Visual Analysis Valentine

February 14th 

     The expectations of Valentine's Day in the western society are shaped by our culture.  For instance, we were raised to believe that on Valentine's Day men are supposed to buy women flowers and chocolates and treat them to a nice dinner.  When a boyfriend or a fiancé or a husband deviates from these expectations, many people would believe that the boyfriend is not doing Valentine's Day "right."  However, who decided that Valentine's Day must be spent in a particular manner?  Somebody had to create a rhetorical situation for the holiday in order to make the claim that Valentine's Day should be a day dedicated to treating our significant others.

     There are three arguments about the rhetorical situation: 1) Bitzer's theory that the rhetorical situation controls the rhetorical act 2) Vatz's idea that the rhetor controls the rhetorical situation and 3) Consigny's perspective that rhetoric is an art of topics that encourages rhetors to explore various contexts.  While both Bitzer's and Vatz's hypotheses are black-and-white, Consigny's perspective falls under a gray area.  I agree with Consigny that rhetoric is a subjective matter that is both controlled by the situation and by the rhetor to a certain degree.  For instance, the website 1800flowers.com and cracked.com demonstrate the rhetorical situation of Valentine's day conventions such as cards, flowers, etc.  Both, however, send different messages.  The 1800flowers is trying to convince the viewers to send flowers to a loved one.  While the other site cracked.com provides examples of what not to do on Valentine's Day.  Although both rhetors of the website control what they say about Valentine's Day, social standards about the holiday have affected their arguments.  For instance, the 1800flowers.com is telling you to fulfill a social expectation by purchasing and sending flowers.  The cracked.com website is telling you what not to do because the examples given contradict social norms. 

     In order for these websites to be convincing, a rhetor needs to meet certain requirements.  They need to demonstrate integrity and be receptive to their audience's needs.  They need a comprehension of what the rhetorical situation is and how to align with the features of the situation.  Then the rhetors must manipulate these features in order to make a persuasive argument.