Roxanna Walker

February 8, 2017

RHET 1312

Professor Foster

Visual Argument Reflective

A visual arguments main purpose is to make a claim to its audience, in an attempt to get viewers

to adopt a certain position, perspective, belief, or point of view on an issue. There are a variety of

different mediums one could use to illustrate an issue or claim that is important to them, such as, by

making a video, creating art, photography, billboards, and other medias. For our first assignment in

Composition 2, we were assigned to select a visual argument of our choosing and analyze it. The visual

argument I chose was the power of speech, being more conscious of what you say to others. It was a

photograph of a young boy crying with a hand around his throat, but instead of an actual hand it is made

from offensive words such as, Fool, Moron, Punk, and a variety of other insulting words and

phrases. In addition to that right next to the boy is the sentence, Your words have power use them

wisely. In the paper I wrote about what was at stake for this visual argument, who I thought the targeted

audience was, counter arguments someone could make about the photography, and why I chose this visual

argument.

Throughout this project, I learned a lot of information about how to effectively create a visual

argument along with how to apply what I learned about visual arguments to other material. One of the

main things I learned was that I have to consider my audience, the purpose, and the context of what I

want to present. When I have an issue that is important to me, I have to consider who I want to present

this information to. If Im targeting a younger audience how can I make this important issue not only

understanding to them but as well as something that they would want to look at? If Im targeting
teenagers, would it be best to make an advertisement for social media apps than to address this issue in a

newspaper? If Im working on a broad subject what do I focus on more to effectively deliver my

message? But most importantly Ive learned to reflect on what is at stake for an issue and consider what

those who disagree with it would counter argue.