The Psychology of
Rhetorical Images
“How exactly do
images persuade? In
other words, how do
representational
images work to
influence the beliefs,
attitudes, opinions—
and sometimes
actions—of those who
view them?” (25)
Kevin Carter’s 1994 Pulitzer Prize
Winning Photo
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Cultural Studies
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Cultural Studies
Conventional Wisdom
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Cultural Studies
 “scholars analyze the way
in which culturally shared
values and assumptions are
utilized in persuasive
communication”(26)
 “how these shared values
and assumptions influence
viewers’ responses to massproduced images”(26)
Conventional Wisdom
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Cultural Studies
Conventional Wisdom
 “scholars analyze the way
in which culturally shared
values and assumptions are
utilized in persuasive
communication”(26)
 “representational images
tend to prompt emotional
reactions and that, once the
viewer’s emotions are
excited, they tend to
override his or her rational
faculties. . .”(26)
 “how these shared values
and assumptions influence
viewers’ responses to massproduced images”(26)
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Psychology
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Psychology
 “Psychological research
suggests that this
conventional explanation of
the rhetorical power of
images is broadly accurate
in outline, although
inadequate for explaining
how persuasive images
work”(26)
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Psychology
 “Psychological research
suggests that this
conventional explanation of
the rhetorical power of
images is broadly accurate
in outline, although
inadequate for explaining
how persuasive images
work”(26)
What Hill’s Up To
Approaches to Understanding How
Visual Appeals Operate
Psychology
What Hill’s Up To
 “Psychological research
suggests that this
conventional explanation of
the rhetorical power of
images is broadly accurate
in outline, although
inadequate for explaining
how persuasive images
work”(26)
 “Ultimately, a
comprehensive theory of
visual persuasion will need
to incorporate insights
gathered from a variety of
viewpoints and
methodologies, including
cultural, psychological, and
textual studies. . .”(26)
“However, many rhetorical
concepts already exist that
were not developed
exclusively for the study of
verbal elements, and it makes
sense to begin a study of
rhetorical images by mining
these concepts to see what
insights they may offer that
could be applied to such
images” (27).
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
 “Presence”
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
 “refers to the extent to
which an object or
concept is foremost in
the consciousness of the
audience members . . .
elements with enhanced
presence will have a
greater influence over the
audience’s attitudes and
beliefs”(28)
 “Presence”
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
 “an object or person is
more present to us when
we can see it directly”
(29)
 “Presence”
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
 “an object or person is
more present to us when
we can see it directly”
(29)
Consider the difference
rhetorically between this and
this. Both these artifacts are
“about” the same subject.
Which has more impact?
Why?
Images and Rhetorical
Presence
 “an object or person is
more present to us when we
can see it directly” (29)
 “The phenomenon of
presence in inherently
linked to visual
perception”(29)
 “a photograph is an
“index”—it proves the
existence of an object (29)
Consider the difference
rhetorically between this and
this. Both these artifacts are
“about” the same subject.
Which has more impact?
Why?
The Psychology of
Rhetorical Images
“vividness”
The Psychology of
Rhetorical Images
“vividness”
 “vivid information is
identified as information
that is emotionally
interesting and concrete”
(31)
 “the more vivid the
information, the more
likely it is that the
information will prompt an
emotional response from
the receiver”(31)
The Psychology of
Rhetorical Images
“vividness”
BUT…
 “although many studies
have shown vivid
evidence to be more
persuasive than non-vivid
information, several
other studies found no
persuasive advantage for
vividness” (32).
Vivid Information and
Emotions
 Evolutionary responses
 Cultural forces
Vivid Information and
Emotions
 Evolutionary responses
 Cultural forces
 “In many persuasive
appeals that use images, the
images elicit emotions
largely because these
images instantiate one of
these [cultural values], and
evoking one of these
cultural constructs causes
the emotions that are linked
to it to be instantiated”(35)
Building Connections
What Scholars Agree On:
 Persuasive elements that
evoke strong emotions in the
audience tend to have an
extraordinary amount of
persuasive power
 This phenomenon is
connected to visual
perception; the production of
mental images is more likely
to have more persuasive
weight (35-36)
Advertising
“a visceral response to a stimulus” not a “conscious decision”(37)
The Rhetoric of Visual
Arguments
“I take it as part of my task, then, to
address the relationship among these three:
rhetoric, argument, and the visual. How can
there be visual arguments when arguments
as we usually know them are verbal? And if
there can be visual arguments, what is their
rhetorical aspect?. . .What does being visual
add to arguments?”(41)
The Rhetoric of Visual
Arguments
The enthymeme: “an
argument in which the
arguer deliberately leaves
unstated a premise that is
essential to its reasoning.
