Visual Argument Analysis Assignment ( 3 paragraphs)

Your primary assignment for Week 1 is to identify a visual argument you find and provide an analysis of the image. .

To begin, please select a visual argument that you come across in your day-to-day life. Please DO NOT just google “visual argument” and pick one of those! Instead, use a more organic process and come across something you find visually interesting in a more natural way. 🙂

The image you choose can be a photo, a graphic from a magazine or website, or anything that relies on visual imagery to make an argument. Check out the visual arguments from your textbook to give you some ideas. Include your visual argument as part of your submitted document. To do this, you’ll need to download and save a copy of the image to your computer– or copy and paste the original image from online. If your visual argument is in hard copy, something you found at home, take a photo and upload it to your computer.

Along with your visual, you’ll write an analysis of the image and how it makes an argument. This analysis should be 2 full paragraphs and must answer the following questions:

Rhetorical Context

• Who is arguing?
• What is the audience of the argument?
• What is the context of the argument?
• What is the purpose of the argument
• Does the image achieve the arguer’s purpose? How do you know?

Classifying the argument

• What stasis question does the argument respond to? (see pg. 22)
• What is the “occasion” of the argument (past, present, future– deliberative, forensic, epideictic, ceremonial)?
• What argumentative appeals are featured in this image?

Final Analysis

• What claims can you make about the message or argument of your selected image? (Refer back to the sample visual argument analysis for an idea about how to make a claim and tie your observations together.)

Submissions will be evaluated on:

• Thoroughness: Were all questions fully answered? Length requirements met?
• Accuracy: did the analysis match the image?
• Grammar/Mechanics: Was the post edited for correct grammar, punctuation and spelling?