Myth: “Master Stories that describe exceptional people doing exceptional things and that serve as moral guides to proper action. . . . The literal truth of a myth is rarely its most important measure. Rather, a myth’s serviceability is judged by its evocative potential, its capacity to impress on a listener the ‘Truth’ of an event, not by its factuality” (Hart 242)
 
 

 1. Cosmological Myths: myths that explain why we are here, where we came from, what our ancestors (both immediate family and those that share similar racial/ethnic roots) were like

 2. Societal Myths: myths that teach on the proper way to live

 3. Identity Myths: myths that explain what makes one cultural grouping different from another

 4. Eschatological Myths: myths that help a people know where they are going, what lies in store for them in the short run [in life] as well as in the long run [in death]
 
 

Adapted from: Hart, Roderick P. Modern Rhetorical Criticism. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                Malls are so easy to find, but it's so hard to find anything in a mall.

Rhetorical Invention:

• the art of generating effective and appropriate material for  a particular rhetorical situation
• the art of making critical judgments about that material

Values are deep seated, persistent beliefs about essential rights and wrongs, about how to act ad not act, that expresses a person's bsice orientation to life.
 

How do we acquire values?
Where do these come from?
 
 
 

 

Tenor: the underlying idea or principal subject of the trope (i.e., What is meant.)

Vehicle: means to convey the tenor or the borrowed idea (i.e., What the tenor resembles)

Ex:  The sun is a red balloon.
Where: “sun” = tenor and where “red balloon” = vehicle

 
 
 
 

Metaphors and Analogies work by both comparison (similarities) and contrast (dissimilarities)

What is culture?
 

When a critic peels back culture from a given message, there is often no message left. One's cultural assumptions, treasured stories, ways of valuing and linguistic preferences are so deeply ingrained within us that we become mute without them.
                            --Roderick P. Hart Modern Rhetorical Criticism (132)
 
 
 
 
 

Culture is always an expression of a plurality of voices in any given social configuration.
                                          --Ron Burnett Cultures of Vision (287)
 
 
 
 

Culture . . . is a collection of codes we learn that provide us with meaning in the world.
                                            --Arthur Berger (190)
 
 
 
 
 

Culture is pluralistic, so that everyone is “cultured,” whether their behavior reflects that associated with high culture or not. . . . Culture is both signifying practices [i.e., language use] that represent experience in rhetoric, myth, and literature and the responses of human agents to concrete economic, social and political conditions.
                                                             --James Berlin Rhetorics, Poetics & Cultures (xviii-xix)
 
 
 
 

Visual Literacy

 

Visual language depends on familiarity, patterns of use, composition, references to other images and the context in which the image appears. . . Visual language does not convey simply one stable meaning to everyone. . . . Meaning depends on the reader as well as the text.
                                            --Stuart & Elizxabeth Ewen "Images" (p. 173)
 

Familiarity
Patterns of Use
Composition
References to other images
Context

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

People conceive of the world in terms of repeatable units. In the continuously changing, dynamic flow of events, there are always recognizable, namable, recurring 'sames' . . . . Although every instant in life is different from all previous instants, people act as if things were constant, as if situations or events could occur repeatedly. We may never be able to step into the same river twice, but we act as if we can.
                            --Young, Becker, Pike, Rhetoric: Discovery and Change (26)

Familiarity
The image I chose to discuss is Image 12 because it something I have seen before. I knew remembered who the author of the painting is. MC Escher the painter created a disturbing picture. Everything about it looks wrong, and that is how the painter wanted it to look. That might be why I liked this Image the best. It is the most memorable of all of the images. Being memorable is what our book discussed in Chapter 4: Images. An image that will last in peoples mind is what advertisers want to create. MC Escher did a good job with that. This painting is so unusual that it is hard to forget seeing it. My friend Josh had a poster of this painting in his room, that’s how I remembered it. I noticed this poster out of all of the many diverse pictures and posters on his wall, because this one caught my eye and I asked about it. Like our book talked about, it could be even used in the media to sell a product with a clever ad copy, what, I’m not sure.   --Kimberly Wipple, Forum 1

