# When images guide thought ## Seminar plan (90 minutes) A metaphor can open up a connection while concealing alternatives. This exhibition moves from linguistic transfer to the question of what a compelling representation actually establishes. > When does an image help us understand, and when does its vividness replace a reason? ## Learning objectives - Distinguish imagery, viewpoint and evidence. - Compare a metaphorical explanation with an alternative representation. - Identify the limit of an inference in a specific source. Audience: Approximately ages 16+, advanced school groups, higher education and adult learning. Prerequisites and access: Read short specialist texts; distinguish statement, observation and interpretation. Responses may be spoken, written or given as an annotated sketch. ## Case study Fictional exercise written for this material. Not empirical data. At a school forum someone says: “Our new library is the engine of learning.” A presentation reports more visits since renovation. Another group calls the same room “an open marketplace of ideas”. Neither the number of visits nor either image alone shows what or how much was learned. ## Schedule 10 min introduction · 25 concept analysis · 25 source comparison · 20 discussion · 10 open questions ## Assignment 1. Mark imagery, observation and inference in the case using three different labels. 2. Compare the metaphor and evidence stations. Cite one sentence from each definition and explain its scope. 3. Write an alternative description and one question that needs additional data. ## Source examination Open at least one complete Atlas profile and select a reference listed there. Record title, locator where available and documented scope. Separate your inference from what the reference actually supports. A reference alone does not establish every statement in a profile. ## Stations ### 1. Metaphor A transfer that makes one domain of experience intelligible through another. Begin with an everyday transfer. Identify what the image foregrounds and what it leaves out. **Working question:** What changes when a discussion is described as a journey rather than a battle? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-RHE-0002 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - Q001 — Harjung, J. Dominik: Lexikon der Sprachkunst — https://books.google.de/books?id=AsuWoHybcgMC&lpg=PA467&hl=de&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false - Q005 — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Metaphor — https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphor/ - Q012 — Metzler Lexikon Sprache (Google Books) — https://books.google.de/books?id=B-1FDwAAQBAJ - Q019 — Oxford Reference: The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms — https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198715443.001.0001/acref-9780198715443 - The Historical Thesaurus of English (2nd edn., version 5.0). 2026. University of Glasgow. Category 03.13.03.04.05.11.01|01 n.; node 219152. Accessed 11 September 2026. — https://ht.ac.uk/category/#id=219152 Documented scope: HTE finding: HTE records metaphor as a noun under figures of meaning, with the headword dated a1499–. Atlas interpretation: The Atlas concept includes rhetorical naming and cross-domain understanding; the HTE placement supports the rhetorical lineage but not the full cognitive definition. OED entry/sense identity not established. ### 2. Perspective The viewpoint-dependent way of perceiving and representing an object. Next examine the standpoint of the representation. Not every difference between two descriptions is a factual contradiction. **Working question:** Which information becomes visible only from another viewpoint? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-W3-0411 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - SEP Perspectivism · Narratologie ### 3. Framing The organisation of information through a perspective that foregrounds some interpretations and suppresses others. A frame organizes attention. Examine its selection without automatically inferring deceptive intent from every framing. **Working question:** Which two headlines frame the same event differently? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-ARG-0002 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - Q005 — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Metaphor — https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphor/ - Q012 — Metzler Lexikon Sprache (Google Books) — https://books.google.de/books?id=B-1FDwAAQBAJ - Q014 — Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy — https://iep.utm.edu/ ### 4. Evidence The degree to which a claim is supported by proof or compelling grounds. Return to evidence. The clarity of an image and the strength of a source need separate examination. **Working question:** What would need to be established independently of the image? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-CORE-238-038 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - W02 · Metzler Lexikon Sprache · PDF-Seiten 98, 100, 321, 540, 741 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 - W03.1 · Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Band 1 · PDF-Seiten 8, 245, 333, 388, 390 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 - The Historical Thesaurus of English (2nd edn., version 5.0). 2026. University of Glasgow. Category 02.02.06.03|04 n.; node 123444. Accessed 11 September 2026. — https://ht.ac.uk/category/#id=123444 Documented scope: HTE finding: HTE distributes evidence across proof, testimony, legal evidence and indication branches. Atlas interpretation: Atlas defines both degree of support and supporting material in argumentation; the selected HTE proof-instance node covers only one portion. OED entry/sense identity not established. ## Seminar questions - Which inference does the metaphor suggest without establishing it? - How can a change of perspective be distinguished from a change of subject? - What finding would limit your preferred interpretation? ## Extension Test two invented headlines for the same case. Keep the observation constant and change only the framing. ## Research boundary This sequence is an editorial comparison, not a claim of shared historical origin. The concept profiles and their respective sources remain authoritative. ## Citation Michael Reich: When images guide thought. Seminar plan (90 minutes). Atlas der Sprache / Atlas of Language. Material version atlas-260-20261017-04, 2026-10-17. Data basis: ATLAS 260; Source release 15.9.1. https://atlasoflanguage.com/study/metapher-und-erkenntnis?mode=seminar Accessed: ____________________ Checkpoint: atlas-260-expansion15c-20261016-checkpoint Manifest SHA-256: 8b36a386dbea6c48bbeb3fefe730c2128333a06e5ad847521e673a3bfbe82f92 Cases, sequence and tasks are original learning materials. They establish no new catalogue relations. Existing references do not imply a new full reading here. Source rights remain with their respective holders. Versioned research edition. No DOI or external archival deposit is documented.