week 6: The ancient art of rhetoric and persuasion.

The distinctiveness of Camel no.9 (pink and black campaign) has swayed the youth especially girls of age 12 to 16 according to the statistics found in Pediatrics. As you can see in the magazine ad, it is bordered by hot-pink fuchsia or minty-green teal that specify independent flavors complemented by the flowers around the cigarette packs with ‘light and luscious’  as their fancy slogan. This cigarette brand has definitely embedded femininity on it which creates an ideology for young teens.

David Howard stated that this ad was geared only for adults since Tobacco companies took part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement as to exclude kids as their target audience. However, according to Cheryl Healton (president of anti-smoking group the American Legacy Foundation), she asserted that this cigarette brand has far more appeal to younger girls.

This ad is very much persuasive itself because initially, Tobacco Industry aim was only to convince smokers to switch brand. In spite of this, it has drawn in non-smokers as well.

Co-author John Pierce of the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California-San Diego.

 “Being able to remember a tobacco ad shows that kids are taking an interest in cigarettes. Non-smoking teens who can name a favorite ad are 50% more likely to begin smoking than other kids.”

Rhetorical scholars had lean closer to focusing on style rather than the content. From what I can deduce, Tobacco Company is trying to target a wider audience with its subtle argument. The inductive argument of its slogan, style and smart packaging all contributes to a hidden agenda that says “It’s more than just a cigarette, it’s all wrapped up nicely, cool and hip just for you, so take a puff.” This is also known as enthymemes.

Because of this, the number of women diagnosed with cancer has skyrocketed according to statistics. Thus, this show how powerful visual rhetoric can be as it influences one’s beliefs. 

Week 5: Gestalt effect and Schema theories.

Anderson and Pearson (1984) explain that Bartlett viewed a schema as (p.52):

“An active organization of past reactions, or past experience”

It is basically referring to background knowledge or information. And each individual certainly have different background information. One’s schema may be more elaborated than the other. For example, a firefighter has a more elaborated schema on fire safety and regulation than someone who rarely or never deals with it. Without existing schemas, one may find it difficult to grasp new information on a topic.

Nonetheless, schema can expand through accretation, tuning and restructuring. This is done by taking in new information; modify existing schema to fit in new information and abandoning old irrelevant schema for a much more relevant one.

Application of schema theory on ‘fire safety and prevention for kids’.

I remembered when I was a kid; other than looking forward to receiving presents, I was always excited to blow out the candles. I was so fascinated by the yellow glowing flames that I tried to touch it with my bare hands - fortunately, my parents stopped me. Then again, I kept doing it year after year after year, until I was old enough (prolly 7 years old) to realize that it was dangerous – when I finally had a taste of it - and from then on, I became fearful. Once fear is incorporated in one self, it’s hard to subdue it. 

http://www2.scholastic.com/content/media/products/22/0545178622_xlg.jpg

http://stopdropandblog.com/2009/10/06/fire-prevention-week-storybooks-with-fire-safety-tips/

This children literature book is based on a dragon named Sparks who, strangely as it sound, is afraid of fire. In order to overcome his fear of fire, he joined the fire department and went through all the training. In the end, it paid off as he conquered his fear and became a firefighter himself. (Hatfield, 2009)

The reason why I chose this photo is because I believed that children work better with meaningful visual images as we link them with words and expression. According to Jerome Bruner, educational psychologist of New York University , he carried out cites studies that showed people only remembered 10% of what they hear, 30% of what they read, but 80% of what they see or do. Thus, visual images aid the improvement of the memory of an individual. (Improve memory: Helping your children develop memory skills)

In terms of the level of schematic process, I believed that it falls in the top level. The children can relate to this because, like Sparks, some kids are just as frightened as he is. They will then put themselves in the dragon’s shoes; trying to overcome the fear of fire by understanding the safety rules and prevention. With this, it actually helps them tune their schemas by modify existing schema to fit in new information.

Although we are highly aware the importance of fire safety, putting fear into their system isn’t always a great idea. - They might end up freaked out. Different children learn differently. I think raising the awareness on what to do in case of a fire in a non-threatening way help prepare the children better. Hence, I believe the schema chosen is highly congruous. 

Works Cited

Bruner, J. A brave new (visual) world . In P. Paul Martin Lester, Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication. Fullerton California.

Hatfield, J. (2009, october 6). Fire Prevention Week: Storybooks with Fire Safety Tips. Retrieved september 6, 2010, from stop, drop and blog.: http://stopdropandblog.com/2009/10/06/fire-prevention-week-storybooks-with-fire-safety-tips/

Improve memory: Helping your children develop memory skills. (n.d.). Retrieved september 6, 2010, from Brainy-Child: http://www.brainy-child.com/articles/improving-child-memory.shtml

Pearson., & Anderson. (1984). Lenses on reading. In D. H. Tracey, & L. M. Morrow, An introduction to Theories and Models (p. 52). New York, NY, USA: Guilford Press.

