Using rhetoric images to record story(ies): discourses on Covid-19-related deaths in Brazil

Abstract

This article reflects on the role of images in rhetorical techniques. The theme will be Covid-19-related deaths in Brazil. To this end, two covers from Brazilian newspapers namely, O Globo, from Rio de Janeiro, and Folha de São Paulo, from São Paulo, compose the corpus. More specifically, the covers were published in the editions issued after the country registered over 100,000 and 200,000 Covid-19-related deaths. The objective is to show the argumentative role of metonymy and repetition in the corpus texts. The images presented in the study were relevant to the two cover compositions. O Globo used photos of several people who died from the disease. Folha de São Paulo reproduced shoes that had been worn by some of the victims. The analysis is based on theoretical assumptions about rhetorical images by rhetoric and new rhetoric scholars.