Introduction
Messages organize feeling as a way of guiding attention, judgment, and action.
Emotion is not separate from meaning. Fear, hope, anger, pride, nostalgia, grief, humor, love, and awe shape what people notice and how they evaluate a message.
Artifacts activate emotion through imagery, music, pacing, stories, language, memory, repetition, and identification. These feelings can encourage empathy and solidarity, but they can also be used to simplify complex issues or manipulate audiences.
Emotional analysis asks what feelings are invited, whose feelings matter, and what actions become more likely once those feelings are activated.