Samantha Harward

ENC 3416
Jeffery Naftzinger
13 July 2017

Perception

Rhetorical Goals
1. Bitzers rhetorical situation is defined by the three elements of: exigency, audience,
and constraints. When thinking of this construct in terms of my exhibit, the exigency
would be people need to learn the importance of perception. My audience would be
people who are confused by the concept of perspective, people researching
perspective, people interested in advertisements. My constraints would be people
being disinterested in the topic, literacy, hearing ability when it comes to the
video...etc.
2. The keyword I chose is perspective because Im fascinated with its importance.
After reading he article by Rose and her questioning of what is reality and what is not
I became intrigued with the idea of perspective, how it affects the different views of
reality, and how it can be manipulated. The artifacts that I chose to go along with the
over arching theme are: a video about the point of view of a schizophrenic person, an
old magazine advertisement for Smirnoff, and a painting from the Baroque period.
Apart, these items seem to have no common connection, however they all rely
heavily on perception. The Baroque art piece (Magdelene with the Smoking Flame),
based on ones perception, can mean many different things. For some, Magdelene is
just staring at a candle, others will perceive it differently and notice the skull and
think of Magdalene as questioning her mortality. The painting requires different
perceptions to be fully appreciated for its beauty. I chose the advertisement because
it manipulates its audiences perception. More specifically, the advertisement is for
alcohol and makes it seem as though Smirnoff is a drink for the wealthy and famous.
By manipulating the ad this way, it also manipulates the readers perception into
believing it. And the video, I chose because it not only focuses on the visual aspect
of perception but the auditory aspect a well.

Research and Citation

1. I utilized the FSU library website to find databases where I did extra research on my
word. From this research I learned about perceptions connection to peoples
emotions and how peoples brains, when it comes to perception, function similarly to
when people read books. For example, a person can read the emotions on someones
face as easily as they would read a book. I also learned that perception isnt just
about seeing, but its about hearing and really utilizing all of the senses. The
references are listed in the Works Cited at the end of the project.
Audience Interaction
1. My specific audience for the class is my classmates, but if I were to take the exhibit
outside of the school environment the audience would be art museum visitors, people
interested in learning more about perspective. I say art museum visitors because I
cant really think of anywhere else this exhibit might be shown. Since it has an
 interactive part to it as well as visual art pieces I believe that it would work well in an
art museum space.
2. The video is the main part of my exhibit that is suppose to keep the audience
interested because they can get their hands on it and look through it; however, I also
believe that the Baroque art piece and the old Smirnoff ad will also intrigue them
because they are in contrast to one another as well as just interesting to observe. The
audience knows how to engage with the exhibit because the video reaches out to them
and each artifact is physical so they can pick them up to examine them closer.
3. I want the audience to get a new understanding of what perspective really is. Its not
just what one person sees but its what everyone sees and hears, and how perception
plays a major factor in everyday occurrences that we as people dont really pay that
much attention to.

Design, Arrangement, and Materiality

1. My artifacts were arranged with the advertisement on the far left the video in the
center, and the art piece on the far right. Since the camera and the advertisement are
both visual aspects of perception, I figured I would break them apart by putting the
video in between since it deals with not only the visual aspect of perception but the
auditory part as well.
2. My arrangement was guided by genre because I wanted it to flow smoothly and I feel
like having all three artifacts lined up in the way I have them presented really
accomplished that.
3. Each artifact has a plaque to match with a description of what it is and its purpose
in the exhibit. The painting has an old timey font since its a painting from centuries
ago while the advertisement and the video have more modern fonts since they are
from current times.
4. I utilized video as a form of technology in the project and just plain paper for the
other two artifacts. However, for the advertisement and the painting I utilized
Microsoft to add the descriptions and to create a frame like border around the painting
to make it look like a framed work in a real art exhibit.
Personal Reflection
1. I learned a lot more than I expected to learn about perception. Before this project I
just thought perception was about what you see, but after doing some extra research
on the word I realized that it has to do with connecting the senses to emotion and also
relies heavily on auditory aspects too.
2. If I could redo this project, I might redo the exhibit appearance because I feel like I
couldve gotten a lot more creative with the design of it.
3. This project was similar to the traditional academic essay because it still requires a
written portion; however, it differs greatly because the written portion didnt have to
be a traditionally formatted essay and the overall project allowed for a more creative
take. I honestly prefer writing a traditional academic paper because it helps me
collect and articulate my thoughts better than creating an interactive, visual exhibit.
 A lot of work and effort goes into even the simplest of
ads. For example, this old magazine advertisement for
Smirnoff has many different elements to it but ultimately
says one thing...buy the alcohol. However, this message
can be perceived many different ways. Someone who is a
recovering alcoholic may see this ad and be offended by
the way that it glorifies alcohol. Someone single might
see the ad and think that if they buy the drink then they'll
attract more suitors. Someone who isn't that wealthy that
sees the ad might think that if they own Smirnoff it might
make them appear wealthier than they really
are. Advertisements are all about perception and the
manipulation of perception. I chose this specific ad
because it exemplifies advertisers' ability to manipulate
their audience's perception. Perception of ads is
ultimately what makes or breaks corporations. Companies
can spend years configuring advertisements to reach out to
specific groups of people and how well they do is based
on the way the audience perceives them.

The Magdalene and the Smoking Flame is an excellent

example of perspective not just because of the stylistic
choices the artist made to create it, but for what the viewer
sees in it. The Artist, Georges de La Tour, kept perception
in mind when working with the shadows and brightness
coming from the single flame in the piece. But,
perception is also very important when it comes to the
viewer. Some viewers will see this painting and think its
just some sad woman at a desk; however, others will
notice the skull in her lap and perceive it as a woman
contemplating her mortality, or theyll notice her bloated
stomach and think about whether or not shes pregnant
how that effects the overall mood of the painting. There
are so many different interpretations of a single painting
based on what different people perceive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWYwckFrksg

This is the link to the Youtube video that I incorporated in my exhibit. Its a video showing a
day in the life through a schizophrenics point of view. I chose this specific video to add in my
exhibit because it adds a unique view of perception. It literally shows that perception is different
for everyone, even if this case it might be through a person with a mental disabilitys perspective.
It also adds an auditory component to the idea of perception which neither of the other artifacts
had. The auditory component changes perception from not just being what you see but what you
hear as well and what you hear can influence you perception of what you see.
 Works Cited

Barrett, Lisa Feldman, et al. Context in Emotion Perception. Current Directions in

Psychological Science, vol. 20, no. 5, 2011, pp. 286290. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/23045740.

Fischer, Jason, and David Whitney. "Serial dependence in visual perception." Nature
Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 5, 2014, p. 738+. Health Reference Center Academic,
login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=HRCA&sw=w&u=t
all85761&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA367967234&sid=summon&asid=2aaf042acfaf9a
ed90e393a953c373d4. Accessed 12 July 2017.