As you draft, you may decide that support for your thesis could come from one or more visuals. Visuals can convey information concisely and powerfully. Images—including photographs and diagrams—often express an idea more vividly than words can.

Graphs and tables can simplify complex numerical information. Looking at data lets you generate and test hypotheses that may or may not support your thesis.

Always consider how a visual supports your purpose and how your audience might respond to it. Use visuals to supplement your writing, not to substitute for it. A student writing about the shift from print to online news, for example, used a screen shot of a link embedded in a news article to illustrate a point. Another student, writing about treatments for childhood obesity, created a table to display data she discussed in her paper.

USING SOURCES RESPONSIBLY: Keep in mind that if you download a visual or use published information to create your own visual, you must credit your source.