Responding to Visual Representations
Images are a constant and persistent presence in our lives. The sign atop a taxi invites us to try the new ride at a local tourist attraction. A celebrity sporting a milk mustache smiles from the side of a city bus, accompanied by the familiar question, “Got milk?” The lettering on a pickup truck urges us to call for a free landscaping estimate. During campaign season, politicians beam at us from brochures, billboards, and screens. On television, video, and the Web, advertising images surround us, trying to shape our opinions about everything from personal hygiene products to snack foods to political issues.
Besides ads, all sorts of cartoons, photos, drawings, paintings, logos, graphics, and other two-dimensional media work to evoke responses. The critical skills you develop for analyzing these still images also apply to other visual representations, including television commercials, films, and stage productions. Whether visual images provoke a smile or a frown, one thing is certain: visuals help to structure our views of reality.
Why Responding to Visuals Matters
In a College Course
- You respond to images of people and places in class discussions and papers for sociology, foreign language, and international business classes.
- You write reports on digital images during your health-sciences lab or clinical experience.
In the Workplace
- You evaluate the values conveyed by proposed images for a new Web page.
In Your Community
- You gather recent newspaper images of local teens to document the need for a community sports program.
When have you responded to visuals in your writing? In what situations might you analyze images in future writing?