The document outlines the requirements for writing a visual analysis paper focused on a single image. It emphasizes that the paper should reflect personal reaction and analysis based on concepts learned in the course, structured into sections including introduction, content, appearance, use, context, and summary. The paper should be between four and six double-spaced pages, with a cover page and a good quality copy of the image included.

1. 2.
THE FORMAT
The paper should be between four and six double-spaced,
typewritten pages…but if you want to write more, you can and
should.
Please include a cover page with your name and the title of your
paper (or the name of the image) at the front, and include a
good quality copy of the image you select as the last page of
your paper.
3.
CONTENTS
This paper is a visual analysis of a
single
image…it is a summation of everything you have learned in
this course, as applied to the study of one single image.
Use what you have learned in this course to probe into the full
meaning of the image.
Select a
single
image from any source (photo, painting, billboard, ad, etc.).
The image you pick may have multiple parts (images, words,
etc.) but do not assemble a collection of images.

2. Pick
one
that you find absolutely fascinating, riveting, intriguing, or
otherwise compelling enough to write about.
You can re-use an image you picked for one of the weekly
assignments if you want, or select a new one.
4.
REQUIREMENTS
This is n
ot a research paper but a reaction paper…it is about your
response to the image and what you think is important about it,
what you notice in it, what you feel gives it its impact or its
meaning in all the ways we have discussed.
No need for footnotes. If you want to use any quotes from the
articles, chapters, or other texts just put the words within quote
marks and state where they come from.
Like this:
As Ada Louise Huxtable says in the article
Living with the Fake and Learning to Love It,
“Distinctions are no longer made or deemed necessary between
the real and the false.”
Other than a sentence or two as a cited quote from someone
else, this paper MUST BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS or it will
not be accepted.
5.

3. THE STRUCTURE
After the cover page, the paper itself should be in six parts:
Introduction
Write a paragraph or two introducing the image and explaining
what attracted you
to it in the first place, why you thought it was interesting
enough to write about.
Analysis
The bulk of the paper is going through the four approaches to
meaning one by one
(Content, Appearance, Use, Context) and relating these to the
image just as you
have done separately for various weekly image assignments.
Content: what are the important things you see in the image and
how and
why do they contribute to the impact?
Appearance: what visual elements (colors, shapes, lines, etc.)
and visual
principles (balance, hierarchy, etc.) seem to matter in this image

4. and why do they matter?
Use:
what aspects of how the image is being used matter here?
Who do
you think is using the image and in what ways and for what
purposes?
Context:
what else that you know or find out about the image seems to
affect it’s meaning or impact?
Summary
The last paragraph or two should summarize what you have said
in the paper and
relate the points you have made to the reason the image has an
impact on you.
Did the process of analyzing change your mind at all or give
you new insights?
6.

5. STEPS IN WRITING THE PAPER
1.
Pick an image that works
Pick an image that is interesting, fascinating, troubling…an
image that you
respond to in some way, one that you find compelling enough to
look carefully at
and write about for an extended period.
Pick a good quality image…don’t use a tiny thumbnail off the
Web, get one that
is clear and sharp.
Avoid abstract images (no Content to write about), cliché
images (too obvious to
be interesting), classic images (too much already written about
them), and simple
cartoons or logos (not enough to think about).

6. 2. Explain your choice
Write a paragraph or two about why you picked this
image, what appealed to you about it, why it seemed more
compelling to you than the trillions of other images out
there.
A polished version of this will become the opening
paragraph or two of your final paper.
3. Write about the Content
Start with a description of what you see in the frame,
what you notice that seems important.
Content is
not
about listing everything you see. Content is about
why
you notice certain things,
why
the order you notice them in might matter,
why
certain details have an impact on you and
others do not,
why
how real an image might seem is
important…or not.
Content includes what you notice (denotation)
and also what you infer
(connotation).
Refer back to your class notes, the chapters,
and the readings to get ideas about what to

7. look for.
4. Write about the Appearance
Go through your class notes, the chapters, and the
readings about Appearance to remind
yourself about what this covers and what to look for.
Appearance is about how the image makes you feel,
what your response is to the colors, the
shapes, the lines, the balances, the visual rhythms, etc.
Look at it upside down to avoid the Content and focus
on the visual impact.
Look at the list of visual elements and
principles and see which ones matter in terms of the
impact of the image you picked.
5. Write about the Use
Who created the image and why? How and what is the image
being used to communicate? What kinds of information does it
convey? Do the people who published the image want
something from you? Are the questions of value and worth part
of the significance of this image? Is the image used to convince
or persuade you of anything and, if so, is this successful?
Refer back to the chapter, readings, lectures about Use to get
ideas about what to think about as you work on this.
6. Write about the Context
Is there any outside information (stories, ideas, facts, even other
images) that you had in mind when you picked that image that

8. made you think about in a certain way?
Is there any information that came with the image, or even that
you found on your own after you picked the image, that might
contribute to or affect its meaning?
Again look at the chapter, readings, and notes that relate to
Context to remind you about what it covers and to give you
ideas about what to look for and think about.
7. Write a summary
One or two paragraphs that summarize what you have said in
the paper and
relate the points you have made to the reason the image has an
impact on you.
Did the process of analyzing change your mind at all or give
you new insights?