Album Cover Outline Template Introduction: 1. Attention Getter: Background on the artist, type of music, the album, the time and place of its creation, or even the designer. You can also tell us information about how the album was received or how it sold. 2. Thesis: What techniques are used on the album cover to create meaning, and how does it influence the audience? Body (This is just one possible organizational pattern. Choose an organizational structure based on the elements of your album cover): 1. Paragraph One: a. Describe the album cover and what it looks like. b. Discuss the artist who designed the cover. What was the inspiration? 2. Paragraph Two: a. Analyze Audience and Message i. How do the images, colors, text and layout help create the message? ii. What evidence proves who the audience is? iii. What is the context of the album? (Culture, time and place) 3. Paragraph Three: a. Relate the album cover to the subject matter of the album, using a specific song and its lyrics as proof. b. Does the cover art create an argument? 4. Paragraph Four: a. Anything else you want to analyze (Ethos, Logos, Pathos, Overall Effects, Negative or Positive Consequences, stereotypes, etc.) Conclusion: 1. Rephrase thesis 2. Summarize main points 3. Challenge, Recommendation or other final statements about the album and why it was worth analyzing. Essay #2: Analysis of an Album Cover Rough Draft Due: Final Draft Due: Description: Album covers are a chance for artists to set the stage for their music, to convey a key to understanding the tone and meaning of their thesis and songs. As Michael Renaud, the creative director for Pitchfork, said, “The album cover remains a powerful factor in how we make sense of a record—whether it's presented via gatefold vinyl or shrunk all the way down to fit on your smartphone screen.” The ability to critically read and interpret visual images, both their overt and subtle messages, enables us to draw meaning from them in ways not necessarily obvious to the passive observer. In this essay, you will analyze an album cover to gain a better understanding of the artist’s musical intentions and the ways it might carry cultural meaning under its surface. You’ll be analyzing your album cover by breaking it down into components, looking for relationships between those components (color, text, pictures, etc.) understanding how each component contributes to the obvious and subtle messages of the album and drawing conclusions about their significance. Guidelines: Pick an album cover that has a complexity that would work for an indepth analysis. Some covers may be too simplistic or straight forward to require much interpretation. The album cover may include a visual image combined with written text. When you have selected your album cover, make sure to have it available in our all of our classes. Writing Issues: .