Invention Work, Visual Analysis
To analyze something is to break it down into its parts to make sense of it more easily. But analysis doesn’t just stop at the breakdown. The breakdown is the beginning of understanding. Analysis provides a method for putting the whole back together again in a more meaningful way.
The analytical act tends to separate a whole into its constituent parts, an object into its elements. During analysis we take things apart so we can examine them, come to some understanding about the parts and their relationships, and finally, develop awareness of the chemistry or the logic that holds the parts together. Eventually, the analyst wants to put these individual components back together with a deeper understanding of the whole—the object itself and the idea it inspires.
Writers use analysis first to understand and then to record and demonstrate to readers what they’ve learned. The writing that accompanies analysis, especially in the early stages, is a form of exploration, a joint effort of the mind and the pen (or keyboard) to learn something about the thing being studied. Subsequent writing preserves the analytical spirit, revealing to readers significant parts of the writer’s learning process, and shows the reader how the writer’s thinking led to the idea being presented about the object so that, finally, the reader will have an experience similar to that of the writer.
Your assignment for is to write an essay of at least 900-1200 words (3 to 4 pages) describing and analyzing a photograph or painting. Arrange your paper as a formal report. It needs to be in a formal voice (no personal pronouns, contractions, or slang) and should form a coherent whole (intro with a clear thesis, body, and a conclusion with a restatement of the thesis). You may use the first person (I) as you are writing an account of your observations. If you can do so without making it sound too pedantic or overly formal, you can say, "the viewer" or "one" from time to time
Your subject will be
• Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother , Kevin Carter’s Sudanese Girl, Salvador Dali’s Fallen Angel, Rene Magritte’s The Son of Man, or one of the other visuals suggested on your assignment page.
-or-
• a painting or photograph of your own choosing, but it must be available online so that the instructor and other members of the class can view your subject (See http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/index.asp
You probably should not spend more than an hour in your search for a photo or painting. Try to settle on a work that really interest you.Complete ALL of the following:
a. What did you first notice about the picture? Where was your eye drawn? Why? How does the author’s use of line, and/or arrangement draw your eye in that specific direction? What emotional response did this focal point evoke? Why would the author of the text wish to draw the reader’s eye there? What’s your initial feeling about the author’s purpose for this text? What was their purpose? THIS WILL BECOME THE INTRODUCTION TO YOUR ESSAY. THE STATEMENT ABOUT FOCAL POINT AND ITS PURPOSE BECOMES YOUR THESIS STATEMENT.
2) The Cast of Characters: examine the condition, colors, sizes, functions, and positions of the objects included in the image. Look closely at the figures (men, women, children, animals). Consider facial expressions, poses, hairstyles and colors, ages, sexes, ethnicity, possible education, suggested occupations, apparent relationships to each other and so on.
3) The Story of the Image: Does the action shown in the visual text suggest a “plot” or story, surrounding the moment captured in the image? What does the background suggest about where the action takes place?
4) Color: Does color focus our attention on the visual in any way? Create contrast? Suggest symbolic cultural meanings? What do these suggested meanings contribute to the author’s overall purpose? Think of such symbolism in terms of the meaning suggested by the focal point.
5) Figure-Ground Contrast: Does the author emphasize the difference between what in front (the figure) and what’s in back (the background)? What does such an arrangement suggest? Think of such an emphasis in terms of the meaning suggested by your focal point.
6) Symbols: Do any images and words present communicate key cultural messages about meaning? Think of these symbols in terms of the meaning suggested by your focal point.
7) Juxtaposition: How does the placement of individual visual elements suggest relationships? How do these relationships suggest specific messages or meanings? In other words, look at items that are placed along side one another. What relationships and meanings are suggested by such a placement? Think of these realationships in terms of the meaning suggested by your focal point.
8) Repetition or similarity & proximity : Does the author group similar colors, sizes, or shapes in any way? How does the image use space? Does it include a lot of white space or is it cluttered and busy? Is there one element that occupies more space than another? A color that dominates the visual? What meaning specific meanings or types of relationships among elements does this suggest?
9) Use of text: If the image is accompanied by text, what typefaces are used? What impressions do they convey?
10) Communicating what you see: Interpreting the Meaning of the Image. What general feeling do you get when you view the image? What mood does it create? Where does your eye go? Why? What do you think are the key elements or features of this image? How do they contribute to what you see and feel? Look for elements in the image that are positioned close together. What connections do you see between/among the elements? Are there any elements in the image that seem similar (shape, texture, size, color, etc.?) Explain the effects of those elements on your response to the image. When you examine the image and your emotional response, how do the color(s) or degrees of shading contribute to the response? How do you own experiences or knowledge affect your reading of the image? Think about the image in terms of historical, sociological, political, economic, or cultural attitudes are reflected. Is there a story or narrative embedded in the image?
#10 BECOMES YOUR CONCLUSION. BE SURE THAT YOU RESTATE WHAT YOU SEE AS THE FOCAL POINT AND ITS PURPOSE AND THEN DISCUSS THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS EMPHASIS IN A BROADER SENSE (I.E. HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL, ECONOMIC, OR CULTURAL TERMS).
