Visual Analysis

Objective: Compose a rhetorical analysis of an image, arguing for a specific interpretation of that image. 1000-3000 words (3-5 pages of text)

Benchmark Dates

  • Image submitted for approval – submitted in our student conferences
  • Working Group Peer Review (early draft) – printed or digital, but must be a shareable copy not published to your site.
  • Polished final draft of a visual analysis – link submitted in iCollege.

      see calendar for due dates

Purpose

This assignment supports several course learning outcomes, including selecting appropriate information and evidence for a specific audience and genre, analyzing non-verbal texts, and producing well-reasoned essays which demonstrate rhetorical engagement. When we analyze, we are asked to think critically about something – in this case, an image – in order to break it down into its elements. Being able to identify, define, scrutinize, and reconstruct conceptual elements, no matter how they are delivered, is essential to academic scholarship, but it is also essential to developing well-informed citizens who can actively participate in their communities and their careers.

Skills

In completing this assignment, students will be able to:

  • Analyze the visual elements of an object or image
  • Apply terminology and concepts from our readings on visual rhetoric as well as our lexicons
  • Explain how images communicate meaning, and
  • Gain experience in multimodal composition

Assignment Notes/Background

We have discussed the use of rhetoric in speeches and written materials. But, rhetoric is equally (some might say more) important to understanding the visual mode as well. When analyzing any visual text, we must consider:

  • its rhetorical situation:
    • author
    • audience
    • purpose
    • social and historical context
    • tone
    • genre
    • design
    • constraints and exigence
  • Rhetorical strategies, or how the image is composed to produce a specific effect (use of color, layout, contrast, distance, etc.)
  • Rhetorical appeals (ethos/pathos/logos), or ways the image seeks to engage the audience

Use Barthes’ Panzani analysis and McCorkle’s HOPE poster analysis to help you visualize how you might develop your own analysis. Pay attention to the way your image was used, as well as where, why, and for whom; consider how the examples discuss each of the rhetorical elements.

Tasks

To complete the assignment, follow these steps. See the assignment checklist at the end of this sheet for more:

Completing the assignment:

1. Review our Visual Rhetoric module and readings

2. Select a persuasive image such as:

  • A still advertisement (no commercials, videos, or moving images just yet)
  • Propaganda posters
  • Public health campaign materials
  • Movie poster
  • Flyer or pamphlet
  • a composed photograph (not a candid, but one that is taken with purpose and attention to meaning/telling a story
  • a work of art
  • Political object: poster/sign (campaign, protest, etc. Remember it is visual rhetoric, so choice should have multiple elements and text should be limited)
  • Street art/graffiti (make sure you consider the physical space the graffiti is done – wall on highway, Krog tunnel, side of building, etc.)

We use these categories because they are explicitly socio-cultural, current, and tend to be rich in image and text. Some things will lend themselves better to analysis than others. When choosing your object/image, select something that has depth and complex elements that you can analyze fully. Additionally, don’t forget that you will need to produce or find a high-quality digital picture of the image you wish to analyze, so if you need to photograph something make sure that you are using a higher quality setting on your device.

A Word About Words: Choose an image with limited text – if your choice has words, it should have no more than three words. Remember this is VISUAL analysis, so any text should be necessary not explanatory. I challenge you to find something that has no text at all.

3. Upload a copy of your image to the iCollege submission box marked “Analysis image for approval” by June 16.

4. Once your image is approved, begin to write your analysis. I recommend using an outline or sketching out the details of your argument and the elements you wish to focus on. Don’t forget to:

  • Evaluate the image elements and develop a thesis/argument about what the image is “doing” or the messages that it is sending
  • Include a high quality, full image at the beginning of your essay. This image may take up most of a page if necessary but will not be considered in a “page count.”
  • Include all the elements on the checklist. Any essay missing elements will not meet the minimum for a “C” grade and you may be asked to revise. Remember, any paper revised to include missing elements will not be eligible for an “A” grade.

5. Participate in your Working Group’s peer review. This review focuses on content and thinking. 

6. Submit your final, polished draft to iCollege by the due date

Assignment checklist*:

  • An approved image embedded in your essay page – include additional close-ups of elements you might want to explore.
  • A thesis that (1) argues for a specific interpretation of your image and (2) draws a clear connection between that argument and the image’s context
  • A “pure description” paragraph of your image, to come directly before your analysis
  • Evidence from six elements within the image that supports your interpretation of the image/rhetorics
  • A discussion of the image’s rhetorical situations, strategies, and appeals
  • Any contextual sources from outside the image (explanation of history, authorship, situation, etc. that is not common knowledge)
  • A coherent organizational structure that supports the analysis (leads the reader through your argument of the image from introduction to conclusion)
  • A clear sense of audience
  • MLA in-text citation for all sources used within the analysis, including the image
  • MLA Works Cited for all sources, including the image
  • Evidence of proofreading, editing, and MLA formatting

Criteria

Assignments will be assessed using the assignment checklist above. An “A” project will expertly include all the criteria above. To meet the minimum (a “C”), an essay must demonstrate an attempt to include all the criteria. Any essay missing elements will not meet the minimum for a “C” grade, and you may be asked to revise. Any paper revised to include missing elements will not be eligible for an “A” grade.

A strong visual analysis will be organized and complete. It will argue an image’s meaning and purpose in a slow and deliberative way, beginning by introducing the basics of the image (title, author, purpose/genre) and including some preliminary context. It will then submit a detailed “pure” description of the image. Reminder: a pure description is one that refrains from including opinion or interpretation (I think, I feel, I believe) and only describes what can be seen with the eye.

A strong visual analysis, will also chiefly use the image as evidence and detail how select elements rhetorically construct the text (e.g.: The campaign poster uses only four muted colors – a deep red, a greyish blue, a cream white, and a slate grey for shading and outlining – all of which produce a nostalgic and stately effect.) It will do this in an organized and deliberate way.