how to write a visual argument essay

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III. Rhetorical Situation

3.14 Writing a Visual Analysis

Terri Pantuso

While visuals such as graphs and charts can enhance an argument when used to present evidence, visuals themselves can also present an argument. Every time you encounter an ad for a certain product, stop and consider what exactly the creators of that visual want you to believe. Who is the target audience? Does the message resonate more with one group of people than another? While most advertisements or political cartoons seem to be nebulous conveyors of commerce, if you look closely you will uncover an argument presented to you, the audience.

So how do you write a visual rhetorical analysis essay? First, you’ll want to begin by examining the rhetorical strengths and weaknesses of your chosen visual. If your purpose is to write an argument about the visual, such as what artworks are considered “fine art,” then your focus will be on demonstrating how the visual meets the criteria you establish in your thesis . To do this, try a method adapted from one on working with primary sources where you Observe, Reflect and Question. [1]

Arguments About a Visual

Take for example Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” (Figure 3.14.1). [2] If you want to argue that the painting is a classic example of fine art, you’ll first have to define the criteria for your terms “classic” and “fine art.” Next, you’ll want to look for elements within the painting to support your claim. As you study the painting, try the following strategy for analysis: Describe/Observe ; Respond/Reflect ; Analyze/Question .

Describe/Observe

First, describe what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font if you’re analyzing an advertisement. In the case of “The Starry Night,” you might begin by describing the various shades of blue, the black figures that resemble buildings, or shades of yellow that cast light. As you describe them, observe the texture, shape, contour, etc. about each element. For this initial stage, you are simply describing what you observe. Do not look deeper at this point.

Respond/Reflect

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the ad or painting? If there are words present, what does the artist’s font selection do for the image? This is where you’ll want to look for appeals to ethos and pathos. In the case of “The Starry Night,” how does the use of black create depth and for what reason? Reflect on how the intermittent use of shades of blue impacts the overall impression of the painting. At this stage, you are questioning the elements used so that you may move to the final stage of analysis.

Analyze/Question

After you’ve described and reflected upon the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the visual. This assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Ask yourself if the arrangement of each item in the visual impacts the message? Could there be something more the artist wants you to gather from this visual besides the obvious? Question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of your selected image.

Arguments Presented By/Within a Visual

In the summer of 2015, the Bureau of Land Management ran an ad campaign with the #mypubliclandsroadtrip tag. The goal of this campaign was to “explore the diverse landscapes and resources on [our] public lands, from the best camping sites to cool rock formations to ghost towns.” [3] The photo below (Figure 3.14.2) [4] is of the King Range National Conservation Area (NCA) in California which was the first NCA designated by Congress in 1970. [5] Returning to the Observe, Reflect and Question method, analysis of this photo might focus on what the image presents overall as well as arguments embedded within the image.

As with “The Starry Night”, you might start by describing what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font. With the Bureau of Land Management ad, you could begin by describing the multiple shades of blues and browns in the landscape. Next, you might focus on the contrasts between the sea and land, and the sea and sky. Making note of textures presented by various rock formations and the sand would add depth to your analysis. You might also note the solitary person walking along the shoreline. Finally, you would want to observe the placement of the sun in the sky at the horizon.

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the photo? How does the artist’s font selection impact the image? Through these observations, you will be able to identify appeals to ethos and pathos. In the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might respond to the various shades of blue as seemingly unreal yet reflect on their natural beauty as a way of creating an inviting tone. Next, reflect on the textures presented by the rocks and sand as a way of adding texture to the image. This texture further contributes to the welcoming mood of the image. By focusing on the solitary person in the image, you might respond that this landscape offers a welcoming place to reflect on life decisions or to simply enjoy the surroundings. Finally, you might respond to the placement of the sun as being either sunrise or sunset.

After describing and reflecting on the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the image. Again, this assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Using the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might ask if the font choice was intentional to replicate the rolling waves, or if the framing around the edges of the image is done intentionally to tie back into the Bureau logo in the upper right-hand corner. Once you’ve moved beyond the surface image, question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of an argument presented by/within your selected image.

• This exercise was inspired by a workshop titled “Working with Primary Sources,” hosted by Meg Steele, given at the Library of Congress alongside the National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Washington, D.C. in November 2014. ↵
• Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Wikimedia Commons, accessed November 15, 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg . ↵
• "Drop A Line: Explore Your Lands! My Public Lands Summer Roadtrip 2016," Bureau of Land Management, accessed November 14, 2021, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=0d3fdf6ca0e44d258adde314479b3bdb . ↵
• Bureau of Land Management, My Public Lands Roadtrip, June 3, 2015, digital photograph, Flickr, accessed January 6, 2021, https://www.flickr.com/photos/91981596@N06/18607529954 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License . ↵
• “King Range National Conservation Area,” U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, accessed January 14, 2021, https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/california/king-range-national-conservation-area . ↵

To resound, reverberate, or vibrate; to produce a positive emotional response about a subject.

Cloudy, hazy, or murky; ambiguous, imprecise, or vague.

A statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes an argument that will later be explained, expanded upon, and developed in a longer essay or research paper. In undergraduate writing, a thesis statement is often found in the introductory paragraph of an essay. The plural of thesis is theses .

Ceasing and beginning or stopping and starting in a recurrent, cyclical or periodic pattern.

3.14 Writing a Visual Analysis Copyright © 2023 by Terri Pantuso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay: Examples & Template

A visual analysis essay is an academic paper type that history and art students often deal with. It consists of a detailed description of an image or object. It can also include an interpretation or an argument that is supported by visual evidence.

In this article, our custom writing experts will:

• explain what a visual analysis is;
• share useful tips on how to write a good visual analysis essay;
• provide an essay sample.
• 🎨 Visual Analysis Definition
• 🏺 Artwork Analysis Tips
• ✅ Visual Analysis Writing Guide
• 📑 Example & Citation Tips

🎨 What Is a Visual Analysis?

The primary objective of visual analysis is to understand an artwork better by examining the visual elements. There are two types of visual analysis: formal and contextual.

• A formal analysis focuses on artwork elements such as texture, color, size, and line. It aims to organize visual information and translate it into words. A formal analysis doesn’t interpret the piece.
• Unlike formal analysis, contextual analysis’ primary goal is to connect artwork to its purpose or meaning within a culture. A contextual analysis includes formal analysis. Additionally, it discusses an artwork’s social purpose and significance.

Usually, students deal with formal visual analysis. Before starting to work on your essay, make sure to ask your professor whether to include contextual analysis or not.

The Purpose of Analyzing Images

Why is visual analysis important? What does it help to learn? There are several things that visual analysis helps with:

• It allows students to enhance their appreciation of art.
• It enables students to develop the ability to synthesize information.
• It encourages students to seek out answers instead of simply receiving them.
• It prompts higher-order critical thinking and helps to create a well-reasoned analysis.
• By conducting visual analysis, students learn how to support and explain their ideas by studying visual information.

What Is Formal Analysis: Art History

When we look at an artwork, we want to know why it was created, who made it, and what its function was. That’s why art historians and researchers pay special attention to the role of artworks within historical contexts.

Visual analysis is a helpful tool in exploring art. It focuses on the following aspects:

• Interpretation of subject matter ( iconography). An iconographic analysis is an explanation of the work’s meaning. Art historians try to understand what is shown and why it is depicted in a certain way.
• The analysis of function. Many works of art were designed to serve a purpose that goes beyond aesthetics. Understanding that purpose by studying their historical use helps learn more about artworks. It also establishes a connection between function and appearance.

Formal Analysis: Art Glossary

Now, let’s look at some visual elements and principles and learn how to define them.

Visual Elements :

Visual Principles :

🏺 How to Analyze Artworks: Different Types

Writing a formal analysis is a skill that requires practice. Being careful and attentive during the pre-writing stage is essential if you want to create a good and well-structured visual analysis. 

Visual analysis essay mainly consists of two components:

• Description of the selected image or object,
• Interpretation built on the visual evidence.

During the pre-writing stage:

• Collect general information about an artwork. Describe it briefly. Pay special attention to visual elements and principles:

• Develop an interpretation. Think critically. What does the information in your notes imply? How can it be interpreted?
• Support your ideas. To do it, refer to the visual elements directly. Avoid generalizing art and double-check your prompts. 

How to Analyze a Painting Using the Elements of Art

To write an excellent formal visual analysis, you need to consider as many visual principles and elements as you can apply. In the formal analysis part:

• Target your description;
• Address only those elements relevant to your essay;
• Pay attention to visual elements and principles;
• Introduce the subject of the painting and describe it;
• Explain why you have decided to discuss specific elements;
• Discuss the relationship between visual elements of the artwork;
• Use the vocabulary terms.

If you are asked to do a contextual analysis , you may want to:

• Focus on the historical importance of an artwork;
• Explore the style or movement associated with an artwork;
• Learn about the historical context and the public’s reaction to the artwork;
• Learn about the author and how they’ve created the piece of art.

Painting Analysis Essay Example & Tips

Here is a template you can use for your essay.

Now, let’s take a look at an essay example.

How to Analyze a Photograph

Analyzing photos has a lot in common with paintings. There are three methods on which photo visual analysis relies: description, reflection, and formal analysis. Historical analysis can be included as well, though it is optional.

• Description . It implies looking closely at the photo and considering all the details. The description needs to be objective and consists of basic statements that don’t express an opinion.

• Reflection. For the next step, focus on the emotions that the photograph evokes. Here, every viewer will have a different opinion and feelings about the artwork. Knowing some historical context may be helpful to construct a thoughtful response.
• Formal analysis . Think of the visual elements and principles. How are they represented in the photograph?
• Historical analysis. For a contextual analysis, you need to pay attention to the external elements of the photograph. Make sure that you understand the environmental context in which the photo was taken. Under what historical circumstances was the picture made?

Photo Analysis Essay Tips

Now that we’ve talked about analyzing a photograph let’s look at some helpful tips that will help you write an essay.

Visual Analysis Essay on a Sculpture: Writing Tips

A sculpture analysis consists of the following parts:

• Description . Include specific details, such as what the sculpture may represent. For instance, the human figure may be an athlete, an ancient God, a poet, etc. Consider their pose, body build, and attire.
• Formal analysis . Here, visual elements and principles become the focus. Discuss the color, shape, technique, and medium.
• Contextual analysis . If you decide to include a contextual analysis, you can talk about the sculpture’s function and how it conveys   ideas and sentiments of that period. Mention its historical and cultural importance.

When it comes to sculpture analysis, you may also want to collect technical data such as:

• The size of the sculpture
• Medium (the material)
• The current condition (is it damaged, preserved as a fragment, or as a whole piece)
• Display (Was a sculpture a part of an architectural setting, or was it an independent piece of work?)

For instance, if you were to do a visual analysis of Laocoön and His Sons , you could first look up such details:

• Location: Discovered in a Roman vineyard in 1506
• Current location: Vatican
• Date: Hellenistic Period (323 BCE – 31 CE)
• Size: Height 208 cm; Width 163 cm; Depth 112 cm
• Material: Marble
• Current condition: Missing several parts.

Visual Analysis Essay: Advertisement Analysis

Visuals are used in advertisements to attract attention or convince the public that they need what is being advertised. The purpose of a visual argument is to create interest. Advertisements use images to convey information and communicate with the audience.

When writing a visual analysis of an advertisement, pay attention to the following:

• text elements,
• illustrations,
• composition.

All of this influences how the viewer perceives the information and reacts to it.

