A visual enthymeme is defined as a syllogism with an absent premise that is supplied by the audience. There are two parts of a visual enthymeme: objectives and benefits. The objectives is the image itself and can be shown as proof that something is happening; Whereas the benefits are the force behind the image and meaning. Enthymeme’s rely on common world knowledge and they make sure that everyone can see the underlying meanings behind a message or image. The image that I used was from President Trump’s campaign “Make America Great Again.” The hidden premises in this message is that if you vote for Trump, America will be great again, and if you don’t vote for Trump America will be bad. The conclusion of this enthymeme is that by voting for Trump, America will be great again, which is hasn’t been for many years. Furthermore, we assume as a public that if this man is elected, things will be better again. Another hidden message is that it never says when America was ever great, everyone seemed to have a common knowledge of when America was actually “great” but never had a specific date or time. This campaign slogan was very effective because everyone wants to reminisce on the past and think about how great things use to be and imagine a better world.
Thinking Rhetorically at GCSU 