Visual Rhetoric

This image depicts two students preparing for the gaokao, the Chinese college entrance exam. Above both of their heads, there is a banner saying the gaokao is 56 days away. One student, the one with the red hair, is stressed because he needs to cram all the information he learned in the past into his head in so sssslittle time, whereas the other student, the one with the glasses, is calmly studying for the test. Also, the stressed student is saying he cannot handle all the stress to study for the big college exam anymore.

The picture shows the rhetorical strategy of pathos. Pathos is the quality or power in any form of expression evoking emotions and feeling for it and it is evident in this image. For instance, it appears as if that the student on the left is very stressed out because one can see that he is sweating, frowning, and looks as if he is going through a nervous breakdown because of his power studying for the test. Many can relate to this picture because we all know that at a time of lots of pressure, we give in and cannot take the stress anymore. For this student, if he breaks down, he would not be able to study for the test, which is a short 56 days away, and not do so well.

Another rhetorical strategy this image shows is ethos. Ethos is the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as seen in its beliefs and aspirations. This image shows ethos because it shows two students studying for the gaokao and reaching for their goals in life, just like how the Chinese culture supports higher education and treat gaokao as an important event in one’s life.

This image supports my opinion that the gaokao puts too much psychological pressure on the students and their family, especially for the fact that one single test decides one’s fate. It should be reformed to make it a consistent evaluation for the quality of the students.

This picture shows an excited college student who is holding a city hukou book. He probably, like many other students from the countryside, earned the hukou from performing well on the gaokao by getting into a college in a big city. Since he did well on the gaokao, his destiny was changed. With a city hukou the student would get better opportunities to get a job and enjoy some privileges. At the end they tend to be more successful than a person without a city hukou.

The picture shows the rhetorical strategy of mythos. Mythos is the interrelated set of beliefs, attitudes, and values held by a society or cultural group, which in this case is the Chinese. University education in China is bound to hukou, a residential permit, a system to bind a person to the land he or she is born to and do not allow people to relocate easily. This is because many Chinese believe that taking the gaokao is an important event that happens in one’s life and doing well on it will lead the student into a successful life, like what happened to the student pictured in the image.

Another rhetorical strategy that is shown in this picture is ethos. Like the first picture, this image shows ethos because it shows a farmer student with humble beginnings, climbing up the social ladder because of gaining a city hukou. With that, it would be easier for him to get a job and make a better life for himself. Just like before, the gaokao has changed this person’s fate.

This image does not support my opinion about the disadvantage side of gaokao because I argue that the test is too stressful and needed to become fairer whereas this shows a pro. In his case, the test changed his fate for the better.

Work Cited:

Blogosfere. Gaokao (n.d) http://arteesalute.blogosfere.it/2008/06/ansia-da-esame-in-cina-il-gaokao-e-un-dramma-nazionale.html.  Retrieved 4/25/11 from Google Images.

Chinasmack. Farmer-student-registration-3 (August, 2010). http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/stories/rural-college-students-household-registration-dilemma.html. Retrieved 4/25/11 from Google Images.