When you write about an advertisement, you conduct a rhetorical analysis of its visual elements. Visual rhetoric is mainly directed at analyzing images and extracting information from them. It helps to understand the use of typography, imagery, and the arrangement of elements on the page.

Think of the famous visual rhetoric examples such as the We can do it! poster or a Chanel №5 commercial. Both examples demonstrate how persuasive imagery has been used throughout history.

How to Write a Visual Analysis Paper on an Advertisement

The presentation of visual elements in advertising is essential. It helps to convince the audience. When you analyze visual arguments, always keep the rhetorical situation in mind. Here are some crucial elements to focus on:

✅ How to Write a Visual Analysis Paper: Step by Step

Now, we’ll focus on the paper itself and how to structure it. But first, check out the list of topics and choose what suits you best.

Visual Analysis Essay Topics

There are a lot of artworks and advertisements that can be analyzed and viewed from different perspectives. Here are some essay topics on visual analysis that you may find helpful:

• Analyze Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss (1907-1908.)
• The theme of humanity and The Son of Man (1964) by René Magritte.
• The use of visual elements in Almond Blossom by Vincent van Gogh (1888-1890.)
• Identity and Seated Harlequin (1901) by Picasso .
• Explore the themes of Paul Klee ’s The Tree of Houses , 1918.
• Objectives, activities, and instructions of Pietro Perugino’s fresco The Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter . 
• Reflection on social issues of the time in Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo and Untitled by Ramses Younan.  
• Analyze the importance of Mural (1943) by Jackson Pollock.  
• The political message in John Gast’s painting American Progress (1872).
• Describe the visual techniques used in Toy Pieta by Scott Avett .
• The interpretation of the painting Indian Fire God by Frederic Remington.
• Explore the historical significance and aesthetic meaning of Ognissanti Madonna by Giotto di Bondone .
• Analyze different interpretations of The Three Dancers by Pablo Picasso .

Photography:

• The idea behind Lindsay Key (1985) by Robert Mapplethorpe.
• Explore the mythical appeal of Robert Capa’s photograph The Falling Soldier (Spain,1936) from Death in Making photobook.
• Describe Two Boys with Fish (2018) from Faith series by Mario Macilau.
• Kevin Carter’s Starving Child and Vulture (1993) as the representation of photojournalism.
• The story behind Philippe Halsman’s Dali Atomicus , 1948.
• Describe The Starving Boy in Uganda photograph by Mike Wells
• Analyse the view of a historic disaster in San Francisco photograph by George R. Lawrence.
• The statement behind Eddie Adams’s photo Shooting a Viet Cong Prisoner .
• How is Steve McCurry’s perception of the world reflected in his photo Afghanistan Girl .
• Analyze the reflection of Ansel Adams’s environmental philosophy in his photo Moon and Half Dome (1960).
• Describe Girl on the Garda Lake (2016) by Giuseppe Milo.
• Combination of internal geometry and true-to-life moments in Behind the Gare Saint Lazare by Henri Cartier-Bresson .
• Modern art and Couple on Seat by Lynn Chadwick (1984.)
• Analyze the biblical context of Pieta (1498-1499) by Michelangelo.
• The use of shapes in Louise Bourgeois’ Spider (1996.)
• Analysis of the symbolism behind The Thinker (1880) by Rodin.
• The historical meaning of Fountain (1917) by Duchamp .
• Analyze the Miniature Statue of Liberty by Willard Wigan 
• The combination of Egyptian culture and classical Greek ideology in statue of Osiris-Antinous.  
• Reflection of the civilization values in emperor Qin’s Terracotta Army . 
• The aesthetic and philosophical significance of Michelangelo’s David .
• Explore the controversial meaning of Damien Hirst’s sculpture For the Love of God (2007).
• Analyze the elements of art and design used in The Thinker by August Rodin .
• Symbolic elements in the Ancient Greek statues of Zeus .
• Depiction of the fundamental aspects of Buddhism in The Parinirvana of Siddhartha/Shakyamuni.

Advertisement:

• How Volkswagen : Think Small (1960) ad changed advertising.
• Analyze the use of figures in California Milk Processor Board: Got Milk? (1993) ad campaign .
• Analyze the use of colors in Coca-Cola — The Pause that Refreshes (1931.)
• Explore the historical context of We Can Do It! (1942) campaign.
• The importance of a slogan in 1947: A Diamond Is Forever by De Beers.
• Examine the specifics of visual advert: dogs and their humans.  
• Describe the use of visual techniques in Kentucky Fried Chicken company’s advertisement.
• Analyze the multiple messages behind the print ad of JBL .
• Discuss the methods used in Toyota Highlander advertisement .
• Elucidation of people’s dependency on social networks in the advertising campaign Followers by Miller Lite.
• The use of the visual arguments in Schlitz Brewing Company advertisement .
• The role of colors and fonts in Viva la Juicy perfume advertisement .

Visual Analysis Essay Outline

You can use this art analysis template to structure your essay:

How to Start an Art Essay

Every analysis starts with an introduction. In the first paragraph, make sure that:

• the reader knows that this essay is a visual analysis;
• you have provided all the necessary background information about an artwork.

It’s also important to know how to introduce an artwork. If you’re dealing with a panting or a photograph, it’s better to integrate them into the first page of your analysis. This way, the reader can see the piece and use it as a reference while reading your paper.

Art Thesis Statement Examples & Tips

Formulating a thesis is an essential step in every essay. Depending on the purpose of your paper, you can either focus your visual analysis thesis statement on formal elements or connect it with the contextual meaning. 

To create a strong thesis, you should relate it to an artwork’s meaning, significance, or effect. Your interpretation should put out an argument that someone could potentially disagree with. 

• For instance, you can consider how formal elements or principles impact the meaning of an artwork. Here are some options you can consider:

• If your focus is the contextual analysis, you can find the connection between the artwork and the artist’s personal life or a historical event.

How to Write Visual Analysis Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs of formal analysis consist of two parts—the description and the analysis itself. Let’s take Klimt’s The Kiss as an example:

The contextual analysis includes interpretation and evaluation.

Visual Analysis Essay Conclusion

When you work on the conclusion, try to conclude your paper without restating the thesis. At the end of your essay, you can present an interesting fact. You can also try to:

• Compare an artwork to similar ones;
• Contrast your own ideas on the piece with the reaction people had when it was first revealed.
• Talk about an artwork’s significance to the culture and art in general.

📑 Visual Analysis Essay Example & Citation Tips

In this section of the article, we will share some tips on how to reference an artwork in a paper. We will also provide an essay example.

How to Reference a Painting in an Essay

When you work on visual analysis, it is important to know how to write the title of an artwork properly. Citing a painting, a photograph, or any other visual source, will require a little more information than citing a book or an article. Here is what you will need:

• Size dimensions
• Current location
• Name of the piece
• Artist’s name
• Date when artwork was created

If you want to cite a painting or an artwork you saw online, you will also need:

• The name of the website
• Website URL
• Page’s publication date
• Date of your access

How to Properly Credit an Artwork in APA

How to Properly Credit an Artwork in MLA

How to Properly Credit an Artwork in Chicago Format

Finally, here’s a sample visual analysis of Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker in APA format. Feel free to download it below.

Many people believe that works of art are bound to be immortal. Indeed, some remarkable masterpieces have outlived their artists by many years, gaining more and more popularity with time. Among them is The Thinker, a brilliant sculpture made by Auguste Rodin, depicting a young, athletic man, immersed deep into his thoughts.

You can also look at the following essay samples to get even more ideas.

• The Protestors Cartoon by Clay Bennett: Visual Analysis
• Visual Analysis – Editorial Cartoon
• Visual Analysis: “Dust Storm” Photo by Steve McCurry
• Visual, Aural, Read & Write, Kinesthetic Analysis
• Schlitz Brewing Company Advertisement: Visual Arguments Analysis

Thanks for reading through our article! We hope you found it helpful. Don’t hesitate to share it with your friends.

Further reading:

• How to Write a Lab Report: Format, Tips, & Example
• Literature Review Outline: Examples, Approaches, & Templates
• How to Write a Research Paper Step by Step [2024 Upd.]
• How to Write a Term Paper: The Ultimate Guide and Tips

❓ Visual Analysis FAQs

To write a visual argument essay, you need to use rhetorical analysis. Visual rhetoric is directed at analyzing images and extracting the information they contain. It helps to analyze the visuals and the arrangement of elements on the page.

A well-though contextual analysis will include:

1. formal analysis, 2. some information about the artist, 3. details on when and where the piece was created, 4. the social purpose of the work, 5. its cultural meaning.

It is better to include pictures  in the introduction  part of your paper. Make sure to cite them correctly according to the format you’re using. Don’t forget to add the website name, the URL, and the access date.

To analyze means not only to describe but also to evaluate and synthesize visual information. To do that, you need to learn about visual elements and principles and see how and why they are used within artworks.

🔍 References

• Art History: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Visual Analysis: Duke University
• Writing a Formal Analysis in Art History: Hamilton College
• Contextual Analysis: Pine-Richland School District
• How to Analyze an Artwork: Student Art Guide
• Introduction to Art Historical Analysis: Khan Academy
• Guidelines for Analysis of Art: University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• Elements of Art: Getty.edu
• Formal or Critical Analysis: LibreTexts
• Analyzing a Photograph: University of Oregon
• Picture Composition Analysis and Photo Essay: University of Northern Iowa
• Visual Analysis Guidelines: Skidmore College
• How to Analyze Sculpture: NLA Design and Visual Arts: WordPress
• Visual Rhetoric: Purdue University
• Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition
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do you review and edit visual arts extended essay

• Social Sciences

How to Make a Visual Essay

• Author: Virginia Kearney

A visual essay on homelessness can be particularly moving if done well.

Unknown Photographer, CC-BY, via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

What Is a Visual Essay?

A visual essay uses images along with words in order to:

• Tell a personal story
• Argue a claim
• Explain a literary text
• Illustrate a social problem

This Article Includes

• Types of visual essays
• Step-by-step instructions
• Student samples
• Links for free-use images
• Help in finding quotes, graphs, and clip art

Example: Depression Slideshow Essay

Girl Praying for School Lunch during Depression, 1936

Why Write a Visual Essay?

There are a lot of good reasons for writing a visual essay. Here are some that come to mind.

More Interesting

Sometimes this kind of essay is an assignment for a class, but it might also be an option your instructor gives you. If you have the choice, you might find making a visual presentation more interesting and more powerful than just writing a regular essay.

Emotional Impact

Why? By using music, video, quotes, and powerful images, you can have a more powerful emotional effect on an audience than any written essay.

Bigger Audience

Better yet, these sorts of essays can be shared online to make your argument to a larger audience. For example, not too many people will read your essay on homelessness, but many people might want to see your essay on the lives of homeless people in your town and the people who help the homeless in a soup kitchen (see "Depression Slideshow" or "My Photo Memory: Helping Others" Video). Better yet, visual essays are easily shared through social media outlets and posted on YouTube.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

This old saying is true. A great example is the "Texting and Driving" video below. The audience will understand the author's strong stand against texting when they see this essay that includes pictures of the author's high school friends who died because someone was texting while driving. While many students are told to avoid using "pathos" as an argument strategy, I tell my students that if you want to persuade someone, you need to tell stories that paint a picture and then follow up with facts that back up the story and demonstrate how important it is to solve it.

Example: Texting and Driving

Choosing a topic.

