Visual rhetoric and composition

Visual rhetoric or “visual modes of representation” has been present in composition (college writing) courses for decades but only as a complementary component “for writing assignments and instructions” since it was considered as “a less sophisticated, less precise mode of conveying semiotic content than written language.”[3] Nevertheless, many experts in composition studies, including Linda Flower and John R. Hayes, and Jason Palmeri, draw a parallel between “alphabetic writing and the visual arts” because both entail an engagement “in composing as a recursive process of discovery – a process in which composers [or in this context, students]…explore, transform, and rearrange materials (words, images, objects).”[4] The call to include non-linguistic practices within the field of rhetoric officially occurred in 1970 at the National Conference on Rhetoric.

[5] In 1994, the New London Group, consisting of ten scholars from Australia, Great Britain, and the United States, developed the term multiliteracies, which describes the rapid growth of communication channels and platforms through which people from all around the world design and exchanges various contents of information despite the differences in languages and cultures.

[6] In educational contexts, multiliteracies suggest “a different kind of pedagogy, one in which language and other modes of meaning are dynamic representational resources, constantly being remade by their users as they work to achieve their various cultural purposes."

"[8] The writer employs knowledge of function, form, and purpose to create the visual text; while the audience or reader constructs meaning from the parts as they contribute to the complete piece.

[15] The multifaceted nature of these miscellaneous representations creates an arena for discussions on political, historical, social and cultural impacts behind those choices to take place in the composition class.

Working towards raising students’ awareness of the impact their diverse backgrounds have on their rhetorical choices, teachers will be contributing to forming more conscious and perceptive consumers and composers.