Guidelines for analyzing a visual text

Visual texts. If you are analyzing a visual text, the following additional questions will help you evaluate an image’s purpose and meaning.

• What surprises, perplexes, or intrigues you about the image?
• What clues suggest the visual text’s intended audience? How does the image appeal to its audience?
• If the text is an advertisement, what product is it selling? Does it attempt to sell an idea or a message as well?
• If the visual text includes words, how do the words contribute to the meaning of the image?
• How do design elements—colors, shapes, perspective, background, foreground—shape the visual text’s meaning or serve its purpose?