Visual Arguments

For my multimedia class we are starting on a new collage project where we have to create a visual argument through photographs we have captured and edited. I remember my obnoxious English teacher in high school with an english accent and firey red hair would always yell to us "YOU WILL FAIL IN LIFE AND COLLEGE IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND RHETORIC. PATHOS, LOGOS, ETHOS PEOPLE!! LEARN IT, LIVE IT, BREATHE IT." I would always complain and talk about how we will never use rhetoric ever, but my crazy English teacher has been right so far. Whether it be in the classroom or not, understanding rhetoric and the importance of persuasion through argument are extremely crucial in all aspects of life.

Being an advertising major has opened my eyes to a whole new light of visual arguments, especially in advertising. We were assigned to find a visual argument in an advertisement and immediately I thought of the Dove campaign. Here is the video if yall haven't seen it: 

I used the picture from the Ad itself though to talk about the visual argument which has no text at all on it.

Ethos is used in this advertisement because it shows the screen of a Photoshop program which is usually looked as something that is technologically advanced. The fact that is shows a before and after side of a photograph and the drastic changes done in Photoshop, the reader can assume the person knows what their doing. Also, the fact that this is a Dove campaign ad one can believe this advertisement more since Dove is such a well known and respected brand  
Pathos: Dove advertisements are all known for their emotional appeal they have. The image alone with no text is extremely emotionally powerful. It shows how drastically they can make a normal looking woman look which appeals to many woman who have always compared their bodies or themselves to woman in magazines.

Logos: Persuasion by the use of reasoning is heavily used here by showing the real fact through this picture which is what this woman really looks like. It is reasoning with all the magazines people read where there are picture perfect women in them, when in reality a lot of it is Photoshop. This argues the fact that what we see in magazines an on TV is not always real.