Alyssa Elliott
Professor Skelly
ENGL 21001 Section L
25 October 2023

Visual Essay Reflection and Self-Grading

I chose to create a poster because of my background in graphic design and my familiarity with collages of rappers that circulate online after their passing. With a popular one being is an edited image of famous people on a stairway in the afterlife, often referred to as “meme haven.” However, I aimed for something different, a clean and sophisticated design due to the seriousness of the topic. My audience influenced my choice because, typically, when rappers pass away, there are podcasts or documentaries made about them. I wanted to offer a different experience, something visually reflective. By seeing all these rappers together, I aimed to show a bigger picture, making the issue of rapper mortality more visible and encouraging viewers to think about why these events matter.

I used all of the rhetorical strategies that I used to engage my audience. For pathos I used visual imagery such as photos of deceased rappers and symbolic elements like doves and angel wings, to bring out emotions and create a sense of empathy among the audience. Quotes from artists like Juice Wrld and Xxxtentacion also added an emotional layer, connecting the audience to the human side of the issue. For logos I did initially intend to incorporate statistics and data about rapper mortality that could make the audience more aware of the seriousness of the issue. But by the time I remembered to add it I already ran out of space. Instead, I used tweets to reflect real-world reactions, to provide a real and factual connection to current events and demonstrate the public’s response, which can appeal to the audience’s sense of reason. As for ethos I used quotes from the artists themselves to establish credibility, as it directly relates the audience with the voices of those involved. By combining these strategies, I aimed to create a well-rounded and persuasive poster to make my message about rapper mortality more impactful and engaging for the viewers.

Visual essays differ from writing traditional essays because t hey use visual mediasuch as videos and pictures to tell a story and get ideas across. Compared to traditionalessays that just use words and structured sentencing which can something has interestinglanguage. Visual essays can be more engaging because they appeal to our emotionsdirectly through visuals. In traditional essays, understanding can be more challengingbecause readers need to interpret the text on their own.