Visual rhetoric is when we look at what is being said to visually and the message that is being sent through the visual representations. There is context in the observations we can make from the visual rhetoric offered and these observations inform us of things. There are five factors to visual rhetoric and those are syntax, pragmatism, codes, composition, and the gaze. The syntax is when you ask the question what is being said visually. Pragmatism is when you ask what the message that is being conveyed is. Codes are referring to the visual codes and what meanings we get from those codes. The composition is what is in the frame or the picture that is being seen. The gaze is asking the question what is the I being drawn to and who is the audience that is being targeted.

The specific thing that I’m wanting to look at with this method is how Zuko is portrayed throughout the series that reflects his character development. When we are first introduced to Zuko we see a meticulously manicured individual that is bent on one thing. In the way he carries himself and dresses there is not a thing out of place and everything seems to be in order. He is most often in his uniform and his top knot is clean. This is the Zuko that is an outcast but is allowed to remain within the Fire Nation in order to regain his honor.

The next frame in the above picture shows us Zuko that is completely an outcast from the Fire Nation. The way he carries himself now is a little more unkempt and we see that in his clothes being more casual and less formal and he no longer has his top knot. He has been stripped of order and we can see that represented in his appearance. He is not depicted as the manicured Prince of the Fire Nation that he was when we first met him.

The third frame we see him starting on his path to Redemption. Facial features are more relaxed and we begin to see him smile more. His hair is unruly and while he travels with the avatar his clothes seem a little more worn and ragged at times but nothing that would signify nobility or status. He has been able to move past his own Darkness and be at peace with it.

At the end we see the Zuko that is restored. This is Zuko has restored his honor and his status and we see an element of order come back to his appearance. It is not on the same level as when we first saw him because even in the depiction above he still has some hair that is out of line and I feel that is a visual representation of him being at peace with disorder and not trying to control everything as he was when we first met him. He is letting things be as they are instead of how he would have them. Is cleaned up more but he is not becoming overly critical about them which is something he would have done when we first met him because he was all about taking control and being the one to make things happen.

Throughout this development over the series we have seen Zuko go from the manicured Exiled Prince to the Exile of the Fire Nation. We see this in the absence of the order that was once in his appearance. The scene in which he cuts off his top knot and acknowledges his exile or when we can begin to see the change in appearance that represents and helps illustrate where he is at. The less order that we see in his appearance shows us how little control he has and that he is coming to terms with that. Once he begins to learn to be content and not try to control everything we see signs of restoration in his appearance. His hair is no longer unkempt but just shaggy. And then once he makes his way back to being fully restored we see his hair is manicured and cleaned up but not obsessively so. Even the clothes he wears becomes more loose-fitting and flowing and I feel this is a visual representation of how when we first met him and everything was rigid and strict so were his clothes because he was very uptight but as he moved past that his clothes became less restrictive. These elements that I have brought into light about Zuko and his appearance throughout the series are examples of how visual rhetoric is used to convey messages through observation and visual means.