Chapter 14 of the Everything's an Argument text was basically about visual arguments. Visual arguments are used to convey messages from campaign to ads to pie charts. They are used much in modern times on websites such as YouTube and even on shirts to maybe grab people’s attention. They have also been used in history in forms of statues and coins to symbolize power. Visual arguments are powerful in conveying an argument and there are many ways to depict a visual argument. For instance, colors, character, logos, and charts can be used to create a visual argument. These things can be used to appeal to a reader’s emotions or logic and can also be used to give image credibility. For instance, state seals can give an item credibility while a picture of a crying child can appeal to someone’s emotion. One thing I found interesting in this chapter was the section about the power of visual arguments. One example the section used on this was the televised debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. This section was interesting because many people who watched the debate on television would say Kennedy won the debate based on appearances. Kennedy looked more professional and “cool” while Nixon looked ill on the black and white screen. Based on this, those who watched the debate on television would say Kennedy won the debate. However, not mentioned in the chapter, are those who listened to the debate on the radio or read the arguments stated by both speakers. Many who did not watch the televised debate but listened to the words of reason and logic instead, would say Nixon won the debate. This just shows the power of visual argument. Kennedy was shown to be a stronger presidential candidate through visual argument.
Similar examples of the power of visual arguments can be seen in many places today. One thing I have noticed is how many ads today use such argument that places more emphasis on something that looks “good” rather than presenting facts and reasons on paper. For instance, in many car commercials, a car is depicted driving through natural “beautiful” looking landscape. In reality, however, most people do not drive cars through beautiful looking landscape but through crowded cities or highways instead. There aren’t many ads of a car being driven through a regular crummy highway or parking lot because it is visually less attractive when in reality it is more viable.
WP1 Topic Ideas:
-An ad that shows the "American Dream"
-Where the majority of US citizens get news on politics from
-Religion and cultures in the US
-Social Awkwardness
-Laziness/un-productiveness
-Education
-Inference
-Reason and morality. What is not innate.
-I like trees
-Candy
WP1 Topic Ideas:
-An ad that shows the "American Dream"
-Where the majority of US citizens get news on politics from
-Religion and cultures in the US
-Social Awkwardness
-Laziness/un-productiveness
-Education
-Inference
-Reason and morality. What is not innate.
-I like trees
-Candy
I talked about visual arguments as well in my blog post for the 11th-18th. In one of my examples, I discussed the power of logos and how they leave a mark on some people. On a different note, I see that you discussed a memorable example from the book, referring to the debate between John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. It's hard to believe that an election could be influenced that much by a visual appeal. Another example from book that you could have used to discuss the power of visual arguments was the introduction of the personal computers with graphic interfaces. No wonder visual arguments are now so prevalent in our society. I Speaking of this, you also referred to the power of visual arguments in today's society through your car commercial example. I personally feel that visual arguments are most common type of argument these days. I saw that you mentioned something about using pathos, logos and ethos to strengthen a visual argument. The book also explain how you can use these three appeals in creating a visual argument in writing. It's a pretty negligible suggestion, but maybe there could have been a more detailed explanation for how the three appeals are manipulated and targeted to make a visual argument more appealing. For example, you could have discussed in further detail how the color red excites the human eye in ways that other colors do not. Another example could have been how some fonts are more appealing than others.
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