visual analysis

Take a little while to browse the images from http://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/ and choose one that will be the subject of your essay. After you’ve chosen an image, take some time to brainstorm and generate ideas about your topic. You may choose any of the invention strategies discussed in Unit 1 and the strategies discussed in the visual rhetoric lessons in this unit.Assignment OverviewYour second major essay in this course will be a visual analysis essay. In this essay, you will be expected to apply the concepts covered up to now. This includes knowledge of the writing process, rhetorical situation, formal register, essay structure, and visual analysis. Due DatesRefer to the assignment calendar for due dates. Remember, the peer review and responses to peer review are graded separately and have their own due dates in the assignment calendar.Purpose and Learning ObjectivesIn this assignment, you should practice writing using the writing process and developing a well-constructed analysis essay in formal register. The essay should show how an analysis of the visual components of an image leads to a better understanding of the image.Process for Completion The first step in this process will be to choose an image. Browse the images available through the Gordon Parks Foundation Archives. The link is available near the end of Unit 3. Choose an image that you find engaging. This image will be the subject of your essay.After you have chosen your image, you should engage in some pre-writing activities using the ideas and terms presented in Unit 3.First, take stock of your initial reactions to the image. What emotions did you feel as you first looked at the photograph? Next, analyze the image by looking closely at the content, framing, composition, focus, color, lighting, and context. What interesting or unique features do you notice about the image? What does the image say to you? How does it make you feel? You should record all of these activities in your next writer’s notebook assignment. Some of them will become important pieces of your final draft.Next, it will be time to find your focus and begin generating a working thesis statement. For this assignment, your thesis will make a claim about the meaning of the image. In other words, what message does the image communicate? Remember, every image tells a story, and an image may tell a different story depending on who is looking. Once you have decided what idea or story the image communicates to you, you will need to explain how content, framing, focus, color, angle and lighting come together to create that story or convey meaning.After completing the previous steps, it will be time to begin drafting your essay. The following outline might help you to structure your initial draft.Introduction: Identify and briefly describe the image and your initial reactions. Embed the image into the body of your essay or include a link to the image so that your audience can view it.
Thesis: Tell your readers what idea or story the image communicates.
Description of visual: Literally, describe the visual. What’s in the picture? You need one paragraph where you simply explain what the visual looks like for your reader.
Supporting paragraphs: Explain how the visual elements come together to create meaning. In multiple body paragraphs, discuss content, framing, composition, color, focus, angle, lighting, and context. You do not necessarily need to discuss every one of these elements, but you should discuss enough of them so that your reader understands how the visual elements work together to create a story. You should have three or more body paragraphs dedicated to this task. It is a good idea to discuss just one or two elements in each paragraph.
Conclusion: At a minimum, your conclusion should remind your reader how the visual elements convey meaning.
Minimum RequirementsThe final draft of your essay should be between 600 and 900 words in length (about 2 -3 pages long).
The essay should meet the expectation of an academic rhetorical situation. You will be expected to use formal register English. Your audience will be a general audience of educated adults.
The image you have chosen as the subject for your essay should be linked to or embedded in the body of the essay.
The essay should be written in MLA format, with a proper header, page numbers, title, and font. See the MLA guidelines in the unit.