Why are comics and poems alike 7: closure p2

So, I was talking about Gestalt and had poorly defined it to derail the train of thought with a “to be continued”. Let’s pick it up there. At the definition.

gestalt /ɡəˈʃtɑːlt, ɡəˈʃtalt/

I.       noun

II.     [Psychology] an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts.

derivatives

1. gestaltism

noun

2. gestaltist

noun

– origin 1920s: from German Gestalt , literally ‘form, shape’.

gestalt psychology

noun — [ mass noun ]

1. a movement in psychology founded in Germany in 1912, seeking to explain perceptions in terms of gestalts rather than by analysing their constituents.

Or, easier: if you take a look at a circle missing a little bit of the whole perimeter line, your brain will do the rest and you will perceive the shape as a full circle. Whether there is no circle.

The idea is quite useful when teaching languages. You practice with the same exercise making variations of it. In a map, we locate Francia and state franceses live in Francia (yes, kind of obvious but we’re talking a different language here). Next time, you ask where franceses live. And for the exam you ask whether or not franceses live in la India. Yes, French and other people can certainly move to live in India but you’re smart and perceive the purpose of the repetition and the missing information. Sooner or later, the brain does the job.

In design, as well as in comics —taking them as an extension of visual communication; it is very similar. Which is what takes us to rhetoric.

RHETORICAL

rhetoric /ˈrɛtərɪk/

I. noun — [ mass noun ]

1. the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

• he is using a common figure of rhetoric, hyperbole.

2. language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect, but which is often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content

• all we have from the Opposition is empty rhetoric.

– origin Middle English: from Old French rethorique , via Latin from Greek rhētorikē

(tekhnē) ‘(art) of rhetoric’, from rhētōr ‘rhetor’.

rhetorical /rɪˈtɒrɪk(ə)l/

I. adjective

1. relating to or concerned with the art of rhetoric

• repetition is a common rhetorical device.

2. expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress

• the rhetorical commitment of the government to give priority to primary education.

And rhetoric in poetry 00 begins with the woman in white who comes up and goes in an instant. Naked (yes, the poet was male but why to exclude women who like women?). She is the image of poetry the author could come up with to explain his love and disdain and fascination. Metaphor is the thing or the being who understands what’s going on inside a writer’s brain to be able to make a thing to pass by as something completely different yet similar to the thing being described.

Oh dulce flor que duermes al amor¹

Oh sweet bloom, you who lulls love

In this one, the loved one is like a flower. Either because they’re beautiful or because they’re fragile. Around now you must be grinning because you already know what a metaphor is. However, metaphors require symbolic substitutes that can be as personal as toothbrushes and it is not the only rhetorical figure out there. 

TO BE CONTINUED

1. Am I inventing or remembering? No idea. Anyone recognizing the verse, tell me. I’ll credit the source. ↩︎