Analyzing Visual Arguments

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Analyzing Visual Arguments

• Visual arguments use images to engage viewers and
  persuade them to accept a particular idea or
  point of view.
• Advertisements are only one type of visual
  argument.
• Any argument, visual or verbal, contains 3 main
  elements
• Claims
• Evidence
• Assumptions

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Verbal Claims vs. Contextual Claims

• A sign or wording in a photograph makes a claim.
• However, the claim made by the photograph itself
  may be more complex.
• Thus, you need to consider a visual claim in
  context.
• Think critically about the image and the claims
  it may be making.
• Image claims often require interpretation and
  analysis.
• And those interpretations and analyses are often
  subjective.

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Testing Claims

• Claims are declarative statements that are either
  true or false, but not both.
• An argument is a series of claims one of which is
  the conclusion or proposition you are using as
  the main thrust of your argument.
• In written argument, the proposition is usually
  stated explicitly as a thesis statement or
  research hypothesis.
• However, in visual arguments, the central claim
  and subclaims are often implicit.

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Weighing Evidence

• Visual arguments use several types of evidence to
  support their claims.
• Again, the evidence may be implicit or explicit.
• They may use facts, examples, expert opinions,
  and appeals to beliefs or needs to support their
  claim/s.

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Analyzing Visual Arguments

• How does the design of the visual enhance or
  hinder the argument?
• What emotional appeals does the argument elicit,
  and how?
• What ethical appeals make the visual argument
  credible? Does it call on any authorities or
  symbols to establish character or credibility?
• How does the visual argument make logical
  appeals? Do words and images work together to
  create a logical cause-effect relationship? How
  are any examples used?
• What claim/s does the visual argument make?
• What reasons are attached to the claim, and how
  well are they supported by evidence?
• What assumptions/s underlie the claim and the
  reasons?

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Visual analysis is ego-driven. The analysis
reveals the person making the analysisnot really
the photo itself. You analysis is your own
reaction to the photo.

• What people and/or objects are show?
• How are they arranged?
• What is the physical setting?
• What other details can you see?
• Whats going on in the photo?
• Who are the people and what are they doing?
• What might be the function of the surroundings?

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Remember

• Always evaluate visual evidence critically.
• Analyze the visual argument carefully, and ask
  yourself if the evidence is both accurate and
  adequate.
• Visual information can be distorted or
  manipulated just as words can.
• Make sure the visual evidence is fair, precise,
  and credible before using it as a basis for
  argumentation.

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• There are strategies of visual rhetoric that you
  can employ in academic, professional, and civic
  settings.
• Visual literacy is essential to becoming a savvy
  consumer, and cultural critic.
• Various camera techniques, including distance
  from subject, orientation to image, eye gaze, and
  point of view influence the effects the image
  will have upon the viewer.
• The settings, furnishings, and props in an image
  carry significant social meanings, and often
  create stories that carry both obvious and subtle
  messages.
• Advertisers target specific audiences and then
  use a variety of strategies, many of them,
  visual, to move the hearts and minds of their
  target audience.