Doing so has the effect of
drawing in the audience to
participate in its own
persuasion by filling in that
unexpressed premise.”(41)
Logic Lesson!
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
Enthymeme
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Enthymeme
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Fluffy is a cat.(minor premise)
Enthymeme
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Fluffy is a cat.(minor premise)
Therefore, fluffy is a mammal.
(conclusion)
Enthymeme
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Fluffy is a cat.(minor premise)
Therefore, fluffy is a mammal.
(conclusion)
Enthymeme
Some politicians are corrupt.
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Fluffy is a cat.(minor premise)
Therefore, fluffy is a mammal.
(conclusion)
Enthymeme
Some politicians are corrupt.
Therefore, Senator Jones could
be corrupt.
Logic Lesson!
Syllogism
All cats are mammals. (major
premise)
Fluffy is a cat.(minor premise)
Enthymeme
Some politicians are corrupt.
Therefore, Senator Jones could
be corrupt.
Therefore, fluffy is a mammal.
(conclusion)
Edward P. J. Corbett described the difference between syllogism and
enthymeme this way: "[T]he syllogism leads to a necessary conclusion from
universally true premises but the enthymeme leads to a tentative conclusion
from probable premises. In dealing contingent human affairs, we cannot
always discover or confirm what truth is."
Defining Rhetoric
Defining Rhetoric
 Olivier Reboul: “Here,
then, is the definition we
propose: rhetoric is the
art of persuading by
means of speech.”(42)
Defining Rhetoric
 Olivier Reboul: “Here,
then, is the definition we
propose: rhetoric is the
art of persuading by
means of speech.”(42)
 Sonja Foss, Karen Foss
and Robert Trapp:
rhetoric is “the uniquely
human ability to use
symbols to communicate
with one another” –
including visual rhetoric
(42)
Persuasion
 For Reboul: “rhetorical
persuasion consists in
causing someone to
believe by means of
speech” (42)
 For Blair: “What seems
to be a necessary
ingredient in persuasion
as a kind of cause of
behavior change is that
the person persuaded
assents to the pressure
of the vector of
influence” (43).
Persuasion
 For Reboul: “rhetorical
persuasion consists in
causing someone to believe
by means of speech” (42)
 For Blair: “What seems to
be a necessary ingredient in
persuasion as a kind of
cause of behavior change is
that the person persuaded
assents to the pressure of
the vector of influence”
(43).
 The person consciously
assents
Against Arguments Being
Visual
 The Vagueness Objection
 Answer: vagueness
inhabits both spoken and
written arguments (46)
Against Arguments Being
Visual
 Visual Communication
does not have truth
values and so cannot
convey propositions (47)
 Answer #1: Propositions
are essential; it is possible
to express propositions
visually (47)
 Answer #2: Arguments
are used for primary
purposes other than to
cause belief change (ie.
changing attitudes,
behavior) (48)
The “Daisy” ad

“. . .visual arguments
constitute the species of visual
persuasion in which the visual
elements overlie, accentuate,
render vivid and immediate,
and otherwise elevate in
forcefulness a reason or set of
reasons offered for modifying a
belief, an attitude or one’s
conduct. What distinguishes
visual arguments from other
forms of visual persuasion is
that in the case of the former it is
possible to enunciate reasons given
to support a claim, whereas in the
case of the latter no such element
is present.”(50-51)
Genres of Visual Argument
Genres of Visual Argument
 Cartoons
Genres of Visual Argument
 Cartoons
 Film
Genres of Visual Argument
 Cartoons
 Film
 Ads
Genres of Visual Argument
 Cartoons
 Film
 Ads
 Anything else?
Conclusions
 “Argument, in the traditional sense, can readily be
visual” (59)
Conclusions
 “Argument, in the traditional sense, can readily be
visual” (59)
 The visual has an “immediacy” the helps influence
acceptance that isn’t available to the verbal
Conclusions
 “Argument, in the traditional sense, can readily be
visual” (59)
 The visual has an “immediacy” the helps influence
acceptance that isn’t available to the verbal
 Visual argument tends to be one-sided, “presenting the
case both for or the case against, but not both
together”(59).
Conclusions
 “Argument, in the traditional sense, can readily be visual”
(59)
 The visual has an “immediacy” the helps influence
acceptance that isn’t available to the verbal
 Visual argument tends to be one-sided, “presenting the case
both for or the case against, but not both together”(59).
 When communicating visually, we need “to attend
particularly to the situation of the audience” (59).