Deck 9: Art As Persuasion: Visual Rhetoric

Question 1

Sonja Foss's theory involved which of the following requirements to be considered visual rhetoric?

A) Image must be symbolic.
B) Image must involve human intervention.
C) Image must be presented for the purpose of communicating with an audience.
D) Image must serve as a sign, like thunder signals a storm.

Answer 1

A, B, C

Question 2

According to Foss, which of the following qualify as examples of visual rhetoric?

A) A Christmas tree.
B) A stop sign.
C) An oak tree.
D) A yellow ribbon on an oak tree.

Answer 2

A, B, D

Question 3

A series of 12 political cartoons that were published in Denmark caused death threats and violent demonstrations because:

A) They portrayed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
B) They offended the Islamic world.
C) They visually depicted the prophet, which is against that religion.
D) They implied that the religion was a violent one.

Answer 3

A, B, C, D

Question 4

Al-Qaeda websites listed the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons, as a possible terrorist target with which of the following visuals?

A) Bombs with blood covering the paper.
B) Images of the Virgin Mary with naked breasts.
C) Images of the Last Supper.
D) Political cartoons that mocked the editor.

Question 5

Foss stated that visual rhetoric is also the perspective that rhetorical scholars take to evaluate it. Which of the following is part of the rhetorical perspective?

A) The technical knowledge the critic has.
B) The nature of the image.
C) The function of the image.
D) The evaluation of the image.

Question 6

Paul Messaris and Sandra Moriarty wrote of visual literacy skills and the conventions that enabled viewers to decode meaning. Which of the following are conventions for visual images?

A) Conventions prompt rather than stifle invention.
B) Conventions pervade all forms of design.
C) Conventions operate in social contexts where users control them.
D) Conventions are intrinsically rhetorical.

Question 7

The Vietnam Memorial was designed by a 25-year-old Chinese American Yale undergraduate student, Maya Lin. How did she receive her inspiration for the design?

A) She interviewed veterans of the Vietnam War.
B) She visited the site and had an impulse to cut open the earth.
C) She studied all the burial designs from other cultures.
D) She interviewed congressional committee members.

Question 8

Lin's design for the Vietnam Memorial was completed in:

A) Two years.
B) Three weeks.
C) Three months.
D) One year.

Question 9

Robert Mapplethorpe's exhibit The Perfect Moment was canceled by the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., because it depicted:

A) A crucifix in urine.
B) The Virgin Mary.
C) Homoerotic photographs amid sacred symbols.
D) Senator Jesse Helms.

Question 10

Mapplethorpe supporters responded to the cancelation by taking what action?

A) Showing the explicit photographs on the marble façade of the building.
B) Having the Washington Project for the Arts fund the exhibit.
C) Moving to a small gallery that overflowed.
D) Selling all Mapplethorpe's photographs, posters, postcards, and catalogs.

Question 11

In a speech called "The Sensitive Society," a constitutional lawyer identified the problem in our society as:

A) A departure from First Amendment rights of expression.
B) A lack of artistic talent to address social ills.
C) A movement to adopt alternative lifestyles.
D) A scarcity of funds for the arts.

Question 12

Brokeback Mountain used a conventional medium, film, that told an unconventional story that portrayed:

A) The economic hardships of the West.
B) The benefits of outdoor living.
C) The tormented love story of two cowboys.
D) The entrepreneurial opportunities of self-employment.

Question 13

Brokeback Mountain was compared by critics to which of the following classic plays?

A) Macbeth.
B) The Merchants of Venice.
C) Romeo and Juliet.
D) King Lear.

Question 14

According to Kostelnick and Hassett, who wrote that conventions prompt rather than stifle inventions, which of Brokeback Mountain's themes were variations on old themes?

A) Unrequited love.
B) Virile cowboys.
C) Tragic hero.
D) Stigma.

Question 15

Mental illness has been depicted in various movies through the years. What was the mental illness that Rain Man depicted?

