help with analysing an image

[awesomet]

hey guys

writing a language analysis but I'm having trouble analysing the image. I try but then I end up describing the image.

any tips?

[brenden]

Well, just use verbs. You want to analyse what the image is doing, right?, verbs are doing words.

Eg. Description: The image focuses on an old woman with hunched posture.
Analysis: Having the image focused on a woman with hunched posture creates* a vibe of defeatism, targeting*... complementing* the language...

Make sense?


Edit: Lol, yuck, never use '-ing' words, fix the sentence so it reads 'targets, complements' etc. I'm getting slack.

[alondouek]

When analysing the image, you should (must!) refer to its mood - this is the 'contention' of the image.

In doing this, consider discussing:

• How the mood of the image interacts with the contention of the article (assuming the piece being analysed is an article)
• How the mood of the image affects readers
• How the placement of the image affects readers; is the image embedded in the article? Is it at the top of the piece, or on the side?
• How structural details of the image aid in propagating its mood, i.e. colours/shading
• Any persuasive techniques used in text within the image (if the image is, for example, a cartoon)

N.B. Never actually use the word 'image' in your language analysis. If it's a cartoon, call it a cartoon; if it's a photograph, call it a photograph

[awesomet]

Well, just use verbs. You want to analyse what the image is doing, right?, verbs are doing words.

Eg. Description: The image focuses on an old woman with hunched posture.
Analysis: Having the image focused on a woman with hunched posture creates* a vibe of defeatism, targeting*... complementing* the language...

Make sense?


Edit: Lol, yuck, never use '-ing' words, fix the sentence so it reads 'targets, complements' etc. I'm getting slack.

Yes, thank you

When analysing the image, you should (must!) refer to its mood - this is the 'contention' of the image.

In doing this, consider discussing:

• How the mood of the image interacts with the contention of the article (assuming the piece being analysed is an article)
• How the mood of the image affects readers
• How the placement of the image affects readers; is the image embedded in the article? Is it at the top of the piece, or on the side?
• How structural details of the image aid in propagating its mood, i.e. colours/shading
• Any persuasive techniques used in text within the image (if the image is, for example, a cartoon)

N.B. Never actually use the word 'image' in your language analysis. If it's a cartoon, call it a cartoon; if it's a photograph, call it a photograph

thank you so much, especially the image bit. I always referred to my visual as an image.

[Furbob]

1. think about the cropping of the image

- is it close-up? trying to make the "issue" suffocating and uncomfortable for the reader?
- for a picture of a long chain or big machine that has had part of it cropped off - is it trying to suggest that there's more to it? an infinite problem?

2. note the scaling of any characters and what it's trying to suggest

3. note the focal point (pretty obvious in what it's trying to achieve)

4. is there any symmetry? it can suggest a balanced view, order, a linear perspective

I could go on forever but there's a few things to think about for now

[platypus]

remember to relate it back to the article, explain how the image has been used to support the author's main contention. Analysing the intricacies and details of the visual alone does not suffice - it is important to show your teacher/examiner that you understand the role of the image in relation to the whole piece.

If you tend to describe instead of analyse the image maybe you could start off by incorporating your pictorial analysis into main paragraphs where you analyse the text - i.e. "the appeal to moral justice validates the author's contention that guns should be outlawed in the country. This is additionally supported by the photograph of a young boy suffering a gun wound to his chest, designed to elicit feelings of guilt and shame in readers...etcetc"

also I think it's ok to use the words visual/image when you're referring to it in a generalised manner i.e. the intro or conclusion. However it's good to explicitly identify what type of image it is when you're anaylsing it in depth.