Actions speak louder than words. John Bolter argued visual rhetoric has a powerful, if slightly more profound impact on human communication than a written document or spoken language. He says “Because pictures or moving pictures are popularly believed to have natural correspondence to what they depict, they can satisfy more effectively than prose the wish to cut through to a ‘natural’ representation that is not a representation at all.”
The 1993 Branch Davidian standoff near Waco Texas was a watershed moment in American history. The consequences, and actions of all the participants brought about the disastrous end that Waco ending up being and forever changed the nature of law enforcement actions in managing crisis situations. Of the many outcomes from Waco is that it showed how our rhetorical choices can have significant impact on our lives and everyday actions.
The Branch Davidians and law enforcement officials at Waco made visual, spoken, and written rhetorical choices to affect the ultimate outcome. Using the standoff as a case study, I will demonstrate how this transpired and how a communication approach that privileges one form of rhetorical communication over another can potentially produce disastrous ends. The lessons from Waco demonstrate how all forms of rhetorical discourse working in unison can enact the types of positive change needed in an ever-polarized world.
About the presenterAndrew T. Flinn
Andrew Flinn is a Master of Writing and Rhetoric student at the University of Findlay in Findlay Ohio. In addition to his academic career, Flinn has spent almost twenty years working in media as a journalist, on-air personality and production manager in local, regional and national radio.