The Power of Association

I looked long and hard through my trusty concept text book, "Smile in the Mind", and found no technique that can explain the success of books like the one's above. Sin and Syntax, as you have discovered, uses sin and goodness to deliver grammar rules seductively. This New Testament Bible (on the top right) is compared to and contrasted to both sports and sports principles. (The concept in this case is even stronger since it is common for scripture to be explained in parables to make topics more relate-able.) Political cartoons (bottom image) are a very popular and successful technique to visually express politics.

All of these book, and ones like them, allow a more interesting topic or style to carry an otherwise difficult to grasp idea. This conceptual technique, which I will refer to as 'the power of association', could be applied to a variety of dense topics. The only caution for this technique is an over comparison. Too strong a comparison may begin to distract or confuse the initial main idea. (Sin and Syntax can come off that way at times.) I hope the opportunity presents itself for me to try out the power of association in a future assignment. Where else have you notice this technique? Do you happen to know what it's called?