Blog #4

Blog #4

What is Birdsell and Groarke’s purpose? Are there any terms you think could be added to immediate verbal context, immediate visual context, and visual culture?

In Toward a Theory of Visual Argument, Birdsell and Groarke’s purpose is to inform the reader about prejudices dealing with the falsehoods of visual arguments. One such prejudice “encourages the view that visual images are less precise than words, especially the written word.” (1-2). Birdsell and Groarke believe that this theory is false and that visual and verbal aspects of the argument have to be taken into account. Birdsell and Groarke felt that the visual and verbal arguments are poignant for conveying the correct message to the audience. They are adamantly opposed to those who feel that “…the visual is radically indeterminate and cannot, therefore, sustain an argument.” (3).

According to Toward a Theory of Visual Argument, there are three kinds of context that are important when evaluating a visual argument and they are immediate verbal context, immediate visual context, and visual culture. Immediate visual context is very significant when dealing with a film because “…it incorporates a progression of images which allows us to recognize a single frame as part of an overarching argument.” (6). These visual context clues allow the viewer to figure out what is happening in a story without being told. By looking at the environment in which a scene takes place and the way the character is presented, one could make many accurate assumptions about events that occur in the film. Immediate verbal context goes hand-in-hand with visuals to amplify and make an argument more specific. An example of this is an advertisement that deals with smoking’s harmfulness. The ad states “that we are dealing with something which is addictive and harmful while the visual images establishes that the topic is smoking.” (6). Visual culture is different from the other two forms of context because it influences the making of visual meaning indirectly. Visual culture is not one specific thing because it depends on new inventions, technologies, art forms and sciences in order to mold a certain way. One word that could be associated with immediate verbal context, immediate visual context, and visual culture is “context clues.” Even though we learned when we were younger that we should use surrounding details in order to answer a question, the same method applies to visual arguments. It interblends with immediate visual and verbal contexts.

Work Cited:

Birdsell, David S; Groarke, Leo. Toward a Theory of Visual Argument. ( Argumentation and Advocacy. 33.1 (1996). Research Library)