From visual rhetoric to multimodal argumentation: exploring the rhetorical and argumentative relevance of multimodal figures on the covers of The Economist

Visual rhetoric is more often than not identified with the search for patterns of visual form and content which convey meaning in ways that resemble construed by known rhetorical figures. Despite numerous proposals classification figures verbally or visually, there has been no systematic attempt to account different these may contribute argumentative structure persuasive messages. In this article, author studies comparatively metaphor, antithesis allusion, cued visually verbo–visually multimodal genre front covers. He starts from assumption cover constitutes a argument sense it invites reader buy specific issue on grounds featured story stance editors express over it. The goal identify semiotic configurations distinguish one figure other, establish conditions under can be shown serves conveyed cover.