Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

A Picture's Worth A Reputation: Visual And Environmental Arguments In Abandoned Disney Park Photographs, Allegra Hardin

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This rhetorical criticism analyzes photographs of the Walt Disney Company's abandoned parks, River Country and Discovery Island, taken by Seph Lawless and Shane Perez respectively. Using Foss's (2004) rhetorical focus area of nature, a sample of photographs from Lawless (2016) and Perez's (2009) blogs is analyzed to identify the visual and environmental arguments within the photographs. Noting how these images and the parks themselves are shrouded in obscurity, this essay maintains that the visual and environmental arguments present within the photographs directly challenge the Walt Disney Company's image and calls into question the company's environmental stewardship. This essay contributes to …