Thinking about moving personal experiences can help you choose a topic. The student who created "Texting and Driving" experienced the grief of losing five friends because of texting. He used his own emotions to help him craft a moving visual argument and included the story of his friends as part of his essay. For help in finding a topic, see my articles:

Reflective Essay Topic Ideas

Argument Essay Topics

What to Include

Like an argument paper , visual essays can use written words and quotes, but they also can include:

• Professional video
• Personally filmed video
• Graphic Images
• Tables, charts, and graphs
• Spoken words

Recommended

Wellington House: Britain's WW1 Propaganda Bureau

Step-by-step instructions.

• Step One: You need to brainstorm, plan, and research for your essay. Follow my steps below to plan your essay. I also give you links on where to find images to put in your essay and quotes to use.
• Step Two : Gather your images and video. You can make your own videos and pictures, or use those available from the sites I give below. I also give you a link for software that lets you download YouTube videos that you can splice into your own essays.
• Step Three: Put your essay together using Apple iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or other video software. You can include music, your own voice, captions, and quotes.
• Step Four: Publish your essay by uploading it to YouTube or showing it to your classmates and instructor.

Starting Your Visual Essay

Visual essays are a different format from written ones, but they require many of the same processes to make. Just like when you write, you will need to decide what you want to explain or argue.

Choose a topic and then decide what kind of essay you are writing. Here is a list of types:

• Explaining: when you want to describe and paint a picture of something but not argue a point.
• Analysis and Evaluation: when you want to take something apart and analyze the different parts. Often used for literature, songs, or movies. Part of your analysis will be evaluating whether this is effective for the audience.
• Fact : Is it true or not? Does it exist? Did it happen? (example: Is climate change Real? Does domestic violence happen in my community?)
• Definition: How should we define it? What is it? (example: What is love? or What was the great depression like?)
• Cause: What is the cause? What are the effects? How are these related? (example: What causes homelessness? What are the effects of teens texting and driving?)
• Value: How important is this? How should we value it? (example: How important is Family for college students? or What is the value of a college education?)
• Policy: What should we do about it? How can we solve the problem? (example: How can we help friends with eating disorders? How can we solve the problem of child labor?)

You may need to do some research to find the answer to your argument question. You can Google to find out some information on your topic, or look at YouTube videos. Once you find your claim answer, try to write it in a single sentence. That sentence is the thesis for your essay.

Finding Images for Visual Essays

When you are looking for images on the Internet, you need to understand that there is a difference between just viewing those images and using them yourself. Luckily, there are many great sites with images that are offered free for anyone to use. Here are some of the best free use sites:

• Wikimedia Commons : images are available for free use and don't have copyright. Moreover, they have a lot of interesting historical images and famous pictures and art which can make your visual essay unique. The link lands you on the "Topic" page, but you can also use the search engine to find photos.
• Flickr: includes many categories of photos, including "The Commons" which are photos uploaded from collections, as well as personal photos uploaded by people around the world.
• Pixabay: professional photography images that are often quite stunning. These free-use images can be explored by topic, by the photographer, or by searching for a term. This site also includes clip art.
• Slideshare: contains many PowerPoint presentations on lots of different topics. You can get ideas for your essay as well as look for graphics and quotes you could use. This site gets many uploads from companies, professors, and businesses, so it is a great resource for charts and graphs.
• Pikwizard: offers a variety of high-quality photos that you can use for personal and commercial use. It also includes a Design Wizard feature which allows you to add text, shapes, video, and other elements. Some features and add-ons are free and others require a small fee.

EdWordle image

By Thea Goldin Smith [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Finding Quotes

Need a great quote to make a point in your essay? Or maybe you remember a quote but don't know who said it. Use one of these sites to help you out:

• Brainy Quote : Get quotes on many topics like love, friendship, wisdom, or quotes by the author. A good quote can be an excellent way to end your essay.
• Good Reads Quotes : Another source for quotes from famous people. You type in the topic and many different quotes appear along with a picture of the person who said it.
• WordItOut: Create a beautiful design of words that are important for your topic. This can be a great graphic for an introduction or conclusion. All images you make are your own to use in any way you want. If you want to do it through an app rather than online, you can download it for a dollar on Amazon: WordItOut

Humor in Visual Essays

As "The Scary Math" demonstrates, you don't have to be serious. Humor, satire, and irony can be great ways to convince your audience about your ideas. In the case of this essay, the humor comes from the way the author takes a familiar childhood math lesson and extends it to real life.

Pre-Writing

Before you gather images, video, music, and other research, you will need to think about what you want to say and how you want to present it. Start by writing down your main point or your claim question and answer. Then answer the following to help you develop your ideas and think about what sort of materials you need to gather for your project.

• What are the reasons for believing your thesis?
• What are some examples to back up those reasons?
• What are the other views on this topic?
• What objections would people have to your ideas?
• What are your most convincing arguments to refute those objections?
• What images would you like to find to illustrate your thesis?
• What quotations or phrases could you use that would be memorable?
• Are there any familiar sayings that you can reuse or repurpose to get your meaning across?
• What music (if any) could help you convey your message?
• Do you want to use long sequences of pictures with music, sounds, or silence?
• Do you want to write a script that you speak over the visual images?
• Will you include a video? If so, will you take it yourself or use clips of other videos?

Creating a Plan

Looking at your answers to your pre-writing questions, you can start to plan how you will put together your piece. Just like a written essay, you will need an introduction, body, and conclusion. You may want to think of this as a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Before you start to gather images, you might want to make a rough outline of how you want your essay to come together.

• Title: Often your claim question can be your title, or you may want a single word or short phrase title that tells your subject and use your question in the opening. The font, animation, and color will set the tone of your piece, so spend some time trying out different styles to see what you like best.
• Introduction: How will you interest your viewer? Your first few images need to tell the viewer the subject and the question and grab their attention.
• Body: How will you present your thesis? Will you tell it in a voice-over? Write it on a picture or a screen by itself? Would it be more effective to tell your main reasons first and then put your main idea at the end in the conclusion?
• What types of images could help you to prove your main reasons for your claim? Remember that it is usually important to order your ideas from least to most important, so put your best reasons last. You might want to make a list of the types of images you want. Be sure to indicate any images you already have.
• Conclusion : What do you want your audience to think, do, or believe after they have watched your essay? How will you draw the audience with you to believe your claim at the end? Will you use a specific image? A repeated idea? A quote? A challenge? A question?

Using Images for Persuasion

Sometimes pictures without text can be more powerful. Consider having some part of your essay being images alone.

Literature Responsive Essay

Some essay assignments ask you to respond or explain some work of literature, or a quote or scene. The student making the video below was responding to an assignment to take a scene from Hamlet and explain the importance of that scene in the play. She chose Act 5, Scene 1, the suicide of Ophelia, and her presentation shows how Ophelia's death leads to much of the actions and violence in the rest of the play.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Questions & Answers

Question: How do I create a visual essay on a painting?

Answer: You follow all of the same techniques that you would use for any other evaluation essay except that you will be discussing the visual aspects of color, line, form, content, subject matter, history, and artist. Start with a description of the painting or the history of the artist or that particular work. If the work is controversial or has an interesting viewing history, that can also be a good introduction idea for your essay. Then you will describe it based on the different aspects of visual art that you know.

Question: How do I create a visual essay on a sticker?

Answer: You could use the same criteria that you would for other art pieces: meaning, color, shape, references, lines, perspective, and text, etc. The main question you would have is how well does the sticker convey the meaning that seems intended?

© 2013 Virginia Kearney

Jeff Bullard on April 06, 2020:

Thank you for an informative article. Appreciate the extensive lists of resources for visual and audio content.

val14954 on June 05, 2018:

thanks a lot for making this article its very helpful

Anonymous on January 31, 2018:

Very useful link

Japhet on October 25, 2016:

This is great. Thank you for sharing this.

Dianna Mendez on November 16, 2013:

Wow, this is a really interesting post and opens a whole new world to writing an essay for the younger generation. It would keep the interest high and promote excellent writing skills. The videos are so well done. Voting up and sharing!

Eiddwen from Wales on November 12, 2013:

Interesting and so very useful.

Voted up and thanks for sharing.

Levy Tate from California, USA on November 11, 2013:

Awesome tips -- and massive thanks for providing great examples! Voted up ;-)

fbesares2 on November 11, 2013:

Wow, well organized hub. Thank you for sharing this

Prithima Sharma from Delhi, India on November 11, 2013:

How to Write an Exploratory Essay With Sample Topics

How to Write Cause and Effect Essays

How to Write an Explaining Essay

How to Write a Summary, Analysis, and Response Essay Paper With Examples

Writing Effective Sentences in Your English Essay

How to Write a Reading Response Essay With Sample Papers

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

III. Rhetorical Situation

3.13 Writing a Visual Analysis

Terri Pantuso

While visuals such as graphs and charts can enhance an argument when used to present evidence, visuals themselves can also present an argument. Every time you encounter an ad for a certain product, stop and consider what exactly the creators of that visual want you to believe. Who is the target audience? Does the message resonate more with one group of people than another? While most advertisements or political cartoons seem to be nebulous conveyors of commerce, if you look closely you will uncover an argument presented to you, the audience.

So how do you write a visual rhetorical analysis essay? First, you’ll want to begin by examining the rhetorical strengths and weaknesses of your chosen visual. If your purpose is to write an argument about the visual, such as what artworks are considered “fine art,” then your focus will be on demonstrating how the visual meets the criteria you establish in your thesis . To do this, try a method adapted from one on working with primary sources where you Observe, Reflect and Question. [1]

Arguments About a Visual

Take for example Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” (Figure 3.13.1). [2] If you want to argue that the painting is a classic example of fine art, you’ll first have to define the criteria for your terms “classic” and “fine art.” Next, you’ll want to look for elements within the painting to support your claim. As you study the painting, try the following strategy for analysis: Describe/Observe ; Respond/Reflect ; Analyze/Question .

Describe/Observe

First, describe what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font if you’re analyzing an advertisement. In the case of “The Starry Night,” you might begin by describing the various shades of blue, the black figures that resemble buildings, or shades of yellow that cast light. As you describe them, observe the texture, shape, contour, etc. about each element. For this initial stage, you are simply describing what you observe. Do not look deeper at this point.

Respond/Reflect

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the ad or painting? If there are words present, what does the artist’s font selection do for the image? This is where you’ll want to look for appeals to ethos and pathos. In the case of “The Starry Night,” how does the use of black create depth and for what reason? Reflect on how the intermittent use of shades of blue impacts the overall impression of the painting. At this stage, you are questioning the elements used so that you may move to the final stage of analysis.

Analyze/Question

After you’ve described and reflected upon the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the visual. This assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Ask yourself if the arrangement of each item in the visual impacts the message? Could there be something more the artist wants you to gather from this visual besides the obvious? Question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of your selected image.

Arguments Presented By/Within a Visual

In the summer of 2015, the Bureau of Land Management ran an ad campaign with the #mypubliclandsroadtrip tag. The goal of this campaign was to “explore the diverse landscapes and resources on [our] public lands, from the best camping sites to cool rock formations to ghost towns.” [3] The photo below (Figure 3.13.2) [4] is of the King Range National Conservation Area (NCA) in California which was the first NCA designated by Congress in 1970. [5] Returning to the Observe, Reflect and Question method, analysis of this photo might focus on what the image presents overall as well as arguments embedded within the image.

