Editing Visual rhetoric (section)

==History and origin ==
The term rhetoric originated in ancient Greece and its concept has been widely discussed for thousands of years. [[Sophist]]s first coined the idea as an abstract term to help label the concept, while [[Aristotle]] more narrowly defined rhetoric as a message's potential to influence audiences.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rhetorical tradition : readings from classical times to the present|date=1990|publisher=Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press|others=Bizzell, Patricia., Herzberg, Bruce.|isbn=9780312003487|location=Boston|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rhetoricaltradit00bizz/page/22 22]|oclc=21325600|url=https://archive.org/details/rhetoricaltradit00bizz/page/22}}</ref> Linguists and other researchers often define rhetoric through the well-known [[Rhetoric#Canons|five canons of rhetoric]]. Over time, this definition has evolved, expanded, and raised serious debate as new digital mediums of communicating have developed.

In his book ''Elements of Criticism'', rhetorician [[Lord Kames]] (also known as Henry Home) laid the groundwork for later rhetoricians by taking the controversial stance of including visual art in his theory of criticism. Kames argued many of the same points as other Enlightenment scholars—mainly that art was beneficial to the public—and worthy of note and praise—if it was encouraging a moral improvement of its audience.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mererhetoric.libsyn.com/lord-kames|title=Mere Rhetoric: Lord Kames}}</ref>

French theorist [[Roland Barthes]] in 1977 brought to light a new way to evaluate other communication means, showing the relevance of traditional rhetorical theories to the still photographic medium.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Image, music, text|last=Roland.|first=Barthes|date=1977|publisher=Hill and Wang|others=Heath, Stephen.|isbn=978-0374521363|location=New York|oclc=3414738|url=https://archive.org/details/imagemusictext00bart}}</ref> Barthes explained visual rhetoric generally as the implied and interpreted messages from the work, yet these bigger messages often extend beyond the initial superficial interpretation.<ref name=":5" /> Visual rhetoric uses a variety of tools to hook readers within its mediums (e.g. gifs).<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140809020040-134901798-attraction-and-persuasion-in-advertising-a-beginner-s-guide-to-visual-rhetoric/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524111810/https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140809020040-134901798-attraction-and-persuasion-in-advertising-a-beginner-s-guide-to-visual-rhetoric/|title=Attraction and Persuasion in Advertising - A Beginner's Guide to Visual Rhetoric|last=Ly-Le|first=Tuong-Minh|date=August 9, 2014|website=LinkedIn|archive-date=2018-05-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although similar in nature, one striking difference between visual and classical rhetoric is the newfound outlook on Aristotle's original canons. [[Linda M. Scott|Linda Scott]] created a newfound audience by constructing new cannons exclusive to visual rhetoric.<ref name=":6" /> Instead of closely monitoring the content, as with the initial five canons, Scott's focused on the visual medium's ability to ''invent'' and argument, ''arrangement'' of the item, and all coupled with a meaningful ''delivery'' of presentation. Since its inception, popular studies have appeared in published works to discuss the role of visual rhetoric in many facets of human life, especially advertising.

The term emerged largely as an effort to set aside a certain area of study that would focus attention on specific rhetorical elements of visual mediums.<ref name="Hill2004" /> Historically, the study of rhetoric has been geared toward linguistics.<ref name=Foss2004/>  Visual symbols were deemed trivial and subservient and thus, were largely ignored as part of a rhetorical argument. As a result, modern rhetorical theory developed with a significant exclusion of these visual symbols, ignoring the field of visual rhetoric as a separate area of study.<ref name=Foss2004/>  Scholars of visual rhetoric analyze photographs, drawings, paintings, graphs and tables, interior design and architecture, sculpture, Internet images, and film.<ref name=Foss2004/>  From a rhetorical perspective, the focus is on the contextual response rather than the aesthetic response.<ref name=Foss2004/>  An aesthetic response is a viewer's direct perception with the sensory aspects of the visual, whereas with a rhetorical response, meaning is given to the visual.<ref name=Foss2004/>  Every part of the artifact has significance in the message being conveyed; each line, each shading, each person has a purpose.<ref name=Foss2004/> As visual rhetoricians study images and symbols, their findings catalyze challenges to the linguistic meaning altogether, allowing a more holistic study of the rhetorical argument to emerge with the introduction of visual elements.