Visual ArgumentPractice

Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont proprietor of ice-cream activism, has produced in the UK a limited-edition batch of apple pie-flavored pints—called "Apple-y Ever After"—to demonstrate its support for…• What is the implied

argument/claim made through this ice cream carton?

• What kind of argument is it?

• How do visual elements support the argument/ claim?

http://www.benjerry.co.uk/our-values/appleyeverafter

Context: The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million people were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million. Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery, as the disaster occurred during the Great Depression and a few years after the Dust Bowl.

Artist: Margaret Bourke-White, 1937: “At the Time of the Louisville Flood”

NOTE: The foreground features subjects in a bread line.

• Consider what inherent claims are being made about social status, race, disaster relief. Also, note how visual elements (and rhetorical ones) help to emphasize the photographer’s implied claims.

Context: The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million people were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million. Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery, as the disaster occurred during the Great Depression and a few years after the Dust Bowl.

Artist: Margaret Bourke-White, 1937: “At the Time of the Louisville Flood”

Considerations:• Did you discuss the billboard?• Did you discuss the line of people?• Did you discuss race?• Did you talk about artist’s tone toward

America’s response to disaster relief?• Did you talk about the artist’s tone toward

the racial divide in America?• Did you articulate juxtaposition?