long distances involved in the case, which would allow for the possibility of another cause. Though the actual distances were much greater than six feet, the long poster in the courtroom gave the impression of length that the lawyer needed for his argument. He also added small cleaning buckets at each end of his poster to minimize the interpretation of the clean up required. These visuals weren’t designed simply to get attention or act as interesting diversions; they provided content, information for the jury to interpret that contributed to the lawyer’s argument. In another case in which a man fell from a roof, the lawyer first had photos taken of rivets sticking up on the roof. Because the photos didn’t show clear distinctions between the rivets and the roof, he hired an artist to draw the roof, showing the rivets more clearly. When the rivets could be seen protruding from the roof, the risk they could present became more understandable. In both of these instances, the visual representations contributed to the logical reasoning of the arguments being offered. The facts didn’t change, but the visual representations influenced how they were interpreted. Similar techniques can be practiced in the classroom. For example, in writing their own persuasive reports, students can look for instances in which “seeing” the situation can add to and help clarify the information provided in their reports.
A third example occurs as an illustration in a professional journal. After several years of work, a group of geneticists and biochemists prepared an article for the February 16, 2001 issue of Science to explain the
sequencing of the human genome (Venter et al.). Illustrations
formed an important part of the logos of their presentation. The article ran from page 1304 to 1351 and included 16 figures and 19 tables to clarify readers’ understanding of the genome’s very complex structure and the scientists’ painstaking reasoning in determining it. Several of the figures included subparts, but one was extraordinary. The first figure, the annotation of the genome assembly, was a chart inserted into the February issue. It measured 39 3/4” by 56 1/2”, yet it still required very small print to document each chromosome in tracks, displayed as a nucleotide scale and color coded to define the structure. Though it would require extensive education to read the chart accurately, any viewer is immediately aware of the immense complexity of what is being illustrated. The chart’s size and detail impress viewers with the careful and thorough work that must have been required to produce the data represented there. As pointed out by Saho Tateno, a student in one of my classes who researched visual rhetoric’s uses in this article, the chart itself presents an argument for the importance and likely accuracy of the content presented. “When people unfold such a large map, they feel as if they explore the world of the human genome” (12), she wrote. The visual rhetoric of the outsized first figure was crucial to achieving the writers’ goals of providing detailed information and persuading readers of its credibility and importance. These goals would not have been achieved as well with words alone.
Ethos. The appeal through ethos, that is, through the speaker or writer’s character, credibility, and integrity and through community values, is often subtly indicated by clues rather than direct statement—for example, through a professional or governmental title under the author’s name, the source (e.g., professional journal or e-zine) in which a piece is published, or the stylish clothing or haircut sported by a speaker. Clues such as these encourage us to attribute certain qualities of education, authority, or sophistication to individuals. (Titles such as “The Military” and “Business Cut” given to haircut styles in Figure 1 illustrate that relating hair-style cues to ethos is an old idea.) Although we all recognize that images are being created by such visual cues, we may not be aware that they are being used to persuade us of something. When President George W. Bush wanted to show his commitment to the environment, he toured Sequoia National Park for photo ops beside the big trees. When Michael Dukakis needed to bolster the toughness of his image during his presidential campaign, he had his picture taken in a tank. (Ironically, because Dukakis was shown in a helmet that was much too big for him, the image backfired.) University websites include pictures of students involved in campus activities to show the school’s dedication to students, and clinics are careful to append MD or DO after names on the medical staff to assure us of the value of the care and advice offered there. The clinics could save money on ad space by leaving the degree information out, but that wouldn’t achieve the same effect. We use visual design to enhance ethos and personal image; Susan Hilligoss and Tharon Howard, however, warn that “inappropriate format or jarring visual choices may make the document less credible” (2). To use visual rhetoric effectively, then, we must be careful to consider each item’s appropriateness to our audiences and purpose.
In searching websites for interesting uses of rhetoric, Sara Maurer, a student in one of my classes, found a complex use of ethos in the images used to present a new medication, Seasonale. The website, describing the medication and its uses, featured the image of “a smiling, well dressed woman who represents as many consumers as possible with one image. The woman has dark hair, dark eyes, and a medium complexion. Her ambiguity is intentional: she could be Caucasian, Latin, Middle Eastern, etc.; she could be as young as twenty and as old as forty; she could be single or married; rich or middleclass” (4). No matter what group she represented, she was definitely vibrant and attractive. Maurer also reported the uses of color and authority on the site that contributed to the image of the drug and the manufacturing company. “Whereas the rest of the page comprises purples and pinks, ‘FDA-approved’ is yellow. And where the rest of the text is horizontal, this insertion is at a 20-degree angle. [. . .] Approval by the FDA, as a federal regulating agency, provides Seasonale instant credibility” (4). To support the credibility, the site also included images of medical experts.
A good source for finding examples of the appeal through ethos is personal websites. In a recent Wired article about websites for presidential candidates Kerry and Bush, Adam Penenberg commented, “In the end, it may not matter what kind of information appears on the candidates’ websites, as long as they have a cool design” (1). He referred to the results from a 2002 Stanford study on website credibility and reported, “Nearly half of the study’s participants—about 46 percent—rated a site’s credibility based primarily on its design or look” (2). Personal websites are developed to illustrate and sometimes to promote the author’s ethos or image, which is presented first through the visuals that meet us when we open the appropriately named Splash page or the homepage. The colors and graphics chosen and the sizes of graphics and words create an immediate impression of the personal image, thus carrying the appeal through ethos. To learn more about this use of visual rhetoric, students can investigate a variety of personal websites, such as those for professionals, their favorite entertainers, and some contemporaries whom they may or may not know (if an appropriate website for a professional is a little difficult to find, a good one to check is <http://www.a2.com>, the site for a marketing consultant). After analyzing a variety of sites, students might try to design their own personal website, on a computer or on paper. Their experiences analyzing the ethos of other people’s sites should encourage them to think closely about the items they add to their own site, how they design the layout, and what messages these images and the design convey to viewers.
Pathos. Visuals are most often associated with pathos, the appeal to our emotions. Photos can evoke sympathy, and films can frighten. For instance, television news programs were prohibited from showing film of flag-draped coffins being unloaded from transport planes returning from Iraq because of the dismay that viewing large numbers of dead soldiers might have on the public. Such a focus on the human cost of war could weaken viewers’ support for the war effort. In contrast, images of the twin towers destroyed on September 11 are shown to arouse our anger toward our perceived enemies and reinforce our fear of what could happen to anyone. Of course, visual representations aren’t always connected to international issues. Through their joyous colors, balloons tied to a mailbox signal a celebration at a nearby household.
Visuals and the emotions they invoke can be put to positive use in building arguments. It is pathos, the appeal to our emotions, that is credited with adding motivation to persuasive discourse. While good reasons and the credibility
