Assignment
Create a conversation with your group by answering the questions below. If one of your group mates has a question or concern, be sure to address it. You will be graded on your interaction with each other. Try to have a conversation about the course material.
1. What did you learn in this unit?
2. How did you learn it? What techniques or strategies did you find most helpful? Have those techniques changed from previous units?
3. What else would you like to learn related to the topics covered in this unit?
4. Do you have any questions or concerns about anything related to the course?
• Objectives for Unit 4This unit is an introduction to a skill we refer to as analysis. Analysis means breaking a subject or text down into its constituent parts so that one can understand how it functions or creates meaning. The "texts" that we will focus on in this unit will be visual texts.
Student Learning Outcomes addressed in this unit:
o Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose
o Demonstrate knowledge of indivdual and collaborative writing processes
o Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution
o Use Edited American English in academic essays
o Read, reflect and respond critically to a variety of texts
Visual Elements
Being "literate" in the twenty-first century implies a variety of skills. Often, the term refers to verbal literacy, describing someone who can read and write. Literacy might also be used in the context of computer literacy, someone who knows how to operate a computer and manage files. In some ways, building visual literacy is similar to building verbal and computer literacy. Basic elements and terminology come first, followed by more advanced skills that help you analyze and explain the impact of images on viewers.
The Visual Grammar
The gurus identify and offer examples of the visual elements used to analyze images: content, framing, composition, focus, lighting, angle, and color.
Video Focus Point
Look for answers to this question when watching the video:
• How do specific visual elements help a viewer understand what a picture is saying, rather than just what it is showing?
More Than Meets The Eye
More Than Meets the Eye offers a brief analysis of a film poster and discusses some different ways that text and visuals often combine to create meaning. A classic Hollywood era, film noir, provides the backdrop for the gurus to explain how to analyze visuals by exploring the interaction of an image with text, context, and subtext in order to generate meaning.
Video Focus Points
Look for answers to these questions when watching the video:
• How can text, context, and subtext add meaning to an image?
• How can text, context, and subtext sometimes distance a viewer from an image?
• What effect does "announcing" a topic have on writing?
Visual Elements 1
Many terms fall in the category of visual elements, which are the basic components used to create a work of art. This activity takes a defining look at fundamental elements commonly used in visual communication.
Many people, including many of your professors, use Wikipedia to find quick information about a topic. However, Wikipedia should not be used as a reliable source in academic writing, and your professors, even though they might read Wikipedia themselves, will not consider Wikipedia as an acceptable source for your essays. Therefore, you should not find information on Wikipedia when researching academic essays. Follow this link for a list of the top ten reasons why you should not cite Wikipedia.