As with “The Starry Night”, you might start by describing what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font. With the Bureau of Land Management ad, you could begin by describing the multiple shades of blues and browns in the landscape. Next, you might focus on the contrasts between the sea and land, and the sea and sky. Making note of textures presented by various rock formations and the sand would add depth to your analysis. You might also note the solitary person walking along the shoreline. Finally, you would want to observe the placement of the sun in the sky at the horizon.

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the photo? How does the artist’s font selection impact the image? Through these observations, you will be able to identify appeals to ethos and pathos. In the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might respond to the various shades of blue as seemingly unreal yet reflect on their natural beauty as a way of creating an inviting tone. Next, reflect on the textures presented by the rocks and sand as a way of adding texture to the image. This texture further contributes to the welcoming mood of the image. By focusing on the solitary person in the image, you might respond that this landscape offers a welcoming place to reflect on life decisions or to simply enjoy the surroundings. Finally, you might respond to the placement of the sun as being either sunrise or sunset.

After describing and reflecting on the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the image. Again, this assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Using the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might ask if the font choice was intentional to replicate the rolling waves, or if the framing around the edges of the image is done intentionally to tie back into the Bureau logo in the upper right-hand corner. Once you’ve moved beyond the surface image, question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of an argument presented by/within your selected image.

• This exercise was inspired by a workshop titled “Working with Primary Sources,” hosted by Meg Steele, given at the Library of Congress alongside the National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Washington, D.C. in November 2014. ↵
• Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Wikimedia Commons, accessed November 15, 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg. ↵
• "Drop A Line: Explore Your Lands! My Public Lands Summer Roadtrip 2016," Bureau of Land Management, accessed November 14, 2021, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=0d3fdf6ca0e44d258adde314479b3bdb . ↵
• Bureau of Land Management, My Public Lands Roadtrip, June 3, 2015, digital photograph, Flickr, accessed January 6, 2021, https://www.flickr.com/photos/91981596@N06/18607529954 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License . ↵
• “King Range National Conservation Area,” U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, accessed January 14, 2021, https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/california/king-range-national-conservation-area . ↵

To resound, reverberate, or vibrate; to produce a positive emotional response about a subject.

Cloudy, hazy, or murky; ambiguous, imprecise, or vague.

A statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes an argument that will later be explained, expanded upon, and developed in a longer essay or research paper. In undergraduate writing, a thesis statement is often found in the introductory paragraph of an essay. The plural of thesis is theses .

Ceasing and beginning or stopping and starting in a recurrent, cyclical or periodic pattern.

3.13 Writing a Visual Analysis Copyright © 2022 by Terri Pantuso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Write Visual Argument Essays: Pros and Cons of Visuals

If you have come across this article and made it here, you must be looking for practical tips to help you write effective visual argument essays.

Writing an effective visual argument is easier than you might think, but only if you know how. This guide will teach you the best way to help you improve your visual essays.

What is the meaning of a Visual Argument?

 A visual argument is a claim that uses images alongside a few words to present a particular idea. Visual arguments are also non-verbal, which means they do not use language alone to communicate their message.

The main purpose of visual arguments is to make an idea more easily understood by the audience, especially if they are less familiar with the subject matter. This makes it easier for the audience to be swayed by the visual argument and understand what you’re trying to say.

For example, when you want to tell someone about something, you could use a video clip to make it easier for them to understand what you’re trying to say. You don’t have to be an expert in that field yourself; instead, just choose one of your favorite clips from YouTube and share it with them.

What is a Visual Argument Essay?

A visual argument essay is a type of persuasive essay that uses visual evidence to support its claims. A visual argument essay is an argumentative essay that includes photos or illustrations. Using visuals in your argumentative essays is a good idea, especially if you want to make your points stronger.

A visual argument essay is a form of persuasion and can use to persuade people by showing them how they feel about something. The pictures can also help you explain your points and make them more memorable.

How to write a visual Argument Essay

Brainstorm and research for your paper.

Brainstorming is the process of generating multiple ideas for a paper. First, you need to gather information about your topic. You could do this by reading articles or books about the topic and looking up relevant websites.

Next, you should think about organizing your ideas into an argument. A good way to do this is by writing down all the points you find interesting and important in your research. These might include facts, statistics, quotes, or arguments from experts or even other people who have similar interests as yourself.

Gather Relevant Images and Videos

You should make sure that the images you choose are relevant, though, so that they support your thesis. It’s also important not to use too many images since this can make it difficult for readers to follow along.

Put your Essay together

The most important thing you need to do when writing an essay is to organize your ideas into a logical structure. An argument essay will begin with a thesis statement and end with some sort of conclusion.

The thesis statement should be the main idea of your essay. It should be clear and concise but also supported by evidence that shows why you believe what you do.

Once you’ve settled on a thesis statement, it’s time to develop your argumentative skills! To ensure that your reader understands what you want them to know, use examples, metaphors and analogies to help clarify your points.

Tips and ideas for a Visual Argument Essay

1. be accurate.

The first tip is to be accurate. If you are using pictures in your argument, you must use the best quality pictures possible.

The easiest way to do this is to go online and look at other visual arguments that have been done before. This will help you see how other people have used their photos and what works well and what doesn’t.

It will also give you some ideas about what kind of pictures work best with each specific piece of writing you are trying to write.

2. Use clear visuals

For example, if you were writing about a problem in your community, you would want to show how people are affected by it. Show what steps are taken by the government or others within the community to solve this problem.

3. Add good text

The most important thing is that you make sure that your text is well-written and edited so that it looks professional. In addition, make sure that there are no typos in the text because this will make the reader think less of you and make your paper seem unprofessional.

4. Be brief

The visual argument essay is a visual essay, meaning you must make it visually appealing. This is something that can be achieved by keeping the images short and simple but also by using specific fonts and colors meant to attract your audience’s attention.

Pros and cons of visual argument essays

Here are some advantages of using visual arguments:

You just need to look at what’s being shown in front of you and make sense of it by reading it out loud or writing down what you understood from the text.

Disadvantages

Unveiling the Art of Visual Essays: A Comprehensive Guide

Alisha Bridges

In the current digital environment, the importance of communicating ideas through visual media has increased. Visual content acts as a living platform where narratives through a mixture of images and texts unfold, capturing audiences with their dynamic storytelling. Whether you’re a student leaving class or an aspiring writer engaged in creative exploration, the art of visual storytelling promises fulfillment. This guide aims to walk you through the complex process of creating a visual story, step by step.

Understanding Visual Essays

A visual essay embodies a tapestry of storytelling, where narratives are painted using a medley of visuals and textual elements. It stands as a captivating method of information dissemination, inviting audiences to delve deep into topics while keeping them engaged. Picture it as an expedition where each image and word contributes to unraveling your narrative or argument.

Initiating Your Journey: Planning and Preparing:

Selecting a compelling subject:.

Imagine you are a traveler looking for the most interesting story to tell. Choose a topic from historical events, social challenges, or scientific issues that interests you and resonates with your audience.

Research and Acquire Visual Resources:

Now, gather your expedition essentials. Delve into the vast reservoir of visual assets available both online and offline. From photographs to illustrations, charts, and diagrams, collect an array of visuals that bolster your narrative. Adhere to copyright regulations and secure permissions for any copyrighted material.

Mapping Your Narrative:

Every great odyssey requires a map, and your visual essay is no exception. Sketch out the trajectory of your essay, plotting how each visual element contributes to the overarching narrative. Storyboarding aids in visualizing the flow of your story, ensuring a seamless journey for your audience.

Crafting Your Visual Essay

Choosing the right tools:.

Armed with your map, assemble your tools for the voyage. Graphic design software like Canva or Adobe Creative Suite serves as invaluable companions in bringing your vision to life. For those venturing into video essays, consider utilizing editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro or iMovie to infuse emotion into your storytelling.

Embracing Design Principles:

Envision yourself as an artist poised before a blank canvas. Incorporate principles of balance, contrast, emphasis, unity, and typography as your palette. Experiment with layouts, colors, and fonts to fashion a visually arresting composition that captivates your audience’s imagination.

Crafting Compelling Visuals:

With tools in hand and design principles in mind, curate your visual repertoire. Handpick images and graphics that not only bolster your narrative but also evoke emotion and curiosity. Experiment with arrangements until achieving a seamless fusion of visuals and text.

Weaving Your Narrative

Crafting a clear message:.

Your job as a storyteller is to lead your audience through the intricacies of your story. Explain the central theme or argument of your visual essay using simple visual and verbal communication. Keep your speech clear and concise while avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Structuring Your Text:

Similar to a finely crafted novel, your visual essay should possess a clear beginning, middle, and end. Introduce your topic, delve into intricacies within the body, and conclude with a compelling resolution. Ensure each section transitions seamlessly, guiding your audience on an enthralling voyage of discovery.

Editing and Refining:

Even seasoned adventurers refine their maps before embarking on quests. Scrutinize your text meticulously, rectifying grammar, punctuation, and coherence. Ensure your writing complements the visual elements, reinforcing your message effectively.

Enhancing Engagement:

Incorporating interactive elements:.

Ponder ways to transform your visual essay into an immersive experience. Integrate clickable links, animations, or multimedia elements to foster active engagement. Elevate your essay from a passive viewing experience to an interactive escapade.

Employing Visual Storytelling Techniques:

Unleash your inner raconteur as you weave a narrative that enthralls your audience. Utilize visual cues, pacing, and sequencing to guide viewers seamlessly through your essay. Craft a story that resonates emotionally, leaving an indelible impression long after the journey concludes.

Capturing Attention with Visual Hooks:

Every memorable tale commences with a captivating opening. Commence with a striking image or thought-provoking statement that arrests your audience’s attention from the outset. Be daring, be inventive, and render your essay irresistible.

Best Practices and Insights:

• Maintain simplicity and focus, avoiding superfluous distractions that dilute your message.
• Uphold consistency in design and messaging, ensuring a polished and coherent presentation.
• Strike a harmonious balance between visuals and text to facilitate effortless navigation through your narrative.
• Evaluate your visual essay for accessibility and readability , ensuring universal comprehension and enjoyment.

Creating a visual story begins an exciting campaign filled with discovery, creativity, and storytelling. By following the guidelines outlined in this guide and embracing your artistic potential, you can create visual content that informs, inspires, and captures audiences So, prepare your provisions, make your way around plan, and start your visual imagery odyssey today!

Written by Alisha Bridges

I'm Alisha, a writer who wants to help readers succeed in writing essays. Follow my ideas, whether you have problems with structure or thesis statements.

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Visual Analysis Essay

Visual Analysis Essay - A Writing Guide with Format & Sample

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A visual analysis essay is a common assignment for the students of history, art, and communications. It is quite a unique type of academic essay. 

Visual analysis essays are where images meet text. These essays aim to analyze the meanings embedded in the artworks, explaining visual concepts in a written form. 

It may sound difficult to write a visual analysis essay, but it can be done in simple steps by following the right approach. Let’s dive into the writing steps, tips, example essays, and potential topics to help you write an excellent essay. 

• 1. What is a Visual Analysis Essay
• 2. How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay - 7 Simple Steps
• 3. Tips on How to Analyze a Photograph
• 4. Tips on How to Analyze a Sculpture
• 5. Visual Analysis Essay on Advertisement
• 6. Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay Examples
• 7. Visual Analysis Essay Topics

What is a Visual Analysis Essay

A visual analysis essay basically requires you to provide a detailed description of a specific visual work of art. It is a type of analytical essay that deals with imagery and visual art instead of texts.

