wr 4 visual essay

8/3/2019 Wr 4 Visual Essay

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VisualEssay

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This old adage reflects a popularly held belief that some of the most powerful thoughtsand feelings human beings can experience—from moments of personal triumph, to the

horrors of war and famine, to perspectives on popular culture—are often bestexpressed in images . In the 21st century, images are perhaps more important thanever—with image-driven arguments influencing much of what we buy, how we vote,

what communities we join, and which causes we support. Like traditional writingprojects, image-driven texts require attention to issues of audience, purpose,

arrangement, development, and convention for maximum effectiveness. Thus, tofurther experiment with these rhetorical principles and how those principles apply

across different media platforms, this assignment will give you an opportunity toexperiment with the process of composing an essay that relies on images for the bulkof its rhetorical impact. In the process, you will draw attention to and make a statementabout an issue that is of significant importance to you.

Dietel-McLaughlin / Writing & Rhetoric / Fall 2012

Photo Credits: McCurry, Steve. Afghan Girl . June 1985. National Geographic . National Geographic Society. Web.19 Oct. 2010.

Rosenthal, Joe. Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. 23 Feb. 1945. Associated Press. Web. 19 Oct 2010.“iPod advertisement.” Sept 2003. MacWorld Magazine. Macrumors.com. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.

Due Mon, 12/3, by 11:55 p.m. (Sakai)



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Requirements & Grading Your visual essay may take any image-

driven format that seems appropriate for

addressing your issue and should include a

combination of image and text (sound may

also be used). Some options might include:

• A Prezi slideshow (4-5 minutes)

• A video essay ( 4-5 minutes)

If you would like to choose another format,

then please let me know. You are welcome

to use any kind of software you arecomfortable with to produce your finished

product. You may shoot your own

photos/video or use existing media, but

ALL borrowed material must be cited

properly and must follow Fair Use

guidelines (we will discuss these in class).

Your finished product must be available

in a digital format.

You also have the option to work in pairs on

this assignment.

Your finished piece will be evaluated on

the following criteria:

1) Focus/Purpose: The essay must

present a clear perspective on

the topic

2) Arrangement/Design: The

elements of the essay should be

arranged in a way that enhances

the piece through apleasing/interesting design.

3) Development: The essay should

offer claims, evidence (including

library research), and reasoning

in support of the main ideas.

4) Conventions: The essay should

be error-free, and all

media/source material should be

cited within the visual essay.

5) Written essay: The visual essay

should be accompanied by a 2-3

page written essay (MLA format)

that explains the visual piece and

the process that went into

producing the visual essay.

Image Credit: “Fighting to Restore Vision.” Photo. University of Notre Dame Video Channel . 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2010.

Need Help? Ask!

Dr. E: [email protected]

Writing Center: writingcenter.nd.edu

Librarian: [email protected]



Supporting Assignments You will be required to complete smaller projects along the way, much as you did in support of your

print-based research essay. These tasks are designed to help you manage the writing process by

organizing your thinking and resources, and those smaller assignments will be factored into your final

point total for the essay. We will talk more about these smaller assignments in class.

Choosing a Topic and PurposeNote: You are free to use the same topic you chose for your research paper; in fact, you are

encouraged to do so, as long as it works for a visual essay.

If you are looking for a new topic (or new approach to your existing topic), consider some options.

One option might be to analyze a visual text (or series of related visual texts) and make some claim

about the way those texts communicate. In this scenario, the visuals in your essay would likely be theartifacts under analysis (paintings, advertisements, billboards, music videos, architecture, or pretty

much any other artifact). For example:

• What kinds of racial stereotypes exist in campaign ads addressing immigration issues?

• How do movies like “Avatar” and “The Social Network” reflect current, cultural attitudes and

anxieties about technology?

• What kind of cultural benefit do humorous “viral videos” provide a democratic society?

Another approach would be to make an argument about a particular issue (an existing policy, an

overlooked social issue, a current event, a historical movement, etc.) and use images as a way to

provide evidence for or rhetorical power to your argument. For example:

• How can the Notre Dame administration better support its student-athletes?

• Why should more people be aware of the crisis of street children in Pakistan?

• How is a new technological development helping to improve the life of a local community

member?

Whatever approach you take, be sure to choose and issue or population that is of interest to you—your

essay should reflect your passion!

Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org): Find works that you can use without

seeking permission. Note: You must still give credit to the original creator.

Flickr (http://www.flickr.com): Many images on this photo-sharing site are licensed underCC licenses and may be used in your essays.

Content Directories Wiki (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Content_Directories): A list of websites utilizing CC licenses, sorted by type of media.

Google Advanced Image Search (http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search?hl=en): Under the “Usage Rights” drop-

down menu, select either “labeled for reuse” or “labeled for reuse with modification” to filteryour image search results.

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