Final paper

Rhetorical Analysis of a Visual Text

Abbas Alnakhli

EWU

Rhetorical Analysis of a Visual Text

Visual documents communicate through images or interaction of text and images. A rhetorical analysis of such hopes to unravel how communication is achieved in the rhetorical situation involving the audience, the context, the purpose of the message , the rhetorical appeals as well as use of color and text in the document. The document on analysis is the giant entertainment company Walt Disney Company logo. It is a corporation with theme parks for instance Disneyland and several hit movies to their name. Their logo has evolved overtime starting with their famous Cinderella castle with an Arcing line overhead in 1995 and to their most current one that aims to give a feel to real distinguishing features to the castle by including widows and balconies. The current logo serves to be more eye catching to the average viewer when in online or offline mode hence a wider audience. The earlier one (1995) appealed to the children with its sense of imagination and fantasy.

Disney uses geographic demographic which refers to part of a country, the market density and/or size, a region of the world or the climate; to locate their target market. They apply this knowledge in making decisions such as where to locate their theme parks (Disney World and Disney Land). Some of their selected locations are in the United States, Japan and Europe among others, which are part of the most visited places. They use demographic segmentation which includes gender, age, income or even ethnic background which helps them determine which place are the best to place their chain stores and which are the best in terms of movie distribution. With the knowledge of demographic segmentation, they are able to determine what kind of movie suites who and what to create.

Disney targets children and their families; for small children they have animation films and toys. For older kids and teens it has Disney channel, radio Disney and their live action films such as Pirates of the Caribbean which also attracts the adults. Disney theme parks carefully consider the joy and amusement of a family as a whole. Moreover, the Disney store has its personal décor department which seeks to satisfy the needs and wants of the parents and their children. It has expanded its market by targeting younger girls through their Disney princess sector; Cinderella, Snow white, Sleeping beauty, Rapunzel and others,

The fantastical look of the logo makes it easy for people to identify with Walt Disney this has propelled it to high heights, Parents will mostly consider buy their kids movies with the Disney brand. One of its logos showed a revolving Mickey Mouse while it showcased this creation it also showed the major strides Disney was making in the entertainment .The presence of the castle with the arcing line triggers imagination, fantasy and excitement in the audience. The most recent feature of the stunning castle shows the technological abilities of the company.

The rhetorical appeal by the logo evokes a lot of emotions (pathos) on the viewer; the fantasy world of perfection created amuses and excites the children. The amusement parks are a must-go place and are part of the to-do list of most children and some adults. The multi generational focus aims at children as well as adults and this is depicted in their animated movies and commercials for their theme parks. Children are very imaginative in nature and this is duly exploited by the company who seems to take advantage of this nature.

References

Longaker, M. & Walker, J. (2011). Rhetorical analysis: a brief guide for writers. Boston: Longman.

Olson, L., Finnegan, C. & Hope, D. (2008). Visual rhetoric: a reader in communication and American culture. Los Angeles: Sage.