The subject of a visual analysis essay could be an image, painting, photograph, or any visual medium. 

In this type of essay, you need to describe the artwork and analyze its elements in detail. That is, how different elements and features fit together to make the whole work stand out. In this sense, you need to use a mixture of descriptive writing and analytical language. 

To write a good visual analysis essay, you need to know the basic visual elements and principles of design. Let’s learn about these concepts first before diving into the writing steps.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job

Visual Elements for a Visual Analysis Essay

Writing a visual analysis essay involves analyzing the visual elements of a piece of art. These elements form the basis of the features and characteristics of an image. 

Below you can find the common visual elements of a visual analysis essay.

Principles of Design in a Visual Analysis Essay

In addition to visual elements, you must also consider the principles of design for writing a great visual analysis essay. These principles help you identify and explain the characteristics of the image. 

How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay - 7 Simple Steps

Now that you have an idea about visual elements and principles, you are now ready to proceed. 

Here are the steps that you need to follow for writing a visual analysis essay. Let’s discuss them in detail.

Step 1 - Gather General Information About the Artwork

Once you have a specific artwork or image, here is how to start a visual analysis essay. You need to ask some basic questions about the work and jot down your ideas.

This pre-writing step is for brainstorming ideas. Ask these questions to begin:

• Who and what does the artwork represent? 
• Who is the author of the piece? 
• Who did the artist create the work for? Who is the intended audience?
• When and where was the work created? What is its historical context?
• Where was this work displayed for the first time?
• Identify which medium, materials, and techniques were used to create the image?

Step 2 - Note Down the Characteristics of the Artwork

The next thing that you need to do is identify what the image depicts. Moreover, you need to identify and describe the visual art elements and design principles used in the work. 

Here’s what you need to note:

• The subject matter and its representation.
• Colors, shapes, and lines used in the composition.
• The balance, proportion, and harmony within the artwork.
• Any symbolism or metaphors present.

By pointing out such characteristics, you set the stage for a nuanced analysis in your essay.

Step 3 - Visual Analysis Essay Outline 

Once you have gathered your main points by carefully studying the image, you should now organize them in an outline.

Here is how you make an outline for your visual analysis essay:

Step 4- Write the Introduction

This is the first paragraph of a visual analysis essay in which you need to provide some background information on the topic. After grabbing the readers’ attention with an interesting fact, briefly provide information on the following points. 

• Talk briefly about the painting and its artist or creator.
• Provide a brief description of the painting and give historical context
• Add an interesting fact about the artist or the painting. 

The introduction should end with a thesis statement. The visual analysis essay thesis states the analysis points on the artwork that you aim to discuss in your essay. 

Step 5 - Provide Detailed Description, Analysis, and Interpretation

In the body section, you need to explore the artwork in detail. In the first body paragraph, simply describe the features and characteristics of the work. For instance, talk about the technique being used, shape, color, and other aspects to support your thesis. 

In the next paragraphs, you can go into the analysis and interpretation of these elements and the work as a whole. Present all the details logically and discuss the relationship between the objects. Talk about the meaning, significance, and impact of the work.

Step 6 - Writing a Conclusion

Once you have completed the body section, move to the conclusion paragraph. This is the last paragraph of the essay that should be strong and well-written to create a sense of closure.

Here’s how you can do it

• Revisit the main insights gained through the analysis, summarizing the key visual elements and principles discussed. 
• Emphasize the significance of cultural or historical context in interpreting the visual narrative. 
• Tie together the threads of your analysis to reinforce your thesis or main argument.
• End with a memorable statement and encourage readers to carry the lessons learned from the analysis into their own encounters with art. 

Step 7 - Edit & Revise Your Essay

Here’s how to end your visual analysis essay: edit and revise your first draft until it becomes the perfect version. Consider these steps for an excellent revision:

• Review for Clarity: Ensure your ideas flow logically. Clarify any ambiguous or unclear statements to enhance the overall readability of your essay.
• Trim Unnecessary Details: Trim excess information that doesn't directly contribute to your main points. Keep your analysis focused and concise.
• Check Consistency: Verify that your writing style remains consistent throughout the essay. Maintain a balance between formal language and engaging expression.
• Fine-Tune Transitions: Ensure smooth transitions between different sections of your essay. Transitions help guide your reader through the analysis, making the journey more enjoyable and comprehensible.
• Proofread for Errors: Carefully proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. A polished essay enhances your credibility and the overall professionalism of your work.

With these basic steps, you can craft an amazing visual analysis essay. Read on for some useful tips for analyzing different kinds of visual subjects.

Tips on How to Analyze a Photograph

Painting and photograph analysis are very similar. There are three ways in which photo visual analysis is conducted: description, reflection, and formal analysis.

Although the historical study may be used, it is not necessary.

• Description -  It implies examining the picture carefully and considering all of the details. The description should be neutral, focusing on simple facts without expressing a personal viewpoint.
• Reflection -  For the next stage, consider the emotions that the picture stirs in you. Every viewer will have a distinct viewpoint and feelings about the piece. Knowing some historical background might be useful when formulating an educated response.
• Formal analysis -  Consider the visual components and concepts. How are they shown in the photo?
• Historical analysis -  For a contextual analysis, keep an eye on the photo's surroundings. Make sure you comprehend the surrounding environment in which the photograph was taken. What era was this image shot during?

Tips on How to Analyze a Sculpture

A sculpture, unlike a painting or photograph, requires a different approach to visual analysis. It still depends on visible components and principles, however it does so in a slightly different way.

When you're writing about sculptures, keep the following in mind:

• Medium, size, and technique -  What kind of material is it? Is it carved in a negative or positive method?
• Color and lightning -  Describe the hue of the sculpture, whether it is painted. Was the sculptor concerned with the illumination when creating the work?
• Human body and scale -  Consider how a human body is portrayed in the piece. Also, assess the sculpture's size compared to that of the viewer.
• Function -  What was the sculpture's main aim? You could speak about whether it represented a religious conviction or honored someone, for example.
• Composition -  Examine the placement of the piece and determine whether there is a focal point.

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Visual Analysis Essay on Advertisement

In advertisements, visuals are used to pique interest or persuade the public that what is being advertised is needed. The goal of a visual argument is to generate attention and intrigue. Images are utilized in advertisements to transmit information and interact with the audience.

When conducting a visual analysis of an ad, keep the following in mind:

• Textual Elements
• Illustrations
• Composition

This all has an impact on how people perceive information and how they react to it.

When you analyze the visuals of an ad, you're performing a rhetorical analysis. The study of images and extracting information from them is known as visual rhetoric. It aids in the comprehension of typography, imagery, and the structure of elements on the page.

How to Write a Visual Analysis Paper on an Advertisement

Visual components in advertising are important. It aids in the persuasion of the audience.

Always keep the rhetorical situation in mind while analyzing visual arguments. The following are some key elements to consider:

• Audience -  Who is the advertisement meant to attract?
• Purpose -  What message does the photo try to get across to the audience?
• Design -  What kind of visualizations are included? Are the visuals clear and easy to follow? Are there any patterns or repetitions in the design?
• Strategies -  Is there any humor, celebrities, or cultural allusions in the graphic's message?
• Medium -  Is the photograph surrounded by text? Is there any text within the picture? How does it interact with the picture to produce an intended effect if there is any?
• Context -  What are the characters in an ad? Where are they positioned?
• Subtext -  Consider the meaning of the picture's words. What are they trying to say?

Visual Rhetorical Analysis Essay Examples

Here are some visual analysis essay samples that you can read to understand this type of essay better. 

Art history Visual Analysis Essay Example

Political Cartoon Visual Analysis Essay

Rhetorical and Visual Analysis Essay Sample

Mona Lisa Visual Analysis Essay

Visual Analysis Essay Topics

Here are some top visual analysis essay topics that you can choose from and begin the writing process.

• Make a review of your favorite Hollywood production and discuss the visual arts involved.
• Write about the use of color and action in TV commercials.
• Discuss how the brand name is displayed in digital media campaigns.
• Discuss different types of visual appeals used in web ads.
• What is the special about Cleo Award-winning ads?
• The Use of Light and Shadow in Caravaggio's "The Calling of Saint Matthew"
• The Symbolism of Colors in Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night"
• What is the importance of art and culture in our life?
• How has art changed over the last 50 years?
• The use of colors in marketing and advertising. 

To conclude, 

From gathering information about the artwork to crafting a compelling analysis, we've navigated the essential steps you need for a visual analysis essay. Moreover, with the specific tips and examples, you have everything you need to get started.

So dive into the writing process with confidence and return to this blog whenever you need help on any step!

However, if you have gone through the whole article and are still unsure how to start your essay, we can help you.

Our professional essay writers at MyPerfectWords.com can help you with your visual analysis essay assignment. Contact us with your order details, and we will get it done for you. 

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How to Write Visual Analysis Essay: Guide for Beginners

Table of contents

• 1 What Is a Visual Analysis Essay?
• 2 Selecting and Exploring a Visual Piece: Key Guidelines
• 3.1 Visual Composition
• 3.2 Emphasis on a Central Point
• 3.3 Symbolism
• 3.4 Design Elements
• 3.5 Surface Quality
• 3.6 Dimensions
• 4 Visual Principles of Design in Essays
• 5.1 Step 1. Choose Your Visual Subject.
• 5.2 Step 2. Observe and Describe.
• 5.3 Step 3. Identify the Context.
• 5.4 Step 4. Develop a Thesis Statement.
• 5.5 Step 5. Outline Your Research.
• 5.6 Step 6. Interpretation and Analysis.
• 5.7 Step 7. Address Counterarguments.
• 5.8 Step 8. Cite Your Sources.
• 6 Art Analysis Essay Topics
• 7 Conclusion

If you learn Art or Design, you’ll need to complete a good visual analysis essay, which may be challenging. This guide helps beginners step into the art of writing about pictures in a way that makes them come alive.

From this article, you will:

• Understand what a visual analysis essay is;
• Get insights on selecting an ideal visual piece for your research;
• Explore the elements of this essay;
• Consider the visual principles of design in creating an analysis essay;
• Get step-by-step guidelines on how to write this assignment;
• Receive the list of popular essay topics.

Take a trip into visual analysis, where words and images meet. Go on reading this guide and explore the fascinating world of visual storytelling.

What Is a Visual Analysis Essay?

It’s a form of academic writing that dissects and interprets visual content, including paintings, photographs, advertisements, or any visual artifact. Unlike a traditional essay, a visual analysis requires the writer to scrutinize the elements of the visual piece and delve into their significance. In essence, it’s an exploration of how visual elements contribute to the overall message and meaning of the artwork. The writer examines aspects like color, composition, symbolism, and context to uncover the artist’s intentions and the emotional impact on the viewer. Performing a visual analysis of a work of art goes beyond describing it, providing interpretations that deepen our understanding. This type of essay hones analytical skills and fosters an appreciation for the nuanced language of visuals in conveying ideas and emotions.

Selecting and Exploring a Visual Piece: Key Guidelines

After considering a visual analysis definition, let’s delve into the intricacies of exploring visual content. By closely examining the techniques and background of an artwork, we can appreciate its artistic qualities.

