The Rhetorical Situation and my digital media creation

A presidential election occurs every four years. Americans vote for their candidate based on a variety of things. I think a candidate’s political image can also have an effect on voters; how the candidates present themselves physically and how they speak can sway votes.

An example from this year’s election is the American flag pins the candidates wear. During the debates, although both of them wore the pin, Romney’s was noticeably larger than Obama’s. Is this because Romney has more patriotism? Although political (physical) image may not be the deciding factor of someone’s vote, it surely adds to the long list of things to sift through and think about before a decision is made and a box is checked at the voter’s booth.

Lloyd F. Bitzer, in The Rhetorical Situation, says a rhetorical situation comes to exist “because of something beyond itself; it functions ultimately to produce action or change in the world; it performs some task.” (pg. 3-4, Bitzer) He also says that “Rhetoric is a mode of altering reality, not by the direct application of energy to objects, but by the creation of discourse which changes reality through the mediation of thought and action.” (pg. 4, Bitzer) Because of this, I believe the Presidential candidates’ political images are a great example of a rhetorical situation in today’s societal context.

Bitzer goes on to describe exigency, or when a rhetorical situation is capable of positive modification and when positive modification requires discourse or can be assisted by discourse. (pg. 7, Bitzer) In this particular case, the exigency (organizing principle) explains the audience (voters) and the change to be effected (the outcome of the election based on factors, including, as I argue, political image.)

A rhetorical situation arises when the outcome of an action causes a change to occur. With this definition, the action (Presidential Election) causes a rhetorical situation, the outcome of which is a new president of the United States (or in this case, another four years with the incumbent.) My topic fits directly in as one of the seemingly overlooked pieces of information that matter to an election’s outcome.

The purpose of my digital media artifact is to inform my audience about some of the things that go into preserving a political image, such as makeup, dress, voice and body language/gestures, each of which are meticulously chosen with the interest of the candidates’ political image in mind. Demographics such as age, race, gender and other matters of identity all make umbers of my audience. By looking at this diverse group of people (voters), I generated a better understanding of what affects and doesn’t affect them.

I first chose to create an illustrator “poster” featuring each candidate being “dissected.” By this, I meant for the candidates to be diagramed on the page with lines drawn with one end leading to areas of their body, the other end leading to an explanation of each candidate’s image in reference to a particular category.

I used both images and text to make my argument. Although presenting the information in an interesting format (diagram) may be considered cluttered or messy, I think I’ve achieved an organized, easy-to-read digital artifact that addresses my argument. Using my in-class peer review comments, I made modifications so that I was focusing on one candidate. I also made the font size bigger so that it would be easier to read. Although I felt as though my first design was well put together and unique, I took into consideration the critiques of the class and finalized my project.

At the time of submission, I believe I created a visually interesting and easily readable piece of digital media using good design principles. Even though the election is over, the factors of political image I described still matter. This poster or piece of digital media can be used again and again in election years to come.

(I'll try and post a link to my actual final creation soon.)