Week 4: Visual Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics : Structure, meaning and context.

Syntax -in terms of language- is a systematic form of conventional symbols to create sentence structure; how words can be organized to create meanings. (Miller, 2009)  It comprises of common elements such as grammar and vocabulary which forms word structure.  Language is culturally based; it changes overtime as people negotiate and renegotiate. Hence, this explains the shared meaning (consensus) within different culture and society.

As modernity progress, there has been an on-going debate whether visuals can be considered as a language or not. Linguists strongly believed that it cannot be because visuals have no syntax (structure) or grammar. Also, it is not a widely shared concept - no universal concept. Interpretation is subjective to each individual.

However, some may argue that syntax can be used in visuals.


American philosopher Suzanne Langer:


"Grammatical structure is not a symbol of itself, but it ties together several symbols, ... to make one complex term."


With that being said, it can be applied to images as well since the features such as shapes, borders, colors, features and layouts are as complex as language itself. These factors substitute for linguistic grammar which all make up to the syntax of the visual. And so, if more people agreed to the shared meaning of the visual then, it can be considered as a language.

Let’s take a look at the photos below.

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/2007/06/24/screen-chinese.characters.PNG

http://img.chinaa2z.com/uploadpic/learn/Sinology/2008/20081226/20081226131155678765/1230268878.jpg

As you can see here, the Chinese characters take shape of the iconic features. It has been standardized as to make them easier to remember and write. Though, only a small fraction of the Chinese characters are pictographic, it is still considered as a form of language. (四月雪, 2007)

When it comes to visual syntax, some ground rules are needed to be taken into account such as color, form, depth and movement. When we look at a photo, we don’t look at it randomly but rather focus at certain areas that grab our attention.  It is an involuntary action where our brain tells us where to start and end an image.

Example of Jimmy Choo spring-summer 2009 Ad campaign.

http://frillr.com/files/images/Jimmy%20Choo%20-%20SpringSummer%202009%20-%20Angela%20Lindvall.jpg

Our level of eye fixation varies from the strongest to the weakest point. 

The seal brown heel stands out the most because it is found in the centre. This is called the point of interest or centre of interest. Subject placement is important as it helps create the feeling of balance in the composition. (Basic photography technique) Different tones of color also contribute to our eye movements. When a darker shaded color falls in a dull background, it sticks out more. Moreover, lighting and shadow gives the heel a sense of depth which creates an illusion of a killer high heel. Each element in a picture has a certain amount of value in respect to all the other elements.

According to Morris, in order to understand the language of visual, it takes more than just syntactic but semantics and pragmatics to aid the study of signs. These three elements help advertisers and communication professionals channel specific interpretation to the receiver. 

Semantics is the study of compositional meaning. It refers to the connotative meaning of a sign; what the image represents. Pragmatics on the other hand is the study of interactional meaning. It helps determine the origin of the meaning of a sign by understanding some of the factors such as codes, modality, sender, receiver and context.

For example,

http://media.photobucket.com/image/chanel%20logo/Jords6/chanel-logo.gif?o=19 

 

What are the syntax and semantics of Chanel?

• ·         It represents simplicity.
• ·         Black and white colored; classy, timeless stigma.
• ·         The double C markings are symmetrical.
• ·         it gives a harmonious weight of composition.

With syntax and semantics, you can conclude its pragmatics.

A timeless watch from Chanel premiere collection

http://www.geekwatches.com/wp-content/gallery/7/chanel-premiere-collection-3.jpg

Chanel pragmatics:

The context of this print fits the logo. The monochrome color creates a “back to basics” look which, as you can see, is incorporated into the features of the timeless watch premiere collection. The simplicity and elegance of the watch creates a sophisticated and chic look. As a whole, it gives the receiver the feeling of timelessness. – The idea that Chanel never goes out of style.

Works Cited

Basic photography technique. (n.d.). Retrieved september 2010, from Photoin: http://photoinf.com/General/NAVY/Photographic_composition_Balance.htm

Langer, S. the syntax of symbols. In P. M. Lester, Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication. Fullerton, California.

Miller, G. A. (2009). define: language. Retrieved september 2010, from WordNet. princeton university.: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=language

Morris. The syntax of symbols. In P. M. Lester, Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication. Fullerton, California.

四月雪, A. (2007, april 9). pictograms in chinese characters. Retrieved september 2010, from My Opera: http://my.opera.com/Aprilsnow/blog/pictograms-xiangxingzi-in-chinese-characters