Discover some effective tips to help you do a visual analysis well:

• Observation and Description: Choose the artwork that interests you carefully. When you decide to start your essay , examine every facet, ranging from its overall composition to the minutest details. Look for a connection between the artwork, your personal experiences, and the themes you want to investigate.
• Attention to Details: Focus on the artwork’s specifics: delve into its colors, lines, shapes, and textures, taking note of any distinctive features that capture attention.
• Analysis of Elements: Progress to a thoughtful consideration of how these graphic elements interact harmoniously. Reflect on the emotional impact of colors and shapes, discerning their contribution to the overall aesthetic.
• Interpretation of Meaning: Explore the artwork’s thematic essence, uncovering concealed messages or symbols. Contemplate the temporal context of its creation and potential references to cultural or historical elements.
• Research and Contextualization: Enhance the analysis by researching the artist, the artwork’s period, and the prevailing cultural milieu. This contextual exploration aids in writing an analytical essay and constructing a more profound understanding of the broader artistic landscape.
• Formulation of Results: Synthesize the gathered observations, analyses, and contextual knowledge into a cohesive interpretation. Develop a clear thesis statement encapsulating your understanding of the artwork.

Elements of a Visual Analysis Paper

Research involves examining the visual parts of an artwork. These elements determine the image’s features and characteristics. Here, you’ll discover the typical visual elements integral to a painting analysis essay.

Visual Composition

Delve into the relationships among objects in an image. When looking at a picture, first find the main figure. Then, understand how the other elements are arranged. Lastly, notice if anything important is missing.

Emphasis on a Central Point

The focal point is the image’s area that captures the viewer’s attention. It’s essential for comprehending the overall image’s purpose.

It’s the incorporation of objects with specific symbolic meanings in the image. Ascertain whether the image includes such symbolic objects and discern their meanings.

Design Elements

Artists often blend various elements to compose an image, including size, lines, color, and shape. Exploring these elements is crucial for creating a well-thought-out art analysis essay.

Surface Quality

Texture pertains to the smoothness or roughness of an object, a characteristic applicable to both 2D and 3D art. Authenticity in representing texture is essential.

These encompass the overall dimensions of the image and depicted figures. Explain why the artist chose a certain image size in this part of your body essay paragraph . Also, talk about why the figure sizes change in the artwork.

It involves the portrayal of lines. Articulate how these lines guide the viewer’s focus towards specific elements in the artwork.

Form encompasses an examination of light and shading. This element allows the writer to transform 2D objects into a three-dimensional representation. Analyze the use of shading and light to accentuate specific work’s aspects.

It pertains to how the artist presents various shapes in the visual piece, including circles, ovals, rectangles, and squares. Elaborate on the use of these shapes and their meanings.

When writing visual analysis essays, describe the impact of colors on the image. Focus on understanding how colors influence the overall image’s mood and tone.

Value denotes how the artist uses dark and light elements in different parts of the work. Discuss how these elements are employed to convey specific nuances in an artwork.

Visual Principles of Design in Essays

When you describe a painting in an essay, it’s important to look beyond what you see. We need to understand design principles, which help us explain the details in the visual piece. This way, we better understand how the artwork is put together. The mix of elements and design principles makes the example of visual analysis essays more interesting. We can understand and appreciate the art even more.

• Balance: Balance refers to how different graphic elements are distributed in a picture, including asymmetrical, symmetrical, and radical balance.
• Emphasis: This pertains to the object capturing the audience’s attention, prompting discussion on how the artist strategically enhances specific parts of the image.
• Movement: Involving the repeated use of objects or symbols, the principle of movement requires identification and analysis of recurring graphic elements.
• Pattern: Describing how colors impact the image is vital when crafting an image analysis essay. Focus on the colors and their influence on the overall mood and tone.
• Proportion: This principle delves into the realistic relationships between objects in the artwork, requiring an explanation of the artist’s intended message.
• Variety: Analyze the artist’s use of elements to influence the audience’s perception, elucidating how diverse components create specific moods or meanings within the image.
• Contrast: This principle demands a description of contrasting elements and their impact on the image’s quality.
• Hierarchy: Reflecting the viewer’s ability to process an image, this principle underscores the significance of size, color, and other characteristics.
• Symmetry: Centered on using spaces between repetitive components, this principle involves describing different types of symmetrical designs.
• Layout: Examining the distribution and placement of objects and symbols, the principle of layout needs an explanation of how the artist strategically positions diverse elements within the image.

How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay: Step-by-Step Guidelines

Many students who learn Media and Communication, Art, or Design ponder how to start a visual analysis essay. Completing papers of this type requires us to understand the steps involved in exploring the details of an artwork or image. Let’s take a closer look at each step to discover the depth of this analytical process.

Step 1. Choose Your Visual Subject.

Selecting a visual piece is an essential stage when tasked to write an art analysis essay. When you write my essay for me , you get to decide on an artwork or image that you like that is connected with how you see things. For example, you could choose a famous painting like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or an impressive modern photo showing city life. It’s your chance to explore and understand art better. Consider what interests you, whether it’s the mysterious smile in an old painting or the lively scenes in a new photograph.

Step 2. Observe and Describe.

Let’s take a closer look at what you see. If you’re checking out a picture like Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” pay attention to the details. In your visual analysis example, describe the swirling lines that show movement. Also, mention the vibrant colors that create emotion. Don’t forget to discuss the texture of the paint strokes that enhance the overall composition.

Step 3. Identify the Context.

Now, let’s delve into the past and the world around your chosen picture when you’re doing your visual analysis of art. For example, if you’re looking at Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” it’s like going back to 19th-century Norway. Imagine you’re an art detective uncovering clues about the artist’s life and what was happening back then. Explore what life was like, what people felt, and especially, the deep thoughts and worries people had during that time. This step helps you understand why the artwork was created and what it might mean.

Step 4. Develop a Thesis Statement.

Craft a thesis statement that acts as a beacon guiding your analysis. If you analyze Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” painting, your thesis could focus on the strong anti-war message shown through chaotic imagery. For example, it may be, “ I’m going to talk about how this painting is showing us why war is not good, using all these chaotic images. ” Your thesis is like the captain of your analysis ship, telling everyone where you’re going. It helps you stay focused and lets your readers know what to expect.

Step 5. Outline Your Research.

Organize your thoughts systematically in the visual analysis essay outline. Each section could explore specific elements of the artwork. When writing about Salvador Dali’s painting “The Persistence of Memory,” you can divide it into sections. These sections can cover surrealism, the melting clocks, and Dali’s artistic intentions. It’s like breaking down the big picture into smaller parts so you can explore each one. Your outline is like a helper that keeps you on track and makes your essay clear and organized.

Step 6. Interpretation and Analysis.

It’s time to delve into the layers of interpretation in your visual analysis essay example. When you look at Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” it’s like exploring a world of melted clocks. Let’s figure out why he used these wobbly timepieces. Take your time to look closely and think about what they might mean. Maybe they’re saying time isn’t always steady and can feel a bit bendy. Dali shows us that time is not strict; it can differ for everyone. Your job is to conclude your work by analyzing how he arranged these melted clocks to tell us something special about time.

Step 7. Address Counterarguments.

Anticipate alternative perspectives. When analyzing a contemporary photo, consider different opinions on interpreting modern art. This step strengthens your essay by showing you’ve thought about different ideas.

Step 8. Cite Your Sources.

If you incorporate external sources, cite them meticulously. For instance, to better understand the emotions in Frida Kahlo’s “The Two Fridas,” look at art historians’ analyses.

These comprehensive steps for analyzing visual art provide a nuanced guide for your writing. If you’re just starting with such research papers, consider seeking support from PapersOwl’s essay writing service and getting expert recommendations. Our team of proficient writers is ready to assist you in crafting a persuasive artwork analysis example efficiently. With our help, you can acquire the skills to compose a well-organized and insightful analysis of images, videos, or artworks.

Art Analysis Essay Topics

Explore these examples to gain insights and inspiration. Each topic is diverse yet common, providing a foundation for your essay on a similar topic. These visual analysis essay examples hold global significance and are utilized by students worldwide.

• Detailed Analysis of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, 1907-1908.
• How Visual Elements Are Used in Almond Blossom by Vincent van Gogh, 1888-1890.
• Identity and Seated Harlequin by Picasso, 1901.
• The Themes Used in Paul Klee’s The Tree of Houses, 1918.
• The Key Message of Lindsay Key by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1985.
• Description of Two Boys with Fish by Mario Macilau, 2018.
• Explanation of Kevin Carter’s Starving Child and Vulture, 1993.
• Philippe Halsman’s Dali Atomicus (1948): The Story Behind This Photo.
• Modern Art and Couple on Seat by Lynn Chadwick, 1984.
• Explanation of the Biblical Context of Pieta by Michelangelo.

Learning how to write a visual analysis essay is like getting a special key to understanding artwork better. With the help of this guide, students can confidently break down graphic pieces, find hidden stories, and explain what they see in a way that makes static images come alive. Writing visual analysis papers helps to connect with the deeper meanings in pictures. By taking on the challenge of understanding artworks, we get a deeper insight into how images and meanings work together. So, when you pick up your pen, let your curiosity and careful observation guide you on this interesting journey.

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Tips for Writing Effective Visual Arguments Essay

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• April 27, 2020
• Blogs , Essay Writing Guideline

Creating a visual argument to support a claim can be challenging, especially if you don’t know the best approach to presenting your viewpoints. If you are not conversant with crafting essays on a visual argument, never mind; you will get insightful information in this article.

Essay on Visual Arguments

By reading this post, you will understand the meaning of visual reasoning, learn how to create visual arguments, and get insights into critical ideas of visual arguments. Let’s dive in!

What are Visual Arguments?

A visual argument is a claim that uses images alongside a few words to present a particular idea. A single image can have a lot of influence on the mindset of many people. Therefore, an image that changes the perception of someone is referred to as a visual argument.

A visual paper uses pictures and drawing to convey a message. For instance, if you are writing an article about fitness, the image may be a picture of a treadmill. This method of writing is crucial because it makes a strong statement to your audience.

Images are more compelling, persuasive, and impacting than mere words of mouth. With images, you can convey mental information to reach even those people who are unable to read and write. In marketing, companies that use visual items in advertisements record more sales than those which use only plain words.

Creating Visual Arguments

Creating visual arguments is not a straightforward thing, especially if you are inexperienced in composing them. However, in this post, there is a highlight of crucial steps to follow to write an excellent visual argumen t , as explained below.

Brainstorm and research for your paper

Before you start composing your visual essay, it is crucial to search for relevant ideas to get adequate content for your paper. You can consult with your fellow students and also seek guidance from your instructor on the best way to do it.

Gather relevant images and videos

If you want to craft a high-quality visual argument, you must spice it up with excellent photographs and videos. If possible, you may create your images or download them from free online sites . As you search for photos and videos on the internet, be careful not to use copyrighted items.

Put your essay together

To consolidate the contents for your essay, you have to use appropriate software, such as I movie or any video application.

Publish your essay

After finishing your paper, you can upload your work on YouTube or present it to your audience.

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Tips for Writing Effective Visual Arguments

The following ideas can help you craft a compelling visual argument.

Pick an argumentative topic

By choosing a controversial topic for your essay , it means that you will get superb reactions from your audience. Consequently, you will use appropriate images to respond to them.

Select the right images

It is vital to select pictures that can evoke a strong reaction from your readers

Narrate a story

To make your visual argument more appealing, craft a story, and present it alongside the image to your audience.

Make use of nouns and minimize adjectives/adverbs

With visual arguments, it is advisable to use more nouns as opposed to adjectives or adverbs.

