Experiencing multimodal rhetoric and argumentation in political advertisements: a study of how people respond to the rhetoric of multimodal communication

Research into visual and multimodal rhetoric has been dominated by social scientific textual perspectives that may not be able to provide documented understandings of how rhetorical objects are actually experienced an audience. In this study, the authors engage in protocol analysis through 10 in-depth interviews asking informants make sense selected political advertisements 2020 US election campaign. They examine types competing sensory elements found within campaign texts situations, which they term ‘multimodal incongruity’ establish two cognitive frameworks use when engaging commercials: personal experience cynicism. Personal allowed argue against messages. Cynicism often guided participants unpack generic conventions advertising, politics more generally, opposing partisan strategies. Both interpretive frames – but frame cynicism, particular enable critically distance their reading emotional response commercials. This critical distancing reveals connections between rationality emotionality ‘deliberative embedding’, meaning is understood terms negotiated relation already established information, opinions cynical readings genre. The conclude essay reflecting on methodological theoretical insights regarding rhetoric.