Essay: Visual Rhetorical Analysis

For this essay you will doing a visual rhetorical analysis. I want you to look for a cartoon, comic strip, advertisement, or a meme to analyze for this paper. The complexity of this image is up to you, but it should be a single page image (meaning not a comic book or something to that effect).

You are to analyze the image and explain how the different aspects of the image are creating the political message you think it is conveying. Your image can have text, but you will need to look beyond the text into other aspects of the image. You will need to use your critical reading skills to break down the image into parts you can work with (What aspects of the image are connected to the message? Are there any historical aspects that you might need to clarify? etc.) Once you have analyzed the image, using synthesis, I want you to make an argument about how the text is presenting its image (not about what the message is, though that is part of the argument). You will also need to do a little outside research, find a few sources that back up your argument in some way (minimum 2). For example, if you found some historical connection, find a source that discusses that aspect.

On Friday the 7th when your thesis is due, you must also provide a copy of your image. If the image is in color I will need a color version (you can email it if you do not want to print it in color for the thesis). In this case the thesis should be what you are arguing about the image. I hope to look at some of the images in class. Though I have assigned a specific topic above, I expect you to narrow this topic down to something manageable in the paper. For instance, if I wanted to explore the use/misuse of the word "Fascism" in the image of Obama as Hitler I showed you, my thesis might look something like this: "This image misuses the term ‘fascism' by making Obama look like Hitler in order to coerce people into thinking Obama is a dictator."

Note, while this comments on the message of the image, it is more interested in how the image is creating the message.

It must comply with all the following expectations:

Double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font. Disable "Add extra space after paragraph" in Word 2003 and after. 1" margins all around.

A header with your name, the assignment name, the class (ENGL 1102), and the date.

A title, centered under the header.

Your last name and the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page.

Four (4) full pages in length, NOT including the Works Cited or Consulted. I lower the final grade of a paper by 1 grade level (a B+ becomes a B) for each half page you are under the total.

You must cite each work (minimum 3, including your image) in the paper. We will discuss citing images later in class.
A works cited page that has a proper bibliographic entry for each work (including your image).

A works consulted page with any works you looked at but did not cite (OPTIONAL).