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likely years in the making. When using current events and historical information as evi-
dence, you should be especially aware of this fallacy. Check your facts. Consider the
complexity of the situation. Proceed with caution.

Identifying Fallacies in Visual Texts

As we’ve established, visual texts can use evidence and make claims just like their
written counterparts; therefore, the arguments of visual texts are equally prone to logical
fallacies. In fact, because a visual text can’t develop its argument in an extended form
and must rely heavily on pathos, it’s even more likely that the connection between
evidence and claim rests on tenuous assumptions or nebulous reasoning.
For example, let’s examine this ad from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals). Analyzing Visual Texts

fatihhoca/Getty Images

Our attention is first captured by the arrow pointing to a young girl biting into a
cheeseburger. The girl’s arms, hands, and round face reveal that she is overweight. She
is dressed in fairly somber colors (gray and white), and she is not looking at the viewer.
Instead, she is focused on the burger, which is situated roughly in the center of the image.
Beneath the girl, we read the major premise of the advertisement in large, bold print:
“Feeding Kids Meat Is CHILD ABUSE” — a statement that, on its face, many would dismiss
as ridiculous. However, the text at the bottom of the ad makes the supposed connection
between meat and child abuse clearer: “Fight the Fat: Go Vegan.” The conclusion the
audience is meant to reach is that feeding kids meat will make them fat, and “fighting” fat-
ness is a goal so obviously worthy it does not need explanation. Each component of the
text is arranged to follow the natural downward path of the eye as the argument unfolds.
So what is PETA’s reasoning here? The ad operates from a premise that there is
something wrong with being fat and that “fighting” it is a self-evident necessity. Judging

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