Image twelve is a very interesting image. Most people do not like the image because it confuses them; they do not understand how the image is possible. The image is much like the never-ending staircase in that neither image seems possible, but when one looks at the images closer, they start to question their judgment and start to see that the image could actually occur. Image twelve is
possible because of the use of depth. The water moves along aqueduct-like structures. As the water seems to move farther away from the viewer, it also moves up in the picture. The water makes one ninety-degree turn, then another ninety-degree turn. By the time it has made these two turns, it is directly on top of where the water was at the first turn. The water then makes one more ninety-degree turn and falls back to where it started. The water flows in a never-ending cycle. The image is visually confusing and can frustrate the viewer, while at the same time perplexing and entertaining the viewer with its color and concept.
                                                                            --Nirvana Patel, Forum 1

Patterns of Use
When I look at the base of the object, it appears to be dimensional and have only two ends, like a diagram of a building. But when I see the tips, there are three and it looks like a backwards letter E made of pipes. What throws me into seeing two different images is that the lines are not cleanly drawn to cut out a certain image, so the eye makes different guesses to identify the object.
    --Carolyn Porter

Composition
I chose to write more closely about image 8. The picture has multiple circles varying in color and has lines going over the circles, which appear to be curved. The questions asks if I see any straight lines, but no matter how I look at the image I only see lines with curves in them. Obviously the circles in the back ground make the line appear to have curves in it, but no matter how long
I look at it I can only see curved lines. This is a lot like what our book talks about when placing objects in the image; our book calls this visual syntax. I also think that the colors in the picture make it difficult to look at for a long period of time because my eyes make the image move after a period of time.
            --Brian Schwartz, Forum 1

References to other Images
Image 3 appears to be Star of David covering up a section of three circles. After giving it a closer look, I noticed that neither exists because no triangle has only two sides. A Star of David is made up of two overlapping triangles with one being upside-down.
           --Brandon Anderson, Forum 1

In this image I see a duality. There are multiple angels with majestic wings contrasting with scowling demons with bat-like wings. Oddly enough, I also see little Christmas peppermint candies where each set of four angel’s' wings touch tips. I suppose the two images could be connected when you analyze the positive spiritual meaning of Christmas and the negative commercial aspects it
has acquired and consider them as a battle between good and evil.
           --Carolyn Porter, Forum 1

Context
I chose image one to go into more detail on. It is a tessellation pattern of angels and demons. The Angels are in white and are in a specific pattern. They are mirror images of the ones right next to them as well as the ones directly above and bellow them. The devils, which are in black, are the same way as the angels in that they are mirrors of the ones around them. I selected this
image mainly because I have a poster of it in my room and find it to be a very fascinating picture that makes you think.
          --Jillian Mallory, Forum 1

In what ways does the context (the fact that the images appeared in a visual literacy exercise on the web for a 101 class vs. say on a poster in a friend’s room) contribute to how you looked at and talked about the visual?
 

Meaning depends on the reader as well as the [visual/verbal] text.
The front part of the box is determined by the viewer. The viewer can either see that the front of the box has clear sides, with the blue and yellow sides being the back and the bottom, or the viewer can see that the blue side is the front of the box, and there are three yellow sides composing the sides and the bottom.
        --Nirvana Patel, Forum 1

I will choose to discuss image 12 a little further. The image doesn’t seem very bothersome at first. The water is going down a trough to the house, big deal. Your mind reads things as it is used to seeing. Then you realize there is a
waterfall at the top. Now the water is falling a running down a trough. Some people develop the theory that the waterfall in the background is replenishing the waterfall that runs down the house. Many people put this picture off as that. But when you look closer you realize the water is running uphill. This isn’t really that difficult to see once you have figured out the uphill running concept. But I find it odd that the mind takes so long to see this and for a while, instead of seeing the picture for what it is, chooses to use more common answers that we are accustomed to in our environment.
        --Mark Bookhamer, Forum 1

I chose Image One for closer examination. The way my mind constructed the image was interesting- it was constructed in steps. I first saw the angels positioned resembling a mirror image of each other with their wings outstretched, then I noticed the demons. I went on to notice their long ears and how they fit like a puzzle around the angels’ heads. I then saw the demons’ bat-like wings and noticed that where each of four demons’ wings touched at the tips, so did four angels’ wings. The shape of the wings and their
contrasting color seemed to swirl together and form a peppermint candy-like design. Each figure, the angels and the demons, have a commonly understood meaning- good versus evil. These images were chosen by the artist based on the immediate understanding of the viewer of what they stand for. Since it is only an image and is not accompanied with words, it can have many different
meanings and statements, but generally we will perceive it to have something to do with good battling evil because of what our culture has taught us about angels and demons long before viewing this particular image.
      --Carolyn Porter, Forum 1
 
 
 

DIED. NGUYEN NGOC LOAN, 67, South Vietnamese national-police commander whose 1968 point-blank execution of a bound Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon stunned Americans when they saw it on film; in Burke, Va. The widely reprinted photo, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams, fortified public opinion against the war. After the fall of Saigon, Loan and his family moved to Virginia, where he ran a restaurant. (See Eulogy below.)

