Mrs. Lowrance1302

Brief Assignment 6: Analyzing Visuals

March 9th, 2011

Analyzing Visuals

BA 6: Description:

Answer one of the following in a 300-500 word essay.

Read "The Politics of Cohabitation" on pg. 411-418 of First-Year Writing. Joy Van Marion uses four visuals, which are intended to provide strong support for her argument. Which visual is most strongly "anchored" in the text: Table 1, 2, 3, or 4? In other words, which visual does Van Marion provide the most reference to in the text in using it to support her argument? How might she have better anchored the other visuals to provide stronger support that is clear to the reader, rather than a vague implication which is left up to the reader to draw for himself or herself? Be sure to support your decision with solid, logical evidence from the text.

BA 6 o Read "Unmarried with Children" on pg. 422-426 of

First-Year Writing. Though this article details the results of a study, Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas do not use any visuals to explain their findings. Why might they have chosen this rhetorical effect? What effect does their decision not to use visuals have on the reader? Be sure to support your discussion with solid, logical evidence from the text.

Use MLA textual citation and include a works cited list entry.

Visuals

Today, we live in a world of words and visuals, in

which writers routinely accompany email messages with photographs, create graphs and charts to illustrate documents, and animate their writing with many forms of media.

Visuals

Why make so much of the everyday activity of looking at and responding to visual arguments? Thinking about visual arguments is important precisely because so much contemporary time and space are filled with these images — and because they have very powerful influences on us.

Visual

When advertisements for sneakers can lead some to attack others in order to steal a pair of the coveted footwear, when five-second sound bites can decide presidential elections, when cartoons can lead to riots, and when photographs of prisoners at Abu Ghraib can horrify the world — it is more than high time to start paying careful attention to visual arguments.

Visual Literacy

The Rise of the Image The title of a recent book, The Rise of the Image,

the Fall of the Word,perhaps says it all: visual images now shape or even control our lives at least as much as words do, perhaps even more. The images that bombard us daily influence us to think and behave in certain ways, and images profoundly affect the way we see ourselves and others. So being visually literate — being able to read an image and understand how it aims to persuade or manipulate — is crucial to becoming a critical thinker:

Visuals in context

Before analyzing how a visual works in an argument, you need to first consider just what that is.

- What is the author’s main argument? - What are some of the author’s primary

supportive reasons?

The Visual-

What point is the visual demonstrating?

How does that point support the author’s argument?

What type of appeal is the visual making? Ethical, logical, emotional? Be sure to use the reading from the St. Martin’s handbook to discuss design. (10 b)

The Visual’s Role in the Argument What argumentative purpose does the

visual text convey?

What claim does the visual text make? What reasons does it provide for the claim?

What cultural values or ideals does the

visual evoke or suggest? Does it reinforce these values or question them? What assumptions does it make?

The Visual’s Role in an Argument How does the visual strengthen the argument?

What evidence does it present? Does it offer any logical appeals ?

What emotional appeals does the visual text

make? What feelings does it evoke? Does it affect you as the creator(s) intended? If not, why?

What overall impression does the visual text create?

BA 6

Turn to the back of your book and read the second student example of a BA 6.

Analyze it against both the assignment description and the grading rubric (provided on the next slide). What grade would you assign this brief? Why?

Your Graders will consider: Standards: Aim for 500 words and

use correct MLA textual citation. Include a works cited list entry.

Focus: Did you answer all the questions in the prompt with evidence from the text? Did you consider the visuals in the context of the argument?

Grading Rubric: C1—Issue Identification and Focus    Does the student focus on analyzing the ways visuals

function in the text?  Does the student address all of the questions in the prompt? How specific are the student’s   suggestions for improvement?

C2—Context and Assumptions Does the student consider the visual in the context of

the overall argument?

C3—Sources and Evidence     Does the student use specific evidence from the

article?

Grading Rubric C5—Own Perspective Is the student’s opinion of the author’s use of

visuals clear?

C6—Conclusion Does the conclusion offer an evaluative statement

of the visuals’ effectiveness in the article?

C7—Communication Is the essay clearly and logically organized?  How

effective is the student’s communication at the sentence level?

DUE FRIDAY NIGHT Email policy: Please review my email policy.

For next week, you will need to bring a 1200 word rough draft to class (four full pages/ typed, Times New Roman font, 1” margins, double spaced).

Be sure to have your current revised classical argument and textbook in class the rest of the semester.