What is the rhetorical triangle and how can it be applied to visual arguments?

The rhetorical triangle was invented by Aristotle and it consists of the three ways in which someone can appeal to their audience in an argument. The three areas are called ethos, pathos and logos, and they all influence one another. Ethos is the part of the argument that appeals to the morality and credibility aspects. Pathos is the part of the argument that appeals to emotions. And, logos is the part of the argument that appeals to both logic and reason.
The rhetorical triangle can be applied to visual arguments because, even if it is a visual argument, someone is trying to appeal to their audience. In a visual argument, the visual needs to appeal to its audience in the three areas of the rhetorical triangle (ethos, pathos and logos). For example, if the visual argument is in the form of an ad in a magazine , then it can appeal to the morality/ credibility aspect by having a person that has a good reputation on the ad. A visual can emotionally appeal to its audience by having a person on an ad that is smiling. If an ad has something written on it that logically makes sense then it will appeal to the logic/reason aspect of the rhetorical triangle. All three of the areas work together to help make an argument better, and in this case, they help make an ad seem appealing. A visual argument needs all three parts in order to be the most appealing that it can be.

What Visuals Communicate to Me

The way I view visuals is that they can be very helpful when they are used in addition to another type of composition, such as an essay. This is because pictures can sometimes show things that are hard for words to describe. Not only do pictures show more than what words can say, but also I believe that pictures are truly worth 1000 words. For example, I can try all I want to describe what a person looks like, but my description does not nearly mean as much to someone as actually seeing that person, even if its just in a picture. When I see a picture or any other type of visual, I usually only see it for what it is, and I do not try to find some abstract meaning to it. One reason why I do this is because there are so many different messages that you can think that a visual is trying to convey, including the wrong message. I do not want to look at a visual and try to come up with different messages its conveying and then have those messages be wrong. Therefore, for example, if I see a picture of a flower, all I get from it is that it is a flower; the picture does not mean anything else to me. What I mean from this is that I do not think critically about the message the visual is trying to communicate; I am a passive reader of visuals. I do not know why I am like this, but I have always been this way. I have never liked abstract things and thinking critically about what something means is too abstract for me.

How I Will Prepare For The Exam

I will prepare for a timed writing exam by first making an outline for what I am going to write. I will need to take a lot of time doing this outline and do it thoroughly so it will actually help me on the exam. By making an outline, I can organize my thoughts, and if I organize my thoughts before I write my paper, I can write a more organized paper faster. Therefore, this should help me on a timed writing exam. However, while I write this outline, I need to be aware of how redundant I make it. I have a big problem with redundancy, and I need to try to fix this problem. Another problem I have is that I forget to make transitions. When I write my outline, I need to be brainstorming how I can transition to different topics throughout my paper.
Another way I can prepare for a timed writing exam is that I can do a lot of research on the topic before I take the exam. I should do the research before I make an outline in order for it to be useful. I need to take the time to read and understand what I research so that it can help me on the exam.
Nevertheless, there are many grammatical concerns that might cause me trouble. The one thing that troubles me the most is comma splices. Before taking the writing exam, I need to study my notes about comma splices and make sure that I know what I am doing; this will help me prepare for the exam. Besides comma splices, spelling is a major grammatical concern. I cannot really do anything to help me prepare for the exam that involves spelling, but I can bring a dictionary with me to the exam. So I can definitely prepare for the exam by making sure I have a dictionary with me that day. By preparing in these various ways, I am taking into account what troubles me before I take the exam.

My Writing Process

My writing process changes depending on what I am writing. But, for the most part, I brainstorm a little before I write. First, I think of the main idea of what I am writing and then build from that. For example, when I am writing a blog that I know has to be at least 250 words, I usually do not have the 250 words at first. I have to read over what I have written and see how I can expand on it to make it long enough. I can do this by adding transitions since, when I brainstorm, I usually do not think of the transitions. I usually come up with transitions at the end even if I do not brainstorm, but I just sit down and write. No matter what, I always read over my compositions after I have written them. I always have mistakes that I can easily fix from just reading over my compositions. I do not read over it quickly, but then again, I do not necessarily read over the individual sentences. When I read over my compositions, I am making sure what I have written makes sense and that my grammar is correct. Sometimes when I read my compositions, I think that what I have written is grammatically correct, but it’s not simply because I do not know better. For example, before I learned about comma splices in this class, I knew I was using them, but I never paid much attention to them when I was reading over my compositions. Since I now know about comma splices, I try to make sure I use them correctly. That is just one of the many things I do when I write and read over my compositions. I do put effort into writing and going over my compositions, but I know I could put even more effort into it.