Analyzing Visual Texts

What is Visual Analysis?

In a visual analysis, you break down the different elements of a text that communicates primarily with visuals. Your goal is to understand how these different elements communicate the message and accomplish its purpose.

Visual texts include everyday material like:• Websites• Photos or paintings • Brochures or flyers • Advertisements

Visual vs. Verbal Analysis

•In both cases, you consider the text’s rhetorical situation, which is made up of its audience, speaker, and object (or circumstances).•In both cases, you think about how the text’s elements communicate purpose, context, and message.

•However, visual elements are different to verbal elements.

Visual Analysis: The Process

As with all writing, there is no one process that will work for everyone when it comes to analyzing a visual text. As you develop your ideas for a visual analysis, though, you might find it useful to follow three general steps:

1. Describe2. Respond3. Analyze

Describe the Visual Text

Many people overlook this step, but simply describing a visual text is an important part of the process. Trying to analyze a visual text without being able to first describe it would be like trying to analyze an article without being able to first summarize it.

When you describe a visual text, you might look at: • Colors and shading• Objects and shapes • People and places• Arrangement of elements on page • Foreground and background

Respond to the Visual Text

A good visual analysis will go beyond basic reaction, but thinking about how you react to a visual text can be useful in developing your ideas.

When you look at a visual text, think about:• What’s my initial, gut reaction?• How does the text make me feel?• What does the text make me think?• Does the text make we want to do something?• Does the text remind me of anything I’ve seen, heard, or read

about before?

Analyze the Visual Text

In the next step, push beyond description and response. Consider how the text’s different elements communicate a message and accomplish a purpose. Remember the rhetorical situation: The audience, object, and speaker of the visual text.

To think about how the text communicates a message to its reader, ask questions about each element you described. For each element, ask: What is its purpose? What is its effect on the audience? How does it contribute to the text’s message? How does it relate to the context?

Creating a Thesis

The thesis for a visual analysis will depend upon your specific assignment, purpose, and text. Always return to the prompt to understand your assignment’s focus, purpose, and requirements.Generally, a visual analysis thesis will make a claim about how the text communicates a message A visual analysis thesis might sound like:

The Ford F150 advertisement uses dark colors, images of men working, and an outdoor setting to suggest that the truck is intended for outdoorsy, hardworking men.

Introduction

Your introduction will also depend upon your assignment, purpose, and text. Below are some general ideas for writing an introduction for your visual analysis:

• Name the text with as much publishing detail as you have: “The Ford F150 advertisement,” “The New York Times cartoon”

• Include a brief general description of the text. You will include more description in your body paragraphs.

• Characterize briefly the text’s rhetorical situation. Again, you will include more of this in body paragraphs.

Organizing the Analysis

The organization of the visual text analysis depends on the thesis. Below are some general options for organizing the body of your paper.

• Spatial: The structure of your paper follows the way your eyes follow a visual text, generally from left to right or from most to least prominent parts.

• Elements: Each section or body paragraph focuses on an element of the text, such as color, images, etc.

• Rhetorical appeals: The paper’s sections are divided into the three appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos.

• Rhetorical situation: The paper’s sections are divided into the elements of the rhetorical situation: audience, purpose, and context.

Conclusion

The conclusion will provide insight into the relevance of the topic of the visual text’s message as stated in your thesis. You could ask yourself:

• Is there a general truth that the cartoon expresses?

• Is is a currently controversial topic?

• Does the message fit to the author’s biography, the mood of the time?

• Can the message be connected to any other texts that were discussed?