Key Ideas of Visual Arguments

Before you compose a visual argument, it is essential to go through the list of ideas to select the best. Choosing the right topic or idea for your paper is a crucial aspect since it determines the direction your paper will take.

The following are some of the ideas you may consider when writing a visual argument.

• Review a Hollywood movie and explain the visual pictures involved
• Analyze the products displayed in an ad on a local daily
• Discuss why you think a particular campaign for a beauty product is ineffective
• Analyze the emotional appeal and type of sales on TV advert
• Do people become materialistic after advertising?
• Evaluate the cover of a magazine and see its transparency

Visual Argument Examples

Writing a visual argument essay can be difficult if you are inexperienced. However, if you want to make your work more comfortable, you can check visual arguments online to familiarize yourself with how to compose high-quality papers .

Reasons Why You Should Write Visual Essays

The following is an overview of the reasons why you should craft visual essays.

To present an exciting story

Visual essays are more exciting in conveying an argument than standard papers.

To create an emotional impact

By using videos, images, and music, you are likely to arouse your audience emotionally and make them develop an interest in your piece.

Bigger audience

Many people are more likely to read a visual article than the non-visual one. For instance, few people may read your regular essay on famine. However, many individuals would wish to view your visual essay on how starved people are living, and the interventions put in place to help them. Moreover, a visual piece can be shared on social media to reach a bigger audience.

Visual communicate many words

An image communicates thousands of words. Through a visual essay, your audience would get the message and implement it. For example, a visual essay about “telephone conversation and driving” may use a video that reveals that many people perished as a consequence of the driver’s action. Such a video shows the writer’s opposition to talking while driving.

Final Thoughts on Visual Arguments

A visual argument is an essay that uses pictures, videos, drawings, and words to make a statement to the audience. Unlike regular articles, visual papers have an emotional impact on the readers and can make them change their perception of something.

Usually, in a visual argument, pictures and drawings are used to convey a message. For instance, if you want to communicate about keeping fit, you may use a video of someone running on a treadmill.

A quite number of students find it hard to compose a visual argument because they lack experience. If you are in a similar situation, contact Peach Essay writers for help.

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Understanding Visual Analysis Essays

A written analysis allows writers to explore the discrete parts of some thing—in this case, several visual artifacts—to better understand the whole and how it communicates its message.

We should also consider how the image(s) appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos, and why. Consider, for example, how most advertisements rely on an appeal to pathos--or emotion--to persuade consumers to buy their project. Some ads will use humor to do so. Others will evoke patriotism to persuade consumers to purchase a product (suggesting buying a certain product will make them a good American).

This particular analysis will allow students to focus on visual materials relating to their career of interest to better understand how messages related to their field are composed and presented. This project will grant students the means to evaluate qualitative and quantitative arguments in the visual artifacts as well as interpret the claims made and supporting reasons. The project also will allow students to research discipline-specific and professional visual resources.

The audience for the analysis is an audience with comparable knowledge on the topic. Students should define and explain any terminology or jargon used that may be difficult for a general audience to understand.

Instructions:

Begin the essay by finding at least two examples of images relating to your intended future field of study (or a field that you are interested in learning more about). Use the Visual Analysis Planning Sheet to record your observations about the images. You will describe the images in great detail.

You will also need to research and find out who made the images, when, why and for what purpose. (This is called the rhetorical situation).

The essay should also explain what the purpose and intent of the images is and if there are any implicit messages (hidden messages) as well. An ad for Coca-Cola sells soda, but it also might imply something about family values. A public service announcement about hand-washing might also imply a sense of fear about pathogens and the spread of viruses from abroad. You should explore such obvious and hidden messages in your essay. 

After describing all the key components, you’ll consider whether or not the images succeed at their goal or purpose and what these images suggest about how the field communicates its messages. See the Visual Analysis Planning Sheet for more help: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HUa4_XZ84svJPJ2Ppe5TTIK20Yp7bd-h/edit

Suggested Organization of Visual Analysis Essay

I.   Introduction (1 paragraph) - should contain a hook (attention-grabber), set the context for the essay, and contain your thesis statement (described below).

a.       Thesis statement : State what two images are being analyzed and what your overall claim is about them. The thesis should make a claim about the images such as whether they are effective or ineffective at communicating their message.

II.  Explain the Rhetorical Situation of both images: (2 paragraphs)  Begin by discussing what is being advertised or displayed, who made it (company, artist, writer, etc.), who is the target audience, where and when the image was published and shared, and where the image was made (country). Provide these details for both images being discussed and analyzed.

III.   Description of both images  (4-8 paragraphs). Discuss each image in full detail, providing the following details about both:

a.   Describe what appears in the image. Be as detailed as possible.

b.   Discuss the primary color choice used and what mood these colors create.

c.       Explain the overall layout and organization of each image.

d.       Discuss the use of wording in the visual image. What font is used, what color, and size is the font.

e. Explain what the message in the visual actually says and what this message means/indicates/asks of viewers and readers.

F. Discuss any other relevant information (from the planning worksheet or anything you think is noteworthy.

IV.            Discussion and Evaluation (2-4 paragraphs) - Synthesizing your findings,and analyze what you think the smaller details accomplish.

• Discuss if the images appeal to ethos, pathos, or logos and provide evidence to back up your claim.
• Discuss what sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the images. Back up your claims with evidence.  An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly, reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on.
• Assert what claims are being made by the images. Consider the reasons which support that claim: reasons about the nature of the visual's product or service, reasons about those responsible for that product or service, and reasons which appeal to the audience's values, beliefs, or desires.

V.            Conclusion (1 paragraph) - should contain both a recap of your response, as well as a closing statement in regards to your overall response to the chosen essay. Include a conclusion that reviews the messages the images make and offer a conclusion that combines the results of your findings and why they matter.

Drafting/Research Strategies:

To write a visual analysis, you must look closely at a visual object—and translate your visual observations into written text. However, a visual analysis does not simply record your observations. It also makes a claim about the images. You will describe the images in detail and then offer an analysis of what the images communicate at the surface level. You will also highlight any implicit messages that the images communicate. (Use Visual Analysis Planning Sheet). Students should begin the project by taking detailed notes about the images. Review every component of each image. Be precise. Consider the composition, colors, textures, size, space, and other visual and material attributes of the images. Go beyond your first impressions. This should take some time—allow your eye to absorb the image. Making a sketch of the work can help you understand its visual logic.

Good to Know

Below are some helpful resources to aid in creating your Visual Analysis Essay.

• Visual Analysis essay sample
• Photos and Illustrations 
• Visual Elements: Play, Use, and Design
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How to write Visual Argument Essay: Format & Topic Examples

writing visual argument essay format

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you need to convey a message to your audience clearly and concisely within the shortest time possible?

The most effective way to achieve this is to create and use a visual argument. 

What is a visual Argument?

A visual argument is a type of communication that utilizes images together with text to convey a persuasive perspective or message.

The visual elements of a visual argument create their case. The visual elements may include illustrations, photographs, graphs, charts, videos, infographics, videos, and other forms of visual media. 

Why are Visual Arguments Important?

Visual arguments are very important, especially in contemporary media-rich work where visuals (images and videos) are prevalent in social media, advertising, and entertainment. 

Thus, the ability to produce and interpret visual arguments is an important skill since visual communication should be understood by both consumers and creators of content. 

Below are some reasons why visual arguments are important:

• Enhanced comprehension: Visual arguments simplify complex messages or concepts in such a way that the broader audience can understand. They distill information into digestible forms. 
• Immediate impact: The use of visual elements captures the audience’s attention and conveys messages quickly. They evoke responses and make instant impression.
• Cross-cultural communication: Visual arguments can transcend cultural differences and language barriers since images and symbols are universally understood. 
• Memory and retention: It is easier to remember visual information compared to text alone. 
• Emotional appeal: Visuals can evoke empathy and emotions compared to words alone. When an audience has an emotional connection to your content, it makes the persuasive argument more memorable and compelling. 
• Versatility: Visual arguments are applicable in diverse disciplines and contexts. They can adapt to various platforms and media, such as social, digital, and print media. 
• Accessibility: Such arguments are inclusive and accessible to a diverse audience with different levels of language and literacy skills, in addition to diverse populations. 
• Supporting evidence: Such arguments reinforce written or verbal arguments by giving supporting data or evidence in a more persuasive or digestible format. 
• Artistic expression: Visual arguments may challenge norms, provoke thought, and provide commentary on socio-political and cultural uses when used as an art form. 

Types of Visual Arguments

They include infographics, photographic arguments, advertising, political cartoons, charts and graphs , social media posts, paintings and art installations, maps and geographic visualizations, documentary films and videos, and websites and user interfaces. 

They can also include medical imaging, environmental visual arguments, protest signs and banners, interactive data visualizations, public service announcements (PSAs), and architectural and urban design. 

What is involved in Analyzing Visuals?

The art of visual deconstruction.

Here, you should begin with initial observation, whereby you look at the visual as a complete thing. What is your first emotional response or impression? Also, consider the overall color scheme, composition, and mood.

Break down the visual into its basic constituents. You identify people, objects, symbols, labels, or texts present. 

Analyze the composition (placement and arrangement of elements) of the visual. Notice the use of balance, visual hierarchy, symmetry, patterns, or repetition.

Take note of color choices and contrast. Colors evoke particular associations or emotions, while contrast draws attention to specific elements. 

Identifying Key Elements in Visuals

When identifying the central elements in visuals, determine the subject matter or what the visual is all about. This includes main characters, subjects, or objects central to the conveyed message. 

Look for icons, symbols, and visual metaphors conveying meaning. Consider their contextual or cultural importance. 

If text is present within the visual, analyze the font, placement, size, and content. Consider the text’s role in conveying the central message. 

Take note of the proportions and size of elements. This can indicate importance, power dynamics, or emphasis in the visual. 

Assessing Visual Rhetoric

First, consider the ethos or credibility of the source in terms of who created it and their expertise or authority on the subject. 

Examine the emotional appeal (pathos) of the visual. Does it elicit emotions, feelings, or reactions?

Further, examine the logical aspect (logos) of the visual argument. Is it structured well and supported by credible evidence with statistics, data, or facts? 

Consider the visual’s purpose and the intended audience. This influences the style and content of the visual. 

Finally, consider the broader context in which it exists. The visual can exist within social, cultural, or historical contexts. 

How to Write a Good Visual Argument Essay

1. choose the right visual argument.

The first step to writing a good visual argument essay is to find the right visual for your essay. The visual should be relevant to the topic in such a way that it supports your message. 

Select a relevant topic that supports what you intend to tell your audience.

Make sure that the topic speaks to the audience by helping them understand beforehand what you are going to explain. 

Also, ensure that the visuals you have selected have been ethically sourced. If the visuals are not your own and you have got them from another source, make sure to cite the owners properly. 

If you fail to give credit to the owners of the visuals, you are liable to face legal implications based on copyright infringement or infringement of intellectual property rights. 

2. Structure your Visual Argument Essay

Select your most preferred structure for your visual argument essay. You may select the more common classic essay structure that begins with an introduction , followed by the body, and ends with a conclusion. 

Make sure that you incorporate the visuals effectively. You can achieve this by matching the visuals to the message, considering the target audience since visuals resonate differently with various audiences. Maintain consistency. 

Craft a strong thesis statement that summarizes your argument while allowing the audience to think more about the topic. The thesis statement should be at the end of the introduction. 

3. Write Your Visual Argument Essay

When writing your visual argument essay, begin with an introduction. It should briefly provide the content and context of the essay. 