A) Schizophrenia.
B) Autism.
C) Bipolar disorder.
D) Dissociative personality disorder.

Question 16

A Beautiful Mind portrayed in film the life travails of a brilliant man who coped with:

A) Bipolar disorder.
B) Obsessive compulsive disorder.
C) Schizophrenia.
D) Autism.

Question 17

Glen Gabbard, M.D., testified to the power of the cinema to influence the public. He said which of the following?

A) Movies are to Americans what Greek drama was to Athenians.
B) Psychiatrists should be staff advisors for movies.
C) Therapists and patients are portrayed realistically.
D) Movies have no influence on public attitudes for long.

Question 18

George Gerbner stated that our cultural environment has been dominated by this electronic medium, which he said replaced the influence of family, education, and religion:

A) The Internet.
B) Cinema.
C) Television.
D) Radio.

Question 19

The musical genre Gangsta Rap has been criticized for which of the following?

A) Misogynistic lyrics.
B) Celebration of violence.
C) Taboo language.
D) Glorification of gangster lifestyle.

Question 20

Frank Capra was enlisted by the State Department during World War II to create propaganda for the United States. He used which one of the following to persuade audiences?

A) Musical concerts.
B) Posters.
C) Cartoons.
D) Books.

Question 21

Tony Schwartz believed that most communication theory was mistaken based upon the linear model of Shannon and Weaver. He proposed which model?

A) The McLuhan model.
B) The resonance model.
C) The transmission model.
D) The dual-processing model.

Question 22

Gregg Walker and Melinda Bender conducted a study to see if subjects saw music videos making an argument, and they found which of the following to be true?

A) Music videos make no discernable arguments.
B) Some music videos make very strong arguments.
C) Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and 2 Live Crew's "Banned in the USA" ranked highest.
D) Dominant message videos make arguments.

Question 23

Entertainment shows increasingly include political commentary and news. Which audience is most influenced by this form?

A) Members over 55.
B) Members over 35.
C) Members under 35.
D) None of the above.

Question 24

According to Kostelnick and Hassett, each field has conventions that can serve as a model or as a point of departure to free the artist. Which of the following art forms departed from conventional forms?

A) The Vietnam Memorial.
B) Brokeback Mountain.
C) The Perfect Moment.
D) All of the above.

Question 25

Aristotle's classic definition of rhetoric as the art of discovering in any given situation the available means of persuasion includes:

A) Visual rhetoric.
B) Artifacts that are symbolic.
C) Visuals that have human intervention.
D) All of the above.

Question 26

Cartoons cannot make an argument that can be proved or disproved.

Question 27

According to Sonja Foss, an oak tree or an evergreen tree is an example of visual rhetoric.

Question 28

A stop sign is an example of visual rhetoric because it is a symbol that has been assigned meaning.

Question 29

To qualify as visual rhetoric, Foss said there had to be human intervention and an intention to communicate.

Question 30

To understand visual rhetoric, the audience must be experts.

Question 31

The 12 cartoons that the Denmark paper published about the prophet Muhammad set off death threats against the cartoonist and editor.

Question 32

The response from the Islamic community validates the fact that visual rhetoric is capable of making strong statements.

Question 33

The Jyllands-Posten newspaper staff justified their publication of the cartoons by saying, "We live in a democracy."

Question 34

The Muslim immigrant who published the Virgin Mary with naked breasts was stoned.

Question 35

The Denmark Ministry for Culture subsidized the Muslim immigrant who published the Virgin Mary with naked breasts.

Question 36

Scholars who take a rhetorical perspective on visual artifacts believe that the image exists independent of the creator.

Question 37

Kostelnick and Hassett stated that conventions invite adaptation and improvisation.

Question 38

Conventions are intrinsically rhetorical, even when they demand conformity from the discourse community that sanctions them.

Question 39

Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial was applauded and won strong support from the beginning.

