teh Whigs, so the Lilliputian emperor favors teh Low-Heels. Just as George I's successor, the Prince of Wales, indicated favor to both parties, the Lilliputian heir to the throne wears one high heel and one low. Although several things are parralleled to England some things are not the same. They both have punishment system that are based on different ideas, were as the Englandjudiciary system is based on on punishment, the Lilliputians judiciary system has its rewards for following the rules. They also have very stiff punishments for unjustly accusing another of a crime. If at a latter point in time the accused person is fround innocent, the person who wrongfully accused is put to an creul death and the un justly accused is rewarded materially, and also recieves a title from the emperor. Upon leavin...
Gulliver’s Travels begins in Lilliput where he finds himself waking up to his shipwreck. He then finds himself surrounded by numerous tiny people called Lilliputians. He’s addressed by the Lilliputians who are wondering what this creature is. The Lilliputians are very protective of their kingdom, so they are not afraid to use violence against Gulliver, even though their arrows have very little effect to Gulliver. Overall, they are giving. They risk famine in their land by feeding Gulliver, who eats more food than a thousand Lilliputians could at one time. Gulliver is taken into the capital city by a very elegant wagon the Lilliputians built just for him. He is introduced to the emperor, who is amused by Gulliver. Gulliver is grateful of the attention he is receiving by the royalty. Later, Gulliver becomes apart of the Lilliputian army. He fights in the war against the people of Blefuscu, who the Lilliputians hate for doctrinal differences concerning the prop...
Reading words off an image requires extra work of visualizing the events when one can simply glance at pictures and automatically acknowledge what the story is about. Marjane emotionally describes the war, “When I think we could have avoided it all… it just makes me sick that a million people would still be alive” (Satrapi 116). If one could decipher what these words meant, they would not be able to comprehend the concept because people would not know what represent “it” in the statement. Images of warfare are easily comprehended than described in words. With the topics of warfare, a visual aid of a thousand words is likely to have a much stronger impact to those reading the
What this course in visual literacy has taught me, is that the term “Visual Literacy” can be altered depending on the individual person’s sense of vision. James Elkins comes the closest to the best description of visual literacy, “Understanding how people perceive objects”. Interpret what they see and what they learn from them.” What happens when the artist or viewer has a different sense of vision? Looking at three different cases in Oliver Sacks An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales, “The Case of the Colorblind Painter”, “To See and Not See”, and “Prodigies”, our understanding of “Visual Literacy” is altered....
Gulliver's Travels is a novel that touches on many subjects. One of the lesser points discussed is how Gulliver seems to be searching for acceptance and for his identity on his many journeys. Upon entering any of these strange foreign lands, Gulliver makes it a point to learn the language. This is because knowing the language of a foreign land is a crucial part to your acceptance in that country. Another thing that Gulliver adapts in each of these foreign places is their manner of dress. Great pains are taken in each country to dress Gulliver in the kingdoms latest fashions. While on his journeys, Gulliver tried his part in many roles to find one that fit him and would grant him acceptance with the peoples of each land. I will discuss Gulliver's role in each society and if he is ever truly accepted by any of the peoples he meets.
...nificance with those of the Jewish faith who might befriend him, and it gives him a cynical, negative perspective of the culture around him. However, at the end of the play Antonio does seem to find some small measure of happiness when he comes to understand how much Portia has done on his behalf. This shows him that his perceptions of her understanding may have been limited because he more than likely did not expect his strongest ally to be the wife of the man he loves, "Sweet lady, you have given me life and living;/For here I read for certain that my ships/Are safely come to road" (Shakespeare 228). Thus, Antonio could be recommended for therapy because his depression has the potential to be ameliorated with a deeper understanding and acceptance of his thinking regarding life.
Gulliver is huge and the Lilliputians are little. Clearly, Gulliver is not truly a Lilliputian. On the other hand, there appears to be clues that Gulliver conveys more to the Lilliputians than he is completely eager to concede. Gulliver remarks on their incredible mechanical capacities and how they " arrived to a great perfection in mechanics" (Swift). Concerning Gulliver, notwithstanding adaptaibilty with class and dialect, Gulliver additionally has "a head m...