User:ImaniM489j/sandbox

= Visual Rhetoric in Composition = In the field of composition studies, the place of visual rhetoric varies in significance often. Aspects of the inclusion of visual rhetoric in composition studies stems from the evolution of society into one that values the visual. With that visual nature growing in significance culturally, the essence of literacy is no longer limited simply by the text and its composition, but can be extended to the need to understand the visual components to the text as well, as a means to understand its rhetoric. There is still some discussion on how, and to what extent, to study its role in the academic space and in the education of fundamental composition.

Although there is a growing focus on media and digital components of rhetoric, there is a distinct difference between media theory of composition, and the inclusion of visual rhetoric in composition studies, regardless of the relative parallels between the two. Where media theory of composition (new media) is more centered around the composition and use of rhetoric through electronic mediums, visual rhetoric is more focused on the actual visual text and its rhetorical nature.

Visual Rhetoric in Composition
Composition studies, or composition for short and in the context of rhetoric, focuses on academic writing in the educational field, mainly starting in higher education. The role rhetoric plays in composition is vital in that the basis of composition is rhetoric; the construction of the argument being just as important as the argument itself. As composition and rhetoric have been studied and explored, the multimodality of rhetoric has been argued for and accepted. In rhetoric and composition discussions, there is at least one aspect of multimodality that aids in the delivery of the message composed. Components of multimodal rhetoric include examples like digital rhetoric, focusing on the construction of the letters/words and those choices, and visual rhetoric, the actual sight, concept, or image being observed. Visual rhetoric has been argued for and against being included in the field of composition because of the visual component being emphasized over the actual text or method of text. It is often included in the discussion of composition because of the acceptance in the critical discourse community that rhetoric is multimodal. Society's growing interest in the visual nature of communication has lead to visual rhetoric being included in the field of composition, with visual texts being more present.

In the academic community, for instance, there is more developing interest in visual rhetoric in research programming. There is also developing understanding that pubic discourse is more visual in the contemporary world than it is "non-discursive."

Visual Rhetoric and Multimodality
Visual rhetoric plays a critical role in multimodality and its presence in composition. Multimodality is essentially the practice of communicating a message with careful consideration of the multiple modes the message utilizes and displays visually. Visual rhetoric aids in multimodality by using the manipulation of visual aspects of that message or an image towards the goal of the communication. In composition, fields like journalism have experienced the higher demand for visual components and, therefore, has experimented more with the concept of multimodality. With the journalism experience expanding to online communities, visual rhetoric has become more important as observers can understand the essence of the story through both the images and the text of the article.