Tutorials on Reading Visuals

Introduction
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Chapter 11. Tutorials on Reading Visuals

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Tutorials on Reading Visuals
Reading Visuals: Text
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Reading Visuals: Text

Authors:

Cheryl E. Ball, Wayne State University, and Kristin L. Arola, Michigan Technological University

Activity Objective:

In this tutorial, you will explore the elements that make up multimodal texts.

Click the forward and backward arrows to navigate through the slides. You may also click the above outline button to skip to certain slides.

© 2018 Macmillan Learning

Two girls are facing the camera while two girls are standing facing each other and looking at different directions.

Text traditionally means written words. But because we want to talk about the visuals, sounds, and movement that make up multimedia, we use the term “text” to refer to a piece of communication as a whole. Texts include artwork such as photographs, sculptures, and band flyers, but also poems and novels, Twitter feeds, sound effects and radio essays, and multimedia works such as YouTube videos and Flash animations. All texts are multimodal—made up of different arrangements of visual, aural, and linguistic elements (and maybe others as well). Each mode and each element within that mode adds meaning to a text.

This photograph by Lauren Greenfield is a purely visual text.

Credit: Cheryl Ball

This Twitter feed is mostly words, but design, graphics, and the ability to change the text in “real time” are part of how it works as a whole.

A poster shows a man sitting. Behind him is a cityscape decorated with colorful Native American prints. The poster reads

This “Think Indian” ad is a single text that uses words (which are also visuals) and images in combination.

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Credit: Jeff Kuure

This radio essay, “Winter” is a single text that uses words which are presented orally instead of visually. The oral delivery is combined with sound effects and timing to present an image-rich story.

Please note that there are no actual images in this audio essay.

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Credit: Reefer Madness (1938) directed by Louis J. Gasnier

Released in 1938, Reefer Madness is one of the best-known examples of propaganda films. The film was intended to be a cautionary tale that alerted viewers to the consequences of marijuana use. Originally financed by a church group, the film was bought and distributed by Dwaine Esper, a producer who played up the sex and violence in the film. In the 1970s, the film developed a cult following and was a staple of the midnight movie circuit. As you watch this brief clip, keep in mind that the film was intended as a serious morality tale, but marketed as anything but. You can view the full film here .

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Credit: Reefer Madness (1938) directed by Louis J. Gasnier

Reefer Madness is a cinematic text, which means you’re intended to sit back and watch as the story unfolds. But that doesn't mean you’re not being an active reader of this text. Noticing details about how the text works helps you collect information that you can use to interpret it.

The woman is looking at the man who has turned his face away. The subtitle reads I thought you were a sport.
The man is now smiling. He holds a cigarette between his lips. The subtitle reads, That’s more like it.
One of the men is sitting near a table and two men wearing hats are standing. The man who is sitting is looking at the man standing next to him. The subtitle reads Don't be a dope.

Notice the caricatured way in which the woman on the couch pressures the man into smoking marijuana, the accentuated zoom on his face as he puts the joint in his mouth, and the different and frequent usages of the word “dope” in the drug dealer’s office. These are subtle details that may suggest the film is not taking seriously the moral implications of its subject matter, which we know to be true from its background.

A screenshot shows a man and a woman sitting on a couch. The woman has a cigarette in her mouth and the man is holding a cigarette in his hand. The caption reads of course, if you're afraid.

When you read a text actively, you pay attention to details, ask questions, and notice your own reactions. Even if we don’t yet understand what the text means, or how the details contribute to the larger message of the film, we are gradually digging deeper to understand both what is being shown and how the parts of the text work together to create meaning.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

As you work through the following questions, consider how each asks you to consider particular aspects of this complex “Call for Papers” video text.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

As you watch this text, what are the first things you notice? Do you think about all the different pieces that make up this text, or do you think they work seamlessly?
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

What is the purpose of this text? Is the text broken into distinguishable sections, scenes, or other navigation? What are they, and how does each of them contribute to the overall text?
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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Credit: © Will Burdette

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

How many separate elements can you name as part of this text? How does each of them contribute to your understanding of the text as a whole? Could you see adding any elements that aren’t present? How?
Your response has been provisionally accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Congratulations! You have completed this activity.

Total Score: out of (%)

You have received a provisional score for your essay answers, which have been submitted to your instructor.