ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ON ONLINE MALAYSIAN ENVIRONMENTAL POSTERS

• Main Author: FUN, Ryan Weng Yew
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2020
• Subjects: PN Literature (General)
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/34757/1/ENVIRONMENTAL%20COMMUNICATION%20A%20RHETORICAL.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/34757/3/Ryan%20Fun%20Weng%20Yew%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/34757/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Environmental communication aims to educate the public about the severe consequences of the environment due to pollution and could be carried out in many ways. One of the common forms of communication is through posters and thus requires strong persuasion on the public to take necessary measures. This study investigates the rhetorical appeals in online Malaysian environmental posters. The objectives were to: (1) analyse visual designs of the posters, (2) find out the usage of the rhetorical appeals in the posters, (3) find out if an appeal is used with a visual design, and (4) compare the posters by government and non-government organizations. This study adapted the Multimodality Theory of Kress and Van Leeuwen to analyse the visual designs, while the Aristotle’s Rhetoric Appeals were used to analyse the texts. The study showed that posters appear mostly in a conceptual design with a positive portrayal, though a narrative design with a negative portrayal is more persuasive. Next, pathos was used abundantly in the posters with logos the least, as it is the most persuasive form of appeal. In terms of the relationship between the visual designs and the appeals, results show no difference in the approach, as pathos was used the most in both designs. Lastly, ethos marks the only difference between government and non-government posters as the need to exert authority.