Abstract:
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between visual and
verbal codes of visual rhetoric in a sequential art setting. The literature
investigation component of the study covered: (1) the notion of visual literacy;
(2) the principles of visual rhetoric, and (3) trends in sequential art. The
empirical component of the study involved the production of sequential art
test material with an accompanying questionnaire in order to measure the
comprehension of visual rhetoric in a sample of 197 undergraduate students
at the Vaal University of Technology. The working hypotheses that guided
the study were, firstly, that the comprehension of the visual code of the visual
rhetoric used in a sequential art setting differs between (a) study participants
that received visual training prior to the data collection and (b) study
participants that received no visual training prior to the data collection, and secondly, that the comprehension of the visual code of the visual rhetoric
used in a sequential art setting differs between (a) study participants that
received test material in their home language and (b) study participants that
did not receive the test material in their home language. Following a one-way
ANOVA analysis of the questionnaire data, the first hypothesis indicated a
significant statistical difference (p=O.OO) and was not rejected. The second
hypothesis indicated no significant statistical difference (p=0.138) and was
rejected. Based on the result obtained, possibilities for further research were motivated.
