Today we will review some of the narrratives, summaries, and responses to the poem "Illumination." Use of references, formatting of quotations, and the avoidance of plagiarism will be further reviewed. The field report (6) is due no later than week 8, though I prefer you submit it next week, which will allow some time for revisions at the beginning of class week 8. Each of you will be responsible for reading your essay to the class week 8, and that presentation will be part of the grade you receive.
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We experience the world through our senses and mind, reading the meaning of color, shape, sound, texture, form, composition in the images endlessly playing in our perceptual fields. The images that culture produces–photographs, films, commercials, drawings, paintings, cartoons, logos, graphics, etcetera–these may be “read” and elicit our response just as a written text might. What can one learn from visual representations? Can one analyze the particular messages or meaning conveyed, interpret the story told, point or theme illustrated? Indeed, whether we want to understand the documentary value or the aesthetic appeal of a particular image, or the social, political, or economic interests and attitudes that an image represents, close study of visual representations can be fun and insightful activity.
How do advertisers get us to buy? What makes a particular photograph resonate? What storylines or themes implicit in images make us pause? How to begin identifying or “reading” the source content?
The following guidelines should help you write cogently about visual representations:
Source, Purpose, Audience
*Identify the context of the image; that is where and how it has been published and distributed or exhibited. To what end or purpose was it created, and by whom?
*What audience does the image address or appeal to? How so?
*What is the most prominent element or figure in the image? And the primary focal point?
Objects, Figures, Story
*Identify the important objects and figures of foreground and background, consider the literal and expressive details of each, and their collective arrangement in the composition.
*What story or event is depicted or implied?
*What mood or emotion or idea(s) are put in motion by the use of light and dark, color, balance or lack thereof, the use of white space, graphic text or other elements, etcetera?
Take Away Meaning
*To the extent the image persuades by feeling, mood, dramatic content, and so on, what is to be learned?
What do the uses of the image suggest about culture, politics, social life, art, history, the human condition?
Essay #5 (two alternatives): For each you should include references to author or relevant sources in text and at the bottom of the piece in the MLA format.
(1) The following URL affords a fairly extensive photo archive that we will use for class practice in presenting and interpreting visual images. You will choose one image for a short work of 350-500 words that describes the image and the idea(s) it serves to illustrate or the questions to which it gives rise, whether social, historical, political, philosophical, aesthetic, technological, existential . . . . You must have a point to make in addressing the image and be as informative as you can. You do not have to be an expert on the subject the image addresses or implies, but you should be able to identify the issue(s).
(2) The online periodical Slate (slate.com) provides a fairly large archive of the work of cartoonists, who offer perspectives on matters making the news, in politics, sports, environment, etc. Choose one from the daily offering or the archives, describe the image and any accompanyng text, the artist or author, and the story, matter, or issue it addresses. You can google key words associated with the pictured material, and find recent news reports that may enhance your understanding of what is being depicted. Humor is typically an important element in cartoon work and you may have fun presenting readers the material. Avoid selecting any piece you do not get. 350-500 words, titled, double-spaced lines.
* The world of images obviously exceeds the postings above, and if you have some alternative image example, you may elect to work with it.
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Below is information on using primary and secondary sources and the requirements for documenting sources. I repost the section here. We will practice exercises week 8 on the MLA formatting of sources.
Next week is the date of our Gateway Theater field trip. We will settle the details today, and any of you who have not yet signed the release forms must do so. The film review will be paper #7. Here is the URL for film selections and showtimes: https://www.facebook.com/GatewayTheatreFL/app_201454109945226
Note: You must soon begin to explore a subject or idea, begin finding and reading material relevant to whatever line of inquiry you intend. Week 10 or 11 you will have due a 1000-word length essay in which you put across a claim made persuasive and credible by virtue of supporting facts, expert opinion, testimonials, logical inquiry, visuals, and perhaps emotional appeals to the reader's values.
*See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/1/ for MLA formatting rules and examples of direct quotation. The OWL site offers fairly comprehensive discussion and examples of presenting and documentaing primary and secondary source material.
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