[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-598559-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-598559-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","translating-the-verbal-to-the-visual-persuasive-assignment-for-visual-argument","Translating the Verbal to the Visual - Persuasive Assignment for Visual Argument","","Translating the Verbal to the Visual presents a composition assignment that links verbal and visual argumentation for students in art and design. The task begins with drafting a traditional research-based persuasive essay, then translating the argument into a self-standing visual product using images primarily and words secondarily. Students submit a separate verbal statement describing the visual, analyzing rhetorical strategies, addressing limitations or opportunities of the format, and reflecting on improvements to their original written work.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/translating-the-verbal-to-the-visual-persuasive-assignment-for-visual-argument/598559/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/translating-the-verbal-to-the-visual-persuasive-assignment-for-visual-argument/598559.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"A glass of water","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the overall goal of the visual-argument assignment?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Students learn to connect verbal and visual argumentation by creating a visual counterpart to a research-based persuasive essay and analyzing how rhetorical strategies change across modes.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What do students do after writing the traditional persuasive essay?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They draft and review the essay, then build a self-standing visual argument using images as the primary medium and words only as needed.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What must students include in the verbal statement accompanying the visual work?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"They must describe the visual, analyze its rhetorical strategies, compare differences between the visual and verbal arguments, and reflect on how lessons from the visual project can improve their written arguments.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},598559,1792165089,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},962090760832,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Translating the Verbal to the Visual  \nSusanna Kelly Engbers  \nKendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University  \n“But I’m a visual learner!” Most composition instructors hear this claim more and more frequently these days from our students. What the claim exactly entails is nebulous. Clearly, however, we’re all increasingly surrounded by texts that are, if not exclusively, then predominantly, visual—advertisements, photographs, television, film, magazine covers, and the like. And the “texts” associated with social media often privilege the visual over the verbal—e.g., an evocative photograph with either minimal or no verbal language accompanying it.  \nMore and more, then, many composition instructors find ourselves incorporating visual texts into our curricula. To ignore visual texts in the composition classroom, increasingly, seems like an oversight. This is certainly the case for me; I teach at a college of art and design.(According to the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, nearly 300 schools are accredited as such.) One way in which I’ve approached this task is by developing an assignment that helps students to consider the relationship between verbal and visual argument.  \nThe Assignment  \nThis assignment usually comes at or near the end of the semester, after we’ve devoted a good amount of class time to analyzing and writing about various visual arguments, such as advertisements, photographs, and film documentaries, so the students have had opportunities to  \nconsider the ways in which visual arguments work and the way concepts such as ethical, emotional, and logical appeals can function in them. For example, we might discuss the ways in which the usual ofa hand-held camera can augment a filmmaker’s ethical appeal or the ways in which music functions to sway viewers’ emotions in rhetorically advantageous ways.  \nIn brief, the assignment is to write a traditional, research-based persuasive essay on a given issue. Students are instructed to consider all the usual features ofa successful argument—their own character as manifest in the essay (i.e., their ethos), likely counterarguments, and soon. The essay goes through a process of drafting and review with their peers and me. Then I ask them to make their argument visual, relying primarily on images and secondarily (if necessary) on words. They may choose from a variety of visual media, depending on their background and training. For example, they may make a PowerPoint presentation, a poster, a digital animation, a webpage, or something else of their choosing. The only requirement is that the argument be selfstanding, requiring no oral interpretation or other intervention from the author. Most frequently, I ask them to direct the visual to their peers and devote a class period (or two) to the viewing and discussion of the final draft visuals. A key part of the assignment is the verbal statement that students have to submit to me; in this verbal statement they describe their visual product, analyze its rhetorical strategies, and discuss any limitations imposed—or opportunities presented—by the visual format. They submit this statement to me rather than displaying it alongside their visuals so that their peers’ evaluation of the visuals’ effectiveness is unaffected by the verbal elaboration.  \nConsidering the Visual Translation  \nThe assignment for the visual argument asks students to consider all possible visual elements of the argument, including the relative size of images included in the visual, the size the visual itself, the selection of images and words, font selection, and the arrangement of elements to structure the viewer’s experience with the visual text. In addition, I encourage them to consider the ways in which a visual argument can be more “present” to viewers. In this discussion, I frequently draw from Chaim Perelman’s and L Olbrechts-Tyteca’s The New Rhetoric and their concept of presence. According to Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca,","cbCaip7CrX28aG5q","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaip7CrX28aG5q","pdf",221087,"English","# The claim and rationale\n## Visual texts in composition classrooms\n# The assignment design\n## Research-based persuasive essay\n## Visual translation of the argument\n## Verbal statement requirements\n# Considering the visual translation\n## Rhetorical elements and viewer experience\n## Presence and truth value in visuals\n# Reflecting on the translation","[{\"question\":\"What is the overall goal of the visual-argument assignment?\",\"answer\":\"Students learn to connect verbal and visual argumentation by creating a visual counterpart to a research-based persuasive essay and analyzing how rhetorical strategies change across modes.\"},{\"question\":\"What do students do after writing the traditional persuasive essay?\",\"answer\":\"They draft and review the essay, then build a self-standing visual argument using images as the primary medium and words only as needed.\"},{\"question\":\"What must students include in the verbal statement accompanying the visual work?\",\"answer\":\"They must describe the visual, analyze its rhetorical strategies, compare differences between the visual and verbal arguments, and reflect on how lessons from the visual project can improve their written arguments.\"}]","Translating the Verbal to the Visual - Persuasive Assignment for Visual Argument | PDF",1792087154,18]