Deriving from the Latin term, “occupare”, “occupy” is the action of seizing or taking control of. In the past, the word has commonly been associated with images of a military annexation of a foreign land and martial law. However, how can we define the word on a more figurative and literary standpoint? Most recently, the word, “occupy” has emerged in social media and political interest campaigns, most notably, the Occupy Wall Street campaign, a progressive protest movement set on identifying and speaking out against the financial inequalities and political corruption imposed by the nation’s wealthiest one percent. The “Occupy” idea also spawned a different movement in the world of space and astral exploration. As if imitating the other, the Occupy Mars campaign was initiated soon after, gaining support in the fact that mankind’s future lies in the depths of the unknown. How did these movements gain so much force and momentum so quickly? How do the rhetorical elements within the slogan and imagery garner both dissent and support from the masses? How did timing and the element of kairos play a role in the scope of its influence? And most importantly, what parallels are there between the “Occupy Mars” and “Occupy Wallstreet” (from now on referred to as the “Mars” and “Wallstreet” campaigns, respectively) campaigns. How do they both relate to and differ from each other? We will be addressing how the works use imagery in tandem with diction to address their claims, investigating the element of kairos in each specific work along with their humanitarian commonplaces and deciding whether or not they were effective in conveying their message.
In many ways, imagery and diction go hand in hand with each other. Both are literary elements that use feeling to infer meaning. Imagery utilizes visuals such as shape, texture, and color while diction applies the same attributes in a phonetic concept. Upon investigating the two artifacts in terms of imagery and diction, one can see that both share very strong similarities. First, let us examine the works and their use of imagery. The “Wallstreet” campaign employs just a single image of a clenched fist. The meaning of the fist is unquestionable as it is commonly seen associated with campaigns of freedom, unity, advocacy, and anarchy. A prime example of this can be seen in the visuals spawned by the “Black Lives Matter Movement”.
The movement advocates ending injustices done upon black-Americans in the wake of racially-based shootings. In this specific case, the fist represents the sense of unity that the black-American community feels and their demand for political reforms. In addition, the fist also symbolizes the strength and use of force for black-Americans to defend themselves from unjustified violence. When looking back at our “Wallstreet” campaign, it is clear that the symbol of the clenched fist is used in a similar fashion. In this context, the clenched fist also represents unity and desire for freedom the financial “99%” have. It also symbolizes the strength and grit the group has to fight the financial inequality and oppression from large businesses and corporations. In essence, the clenched fist is a visual symbol that effectively uses the logos pathetic appeal. This is especially the case with people of American culture and heritage due to idolized “pedestal” we have put the idea of “rebellion” on. The “Mars” campaign uses imagery as well. Similarly, it emphasizes the amount of power a single image is able to convey as the artifact includes the sole image of the planet, Mars. However, to an audience, the planet Mars doesn’t describe power or unity the same way the clenched fist does. Instead, it represents a sense of mystery about the universe and promotes the idea of “discovery”. Over 50 years ago, mankind was able to reach the moon. Since then, scores of ideas and theories about “terraforming” new planets to make them inhabitable have inspired people to go farther and work harder in order to be able to do so. So in addition to the desire of fighting for oneself, humans have an inherent desire to discover and explore. The image of Mars, a proverbial “new campaign”, also appeals to the idea of logos in people, with “discovery” being the focus instead of “fighting”. Though images are used in different ways, both artifacts are able to use a sense of inspiration (freedom and discovery) to appeal to their audience.
Understanding the use of wording, or diction is also necessary to be able to fully grasp the concept of the pieces. Not unlike imagery, diction is also a literary and rhetorical element that initiates thought in its audience. However, unlike imagery, diction applies the use of phonetic sound over visuals and texture. It is with the element of diction that we can truly spot the similarities in the civic artifacts and arrive at one of the main ideas of this analysis. As seen in the “Wallstreet” campaign, the word “Occupy” is the first word in the artifact, and arguably, the most important one as well. The word sends an urgent tone and a “call to action” per se. It is also worth noting that in the specific case of the “Wallstreet” campaign logo, the word is bolded red. Keep this in mind as it will be important later. The “Mars” campaign follows a similar pattern with diction. It starts the artifact image with the word, “Occupy”, also sending an urgent tone. However, in the context of the following word, “Mars”, it also sends an idea of necessity as Earth will not be habitable forever and in order to protect the well-being of our future generations, immediate action is needed. Additionally, “Occupy” is bolded white. Upon first glance, the color of wording may not necessarily seem important. Many may view it simply as an unthoughtful part of the design. However, one can seriously argue that the specific color choices the artists and authors had when creating these works weren’t for no reason. Both works bold the word “Occupy” in a color that drastically contrasts with each respective background. For instance, in the “Wallstreet” campaign, the word is colored as bright red, setting an immediate distinction from the white background. Red is also commonly associated with energy and power, two asymmetrical ideas that are synonymous to this movement. Upon looking at the “Mars” campaign, “Occupy” is bolded in white to contrast its gray (or sometimes black) background. This change in color both serves to call an audience to action as well as symbolizes light, an object that can be viewed as astral.
Next, it is worth noting the elements of kairos both works employed. In other words, how did the timing of each artifacts’ release benefit or take away from their essential meaning? The “Wallstreet campaign logo was released a week after the onset of the “Occupy Wallstreet” campaign in September of 2011. In that campaign, everyday people had to protest to make sure that their voices could be fairly heard in the wake of political corruption influenced specifically by the American wealth and financial districts. As the logo was released roughly a week and a half after the initiation of the campaign, the artifact successfully uses kairos to help rally people to the cause at its inception to maximize the payoffs. The “Occupy Mars” campaign logo was created just a week after the former, emerging in the media from an anonymous source. Though space travel had always been an American interest, this was years before Space X’s dedicated push to space and years before the company even adopted the words as their own. With that being the case, one can argue that the element of kairos actually works against the interest of the “Occupy Mars” campaign. Its release at an awkward time presents two negatives. One, in a way, it disjoins the campaign slogan with the Space X company. Two, it infers that the “Occupy Mars” slogan was created as a parody or spoof of the more pressing “Occupy Wallstreet” slogan at the time.
To conclude, the “Wallstreet” and “Mars” campaign’s cross-reference each other’s rhetorical devices and take a lot of influence from one another. Take for example the use of single imagery and select wording as well as the coloration used in those words. The imagery of the clenched fist and planet mars creates ideas of power and rebellion as well as exploration and wonder. The choice to use “Occupy” as a leading word creates that sense of urgency and duty that was heavily discussed in this work. Even the bolding to set contrast with the background serves its purpose in rhetoric and convincing the masses. However, their biggest differences come into play in the use of kairos in each work. As we can see, the timing of release to the public makes the “Wallstreet” and “Mars” campaign strong and weak, respectively. Both artifacts work to enact a sense of duty and urgency in their audience and both do so by carefully articulating their visual and phonetic devices. The effectiveness of their timing (or ineffectiveness) is what separates them. It is valuable to note that through this process, though how a civic artifact appears and sounds is of the utmost importance to how people feel about them, the way and timing of which they are released, ultimately, allows an audience to pass final judgment.