Eulogy
I won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for a photograph of one man shooting another. Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and GENERAL NGUYEN NGOC LOAN. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. What the photograph didn't say was, "What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?" General Loan was what you would call a real warrior, admired by his troops. I'm not saying what he did was right, but you have to put yourself in his position. The photograph also doesn't say that the general devoted much of his time trying to get hospitals built in Vietnam for war casualties. This picture really messed up his life. He never blamed me. He told me if I hadn't taken the picture, someone else would have, but I've felt bad for him and his family for a long time. I had kept in contact with him; the last time we spoke was about six months ago, when he was very ill. I sent flowers when I heard that he had died and wrote, "I'm sorry. There are tears in my eyes."
--Eddie Adams
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I think public/private space is a hard thing to define. On one hand, you could
say that the mall is a public space, open to everyone and anyone, but then
what about mall security? At any time they can escort someone who does not
comply to mall expectations. On the other side, you might say that your house
is private, but the government could randomly choose your house to use as the
stake out cover for an FBI raid(or whatever), leaving your house not very
private. Therefore, I don't think there is a line between public and private
space, but rather, general ideas.  (Erin Trust)

A private space is some where were only selected individuals are allowed. It is a
place where restrictions are used to control who enters the area and what are
its specific uses. For example, there are many government and military buildings
that are private in this sense. A private space can also be a home, a room with
in the house, etc., even though the regulations of that space are not as strict.
What goes on with in these walls is private to the public eye. In addition, a
private space can also be with in a public space. Many people enjoy special,
private areas of parks, etc. where they go to have “private” time. A public
place is open to everyone, even though an individual might have to pay in order
to use it. There is no segregation as far as who is allowed in and who uses it,
except for maybe predetermined safety regulations. (Tara O'Connell)
 

In the end, the government has ultimate control over what type of advertising
is allowed where, by creating and enforcing the laws that allow private
businesses to lease out billboard space. The secondary power goes to the ball
park, a private business that chooses to allow a billboard company to advertise
on their property. The Billboard company has the third power of deciding as to
what will go onto the billboard. The reason why grafitti isn't allowed, and
advertisements are, is because it doesn't follow this order of operation, and in
the end might project an image that the ball park doesn't want and steals
business from the people who pay for their advertising. The sign on the beach is
controlled by the state government, or the owner (if it is a private beach). The
rules are obviously for safety, most places public and private have rules. Your
house has rules, your job has rules, even McDonalds has a list of rules on the
wall, it is in order to maintain an environment where everyone's rights are
respected. (Andrew Hall)

Who has the power? Those with the money have the power. The advertising
companies, and the government, who is funded by some of these companies.
So it is seen as okay when billboards are put up all over a city, but an artist
who paints a beautiful mural can be taken to jail and fined for defacing public
property. Those with power give the authority for signs to go up. It isn't fair
but it is the way things run in this country and even in other countries. And we
should care about this because advertising and all of that ties in with our
freedom of expression. Don't let the advertising companies do the expressing for
us!!! (Chris Hanson)

Myth: “Master Stories that describe exceptional people doing exceptional things and that serve as moral guides to proper action. . . . The literal truth of a myth is rarely its most important measure. Rather, a myth’s serviceability is judged by its evocative potential, its capacity to impress on a listener the ‘Truth’ of an event, not by its factuality” (Hart 242)
 
 

 1. Cosmological Myths: myths that explain why we are here, where we came from, what our ancestors (both immediate family and those that share similar racial/ethnic roots) were like

 2. Societal Myths: myths that teach on the proper way to live

 3. Identity Myths: myths that explain what makes one cultural grouping different from another

 4. Eschatological Myths: myths that help a people know where they are going, what lies in store for them in the short run [in life] as well as in the long run [in death]
 
 

Adapted from: Hart, Roderick P. Modern Rhetorical Criticism. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.