In this assignment, you will examine the interactions that occur between an image, the viewer, and the composer. Rhetoric means using language to persuade, inform, educate, or entertain, so a rhetorical analysis, means you will be looking at how language (or visual language) is used to form an argument. For this assignment, you will choose an image from a prominant African American artist. The list of artists is wide and plentiful: Jacob Lawrence, Aaron Douglas, Jean-Michele Basquiat, Kara Walker, Augusta Salvage, Gordon Parks, Joshua Johnson, Kehinde Wiley, Bisa Butler, Edwina Lewis, James Van Der Zee, Lorna Simpson, E. Simms Campbell, Horace Pippin or any other reputable Black artist, and do an analysis of that image. Your analysis will be approximately 3-4 pages. In your analysis, you will identify the rhetorical situation and assess the rhetorical appeals that the composer (the artist) of the image uses. The purpose of completing this assignment is to help you gain an understanding of genre, audience, and rhetorical appeals within a text or an image, so that you can consider the choices you make while composing.
To compose your analysis, be sure to first briefly describe your image. Second, use the guidelines below to fully describe the rhetorical situation, making sure you pay attention to all six elements. Once youve described the rhetorical situation, please analyze the rhetorical appeals that the composer uses to persuade and engage the viewer. Finally, conclude your analysis by giving your assessment of how effective this image is as an argument. Does the image succeed in fulfilling the author’s purpose? If so, how does it achieve the goals? If not, why not (or what would have been more effective/successful)?
The Writer/Composer:
Describe who the composer of the image is in terms of age, appearance, gender, location, political beliefs, education, culture and interests. If you are unsure, do some research to gain a complete picture of the composers identity.
The topic:
What is the content of this image?
What do you see?
What message does this image send?
The audience:
Describe who the audience is in terms of age, appearance, gender, location, political beliefs, education, culture and interests. If you are unsure, make an educated guess using the image to support your theories. (Note: you may include yourself as part of the audience in your analysis. Make sure to explain how you are similar or different to whom you believe the primary audience the composer was intending to reach is.)
The context:
What is the time period the piece was created in?
Was the image created in response to an event?
Where was it created?
Describe the differences or similarities between the context the image was created in and your current context while viewing the image. Was the image created in a time when societal values were different?
The Purpose:
What was the purpose or goal in creating the image?
What reaction was the author trying to create in the reader/viewer?
What choices did the composer make to achieve his/her intended purpose?
The culture:
Within what culture was the image created and what is the composers relationship to that culture?
How does the composers relationship to culture influence your reading of the image?
What does the image reveal about the culture that produced it?
Please include connections and comparisons to Toni Morrisons Beloved. Consider how themes within the novel support, enhance, add to, etc., the themes within the artwork. For example, does the artwork send a message about a particular historical moment, time, or event? Does the artwork speak of pain, trauma or hope? Is the artist influenced by African American history, and if so, how?
The rhetorical appeals you will be looking for in your analysis can be divided into three categories:
Credibility (aka. ethical appeal or ethos)
How does the composer establish credibility? What qualities about the image make you believe the composer? What choices did the composer make that add to the composers credibility?
Emotional appeal (aka pathos)
How does the composer engage your emotions? Does anything in the text make you angry or sad? What aspects of the image add to the emotional effect?
Logical appeal (aka logos)
Does the composer use logic in the image to persuade you? What details create a logical appeal? Is the logic valid?
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