analyzing visuals

March 9th, 2011

Analyzing Visuals

Visual as focusVisual as supportVisual alone

&No visual

Three Primary uses of visuals

Visual as Focus

Visual as Support

Visual Alone

No Visual

Why Take Different Approaches?Some Background

Images > LanguageVisuals/sight/images

are always TrueLanguage could hide

TruthRefined/educated

language ≈ the sign of wit and wisdom, but also dangerous power

Plato’s ProblemLanguage > Writing

Not everyone sees things the same way…

Sorry Plato…

How ironic is this guy?Yes, those are painted.

Language as Arguments

Visuals are interpreted through languageLanguage (and visuals)

show value “other” have a certain literacy attached to them

Some Similarities

Show Value

Othering

Visual Literacy

Visuals and text share terms:compositionsubjectobjectactiontensionfigures

Some people are “visual people” & can’t help but pair language and visuals

More Similarities

Visualizing Language

Verbal & visual arguments have requirementsTopicSourcesTonePositionInternal cohesion (consistent

terms/position/tone)Anchored evidence

introduced referencedsynthesized

Visuals as Arguments

Visual ≈ Verbal Arguments

2 Most Common Visual Arguments

Visual as SupportConcepts are

difficult to imagineConcepts are best

served with visual evidence

Audience (maybe) reading quickly

Audience (maybe) more attracted to visuals

There is no space for visuals

The concepts are simple or easy to visualize

The concepts are too abstract for visuals

Visual as Support vs No VisualNo Visual

AnchoredVisuals are

integrated into the text

Visuals are discussed

e.g. “As the chart in Figure 1 shows…” or “Republicans are known for conservative spending practices (Figure 1)”

Visuals are not discussed in text

Language and visuals, although focused on same topic/subject, are not explicitly linked

Visuals can be more difficult to connect to text

Visuals of Support: 2 typesUnanchored

Concepts Are Difficult to Imagine“Black holes are avaricious negative spaces, in outer space”

Black holes, avaricious, and negative space can be confusing if not entirely impossible to imagine

Concepts are best served with visual evidence“Yakuza are Japanese gang members that have their entire bodies tattooed”

“Their entire bodies” isn’t 100% accurate, the visual here shows the full meaning and how it is a symbol of belonging.

Audience Has Limited Attention…You have 7 seconds (that’s pretty standard) to analyze the next visual...ready?...

What is the title?What is the purpose?

What are the major symbols?What is the ideological framework?

So?

Audience More Attracted to Visuals...Some audiences simply gravitate more toward (meaning they want more) visuals than text…

No Visual is an Argument too

No space for visualsPublishers or standards won’t allow visualsMedium does not support visuals

No Place for Visuals

Simple conceptsEatingSleepingWalkingRunningSitting

Easily Imagined ConceptsFlyingSailingCycling

Simple or Easily Imagined Concept

When explaining the visual would take more time then explaining the concept itself or when the visual would be too complex to realistically processEvolutionMaking a difficult decisionSucceeding on a testFacebook connections in Lubbock

Too Abstract of a Concept

How Would You Analyze These?

Our Old Friend Banksy

Map of Time in InceptionGood? Bad? What is your analysis?

GOOD article on ScrabbleAppropriate? Too much? What do you think?

How Important is That Visual?Does it lend to your understanding of the article? How does it contribute to the author’s argument?

Measuring the Information SocietyLet’s see how the technical communicators do…

Cognitive Strategies for Learning from Static andDynamic VisualsAnother tech comm text

Fun OnesMaking the fun, funner!

Brief Assignment 6Due Tuesday, March 22th

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.

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.

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