Question 40

A conventional bronze statue was installed with three soldiers and an American flag nearby to quell critics of Lin's work.

Question 41

Lin visited the Washington site where the Vietnam Memorial was to be built, and she perceived a rift in the earth that represented a scar that would not heal.

Question 42

The guidelines for the Vietnam Memorial included the ability to make a political statement.

Question 43

Critics of the Vietnam Memorial said the V shape represents a peace sign and makes a political statement.

Question 44

Mapplethorpe's exhibit The Perfect Moment was criticized by Senator Jesse Helms as pornography.

Question 45

The fact that National Endowment for the Arts funds were used to sponsor Mapplethorpe caused an uproar.

Question 46

After the Corcoran Gallery canceled the show, the controversy about Mapplethorpe ended.

Question 47

Mapplethorpe said that his Catholic upbringing influenced his art, with altars and other mysteries of the church represented.

Question 48

Mapplethorpe's sacred altars supported male genitals or models without heads and imperfections.

Question 49

Aristotle said art presents a thing as it might be in idealized form, whereas history presents what has actually been.

Question 50

The controversy over Mapplethorpe's photography including sadomasochistic images and homosexual sex acts really shut down sales of his works.

Question 51

Art has no influence in the social-political arena.

Question 52

Brokeback Mountain used a conventional love story to portray an unconventional plot of two gay cowboys.

Question 53

As a cautionary tale, Ennis, a character in Brokeback Mountain, was shown by his father a murdered gay man who had been beaten to death and castrated.

Question 54

Brokeback Mountain is an example of visual rhetoric that presented graphic depictions of gay life, repressive measures of society, and a tragic end.

Question 55

Movies that address mental illness have not changed attitudes regarding either the mentally ill or the professionals in that field.

Question 56

Even if movies were more reality based regarding mental illness, daily news stories would still dramatize and stereotype the mentally ill, like the Virginia Tech mass killer.

Question 57

Woodrow Wilson said after viewing his first film, Birth of a Nation, that film was "like history written in lightening."

Question 58

Gangsta Rap is characterized by misogynistic lyrics, sexual promiscuity, drugs, and violence.

Question 59

Gangsta Rap videos were bought more often by white consumers.

Question 60

Some music critics claim that John Lennon was more effective as a persuader than John F. Kennedy.

Question 61

Art with a message is a new phenomenon.

Question 62

Tony Schwartz supported the transmission model of persuasion.

Question 63

Many dramas or movies present music as a powerful message to the spirit of humans.

Question 64

Musicians have nothing in common with classical rhetoric or logos, ethos, and pathos, according to Gerard G. LeCoat.

Question 65

Music videos have not been found to have any argumentative value regarding social or political issues.

Question 66

Explain Sonja Foss's theory of visual rhetoric.

Question 67

Discuss the directions Maya Linn received before she created the Vietnam Memorial and whether her design followed those directions.

Question 68

Compare and contrast the Shannon and Weaver communication model with the Tony Schwartz resonance model.

Question 69

Explain the characteristics of Gangsta Rap music and identify five antisocial themes that are common to the lyrics.

Question 70

Select one of the movies discussed in this chapter on mental illness and explain the conflicts that were portrayed in the movie. Do you think the movie portrayed the characters realistically?

Question 71

Discuss the views of both the supporters and the opposition to Mapplethorpe's art exhibit The Perfect Moment.

Question 72

Explain the standards by which one can distinguish between art and pornography.

Question 73

Explain George Gerbner's views on the electronic storyteller, television, and then take a position that either refutes his views or supports them.

Question 74

Select one of the movies discussed in this chapter and apply Sonja Foss's theory of visual rhetoric to it. What was the central message of the movie? Who was the intended audience for that message? Did the movie influence your thoughts, feelings, or behavior on the subject portrayed?

Question 75

Discuss the findings of Gregg Walker and Melinda Bender, who researched whether music videos conveyed strong messages. Be specific and use examples to support your answer.