Week 6: Ancient Art of Rhetoric & Persuasion

1)      Before coming to class, bring a print advertisement that you believe persuades the reader rhetorically. Explain your case using the concepts learnt this week.

Rhetoric is defined as a form of persuasion (Garver, 1994). Rhetoric in advertisements is more concerned with the style rather than the content. It is claimed that rhetoric in advertising is emphasizing more towards how to present the ad rather than what to present to the audience (McQuarrie & Philips, 2008, P.4). In this post, I will include a photo which could persuade the reader rhetorically. It has been said that all the persuasions must have an argument. Therefore, without an argument, it is not called a persuasion.

Figure 1

In figure 1, it shows a picture of a light bulb. Well, it is an ordinary light bulb, but there differences between this light bulb and the ones that we used at home or at school. The light bulb is created for the global society in order for them to start saving energy. It is different from the long light bulb or the round ones which are common everywhere we go. Thus, the light bulb does not only save energy, but also saves money. For example, a person used to spend hundreds of dollars just to pay for the electricity bill. By using this light bulb, it will decrease the amount of electricity used and will lower the bill of the electricity. Moreover, there would be extra money for the person to buy other things they need.

So, the argument here is:

1.       Using the light bulb can save electricity.

2.      Using the light bulb can save money.

3.       Therefore, the light bulb saves electricity and money.

In addition, by buying this light bulb and using it in the houses, colleges and workplaces, it will lessen the energy used and also will save the environment. As we all know, Brunei is considered as the country which has the highest usage of electricity. For example, have you ever been to UBD? Sometimes, you can see that the air conditioners are not switched off and some lights are still switched on in the morning. Even in the streets or roads, sometimes the lights are still switched on during morning. According to the permanent secretary (Power and Downstream) Hj Jamain Hj Julaihi, “For a small economy like Brunei, the current rate of energy consumption is not sustainable in the long term” (bt.com.bn). So, why should anyone waste the electricity while some place some where there are still people who do not have electricity because they cannot afford it? Even during lectures, the room would be filled with many switched on light bulbs even when you don’t necessarily need them.

Another thing is, we learnt this term in semiotics, it is called ‘anchorage’. According to Sells & Gonzalez, (2002), “Anchorage is text (such as a caption) that provides the link between the image and its context; the text that provides relevance to the reader.” Without the captions, people will not know what the ad is trying to tell the audience. Basically, in figure 1, the printed ad wants the audience to receive the message about saving the electricity. By having captions to anchor the message, it would capture the audiences’ attention towards the advertisement. The purpose of the ad in figure 1 is for the awareness of the public about how important electricity is, and we should start saving energy because energy consumption would not be sustainable for longer term.

In conclusion, visual rhetoric plays an important role in advertising, whether the advertisement is advertised using different types of medium such as television or newspapers. The printed ad of a photo will be more persuasive when it is added with captions to anchor the attention of the audiences. Rhetoric can manipulate our minds and also change our perception. In this case, perhaps it will affect people who are concerned about saving money as well as saving electricity.

Refrences

Garver, E. (1994). Artistotle's rhetoric: An art of character. USA:University of Chicago Press.

McQuarrie, E. F. & Philips, B. J. (2008), Go figure! : New directions in advertising rhetoric, USA, M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Sells, P., & Gonzales, S. (2002). The language of advertising, Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist34/Unit_03/anchor-relay.htm on November 14th, 2012.

Noor, A, (2012), Solar panel prices key to viability, Retrieved from http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2012/04/15/solar-panel-prices-key-viability on November 14th, 2012.