Be brief and start the introduction with a statement that hooks the audience. Let it be catchy to arouse the interest of your audience. 

For example, if the visual argument essay is about the dangers of cigarette smoking, the hook can be: “Did you know that smoking increases the risk of heart disease?” 

In the body, make your case. This is the part in the visual argument essay where you provide all the necessary content to the audience to persuade them. 

Present the evidence from the visual because visuals are supposed to give the audience a piece of evidence they can see with their eyes and even relate to. This is why visuals can evoke emotions and feelings. 

Always provide context and explanation for your visuals. Let the audience understand your perspective because visual interpretation can be subjective depending on the audience’s perspectives, mood, or background. 

To increase your credibility, incorporate counterarguments in your visual argument essay. It shows that you understand that there exists other perspectives and you are ready to defend your position.

End the visual argument essay with a conclusion where you wrap up your arguments by stating the main ideas, restating the thesis, and giving the implications of your work. 

4. Polish up your Visual Argument Essay

Once you are done with writing the visual argument essay, polish it by proofreading and editing. This eliminates any grammatical, punctuation, and other errors to make your essay appear professional. 

Since the main aim of the visual argument essay is to persuade the audience, ensure that the content is clear and coherent. Reread the essay and imagine yourself as the audience. Would you instantly understand it? If not, revise the work. 

Further, because the argument essay relies more on visuals, make sure that it is visually appealing. Analyze the visuals well to ensure that all the elements fit into a singular composition. 

5. Cite and Sources and Giving Credit

Finally, ensure that you properly cite the visual sources that are not your property. Give the owners credit for their work through in-text citations and complete references. 

Avoid plagiarizing the visual argument essay. Ensure that you come up with unique content to avoid facing plagiarism penalties if the work is assessed by a professional body. 

Tips to Write a Successful Visual Essay

Building a strong argument.

To write a successful visual essay, build a strong argument that is compelling and interesting to the target audience. 

Make sure that the content is unique because the audience will be bored reading or listening to something they have already encountered before. 

The argument should be worthwhile to the audience. Let it appeal to their ethos, logos, and pathos. 

Engaging Your Audience Visually

Ensure that the audience is engaged visually throughout the visual argument essay. Visuals enhance the perceptions, memory retention capacity, and emotions of the audience. Thus, use visuals effectively to engage your audience for maximum persuasion. 

Final Thoughts on Writing a Visual Argument Essay

Visual argument essays are meant to persuade an audience. Therefore, the use of visuals in combination with text can enhance audience engagement. 

While using visuals, use them effectively to maximize audience engagement and make them aesthetically appealing. Also, use them ethically by crediting their source. 

A visual argument essay is a subset of persuasion and rhetoric where the author or presenter uses written and verbal arguments in combination with visual elements to enhance their case.

It is the most effective way of persuading your audience to resonate with your point of view or arguments. 

Josh Jasen or JJ as we fondly call him, is a senior academic editor at Grade Bees in charge of the writing department. When not managing complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In his spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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Visual Analysis Essay Guide

13 October, 2020

14 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Art is everywhere. It’s in the advertisement you’ll see on the monitor of your laptop, a postcard you’ll receive from your friend, pictures at a local museum, and even graffiti on a neighboring building. Every piece of art has its unique message, story, form, and influence on the audience. Those studying Art, Art History, and Communication understand it perfectly. They often have to complete the assignments that require in-depth knowledge of a researched subject, analytical thinking, and excellent descriptive skills to explain the characteristics of the piece.

Many students find it hard to write a visual analysis essay because they don’t understand how to explain the meaning of a graphic object. Moreover, they face difficulties when trying to interpret the value of the piece. If you’re one of these students, you should read our article – it contains all the necessary information about analyzing visual objects.

What Is Visual Analysis?

You’ve definitely heard about the secret symbolism of Leonardo da Vinci’s “ Mona Lisa ” and “ The Last Supper. ” The chances are that your teacher will ask you to explore these artworks someday, and it will be the visual analysis. Observing these masterpieces, researching symbolism, explaining the hidden meaning of colors, and evaluating the influence on generations are only a small part of the task.

These are only two examples of visual analysis, but typically it includes various tasks. Students often have to examine photos, movies, and other objects that consist of graphic elements. If you’re studying Communications and Advertising, a professor may even ask you to analyze a famous poster or promotional video.

Reading between the lines is an essential skill that helps conduct visual analysis excellently. Every beautiful or arguably ugly picture has a special meaning that brings us the message. Thus, investigating the artist’s hidden purpose is one of the key aspects of visual analysis. Additionally, you’ll have to explore the audience of the piece, main methods of creation, and how the perception of this artwork was changing over the years. When working on analysis, you’ll focus on content, form, and context to present an exhaustive evaluation of the graphic object. However, it’s necessary to keep the professor’s requirements in your mind, as they’ll expect you to analyze artwork from different perspectives.

How to Write a Visual Analysis Essay?

Before you start writing a visual analysis essay, it’s necessary to prepare yourself for hours of research. In some cases, you’ll even have to dedicate a few days to the investigation. You should study the objects represented in the artwork, as well as colors, mood, and painting manner if we’re speaking about a picture. While you’re researching the piece, different thoughts connected with the graphic elements and meaning may cross your mind. So, you’ll have to write down all the ideas concerning the overall theme, message, and symbolism the artist aims to demonstrate through their artwork.

After you’ve written down all the thoughts representing your perception of the artwork, you’ll have to take the next step. When working on a visual analysis paper, you can’t limit your research only to exploring the significance of the piece and your feelings connected with the graphic object. You should go further and explore the background, composition, texture, colors, etc. Researching the artwork a few times will help you find the missing details in your analysis.

Analyzing a visual object has much in common with completing a jigsaw puzzle. Artwork observation is an essential part of the process, and now you have to check all your notes. It’s easier to work on your essay if you already have some ideas on a paper rather than to start researching the piece once again. In simple words, you have a draft that will help you connect the dots and present a good thesis statement. Here are some other steps you’ll have to take when working on a visual analysis essay:

• List the artwork characteristics to strengthen your thesis statement. You can start with the strongest qualities and finish with less valuable ones, or vice versa.
• Research the emotions evoked by the piece. The mental response is essential for analyzing an artwork as it should correspond to the artist’s purpose. However, your reaction can differ from the response of other people, so it’s necessary to research the audience’s reaction as well.
• Outline your visual analysis essay. It will be the skeleton of your paper, and it will help you determine the right structure and ideas that should appear in your work.
• Craft a draft. It’s not the same as writing an outline because it’s an extended variant of your essay. But when creating a draft, you should focus on the content, and not on a writing style.
• Check your draft and write a visual analysis essay. You’ll have to revise and edit your draft to prepare an excellent paper. Sometimes it’s necessary to work on the essay structure, use online checkers to get rid of different grammar errors, and even remove some of the ideas. But you don’t have to doubt about deleting sentences or unnecessary phrases because it’s a part of the editing process. If you don’t know whether some thoughts are essential for your essay, you can freely remove them.

The Process of Analyzing Visual Art

After you’ve learned how to write a visual analysis, you should clarify some questions connected with the process of analyzing artworks. As we’ve mentioned earlier, it requires a comprehensive investigation of different aspects, so you’ll have to concentrate on the piece and dedicate some time to investigate. Since a college professor can ask you to write about any artwork, including a picture, photograph, or commercial promo video, we’ve decided to discuss painting. Here’s what you have to look for to analyze the piece:

1. Main details connected with the painter

Who painted the piece? What kind of person were they? It’s necessary to read the painter’s biography to understand their artwork because their features and stories influence their work. Besides, the period when the picture was painted also matters because political situation, wars, and economic instability also became motivating aspects for many artists.

2. The artist’s purpose

Many paintings reflect the artist’s mood or present a hidden message and symbols that should influence human minds. But you should consider that most famous painters like Michelangelo and Dali earned money by selling their artworks. So, you should learn the background of the piece to understand the artist’s purpose and figure out whether it has some special message.

3. The audience

Every artist knows their audience, and you should research this aspect. For example, some artists don’t limit their audience to a specific niche and communicate with everyone through their paintings. Dali was an extraordinary person, and he preferred adding strange objects to his pictures. His surrealism aims to provoke and confuse, and it’s definitely not for everyone. That’s why if you explore the artist’s audience, it will be easier to understand the meaning of the painting.

4. Art movement

The art movement goes hand in hand with the artist’s purpose. The painting manner and main characteristics of the movement help the painter present his thoughts in their paintings. If you know basic rules like symbolism representation, object location in a painting, and the hidden meaning of color, you’ll easily interpret the artwork’s message.

Visual Analysis Essay Outline

The most efficient way to increase the quality of visual analysis essays is to craft an outline. It’s not only a brief representation of your paper but also the first result of your research. An outline will contain all the pieces of information you’ve collected during the investigation. So, you’ll check the gathered details once again and decide whether all of them are valuable for your essay. It’s unnecessary to describe everything you’re going to write about in your paper – you should include only the key thoughts. Follow this simple structure to write an outline:

• Introduction. In this part, you should explain the background of your topic. You can write a few words about an artist, the piece under research, and an intriguing fact you’d like to present in the introductory sentences.
• Body section. You’ll present the main arguments and thoughts of your paper in this part. But you should remember that it’s necessary to separate your ideas by describing them in different paragraphs. A number of sections in a body text will depend on the level of analysis complexity and the professor’s requirements. To demonstrate the beginning of the next paragraph in the outline, you’ll write topic sentences that describe your thoughts. You should also list the main arguments that will prove the power of your idea.
• Conclusion. If you decide to mention the thesis statement key point in this section again, you should support it by listing your paper’s core arguments. It should sum up the entire purpose of your visual analysis, so it’s necessary to try hard to impress a reader and make them trust your statements.

Visual Analysis Essay Examples

Examining a famous artwork is a complicated task, so you might need to look for some inspiration during research. It’s totally Ok to check how other students cope with this assignment because even the greatest artists and writers need to evoke their creativity from time to time. So, take a look at each  visual analysis essay example to ease the writing process:

•  https://ualr.edu/art/files/2013/05/Sample_Paper_1.pdf
• https://ualr.edu/art/files/2013/05/Sample_Paper_2.pdf

Writing Tips for a Visual Analysis Essay

Analyzing one of Michelangelo’s or Monet’s artworks may be challenging and exhausting if you don’t even know where to start. But you shouldn’t worry about this assignment because we’ve collected some important details that will help you improve your writing and craft a brilliant visual analysis essay. Follow our guidelines, and you’ll definitely achieve the best results:

1. Select a good topic

Once a professor gives you the freedom to choose a topic, you should investigate which artists or artwork you like most of all. If you pick visual analysis essay topics you’re interested in, you’ll turn into a passionate researcher and enjoy the process. Besides, selecting the subject you really like is a guarantee that you’ll do anything to increase the quality of your paper. Many students demonstrate low academic performance just because they have to work on boring topics that don’t evoke interest.

 2. Write a catchy introduction

Everyone knows that introduction is crucial for the entire essay. It aims to complete a few missions at a time – to grab the reader’s attention, describe the paper’s background, and demonstrate the core statement.  When writing a visual analysis essay introduction, mention the audience’s perception of the artwork and your emotional response. It’s Ok if these two points differ from each other because it’s a nice subject for discussion. You can also add a surprising fact connected with this piece or the artist and promise that you’ll provide more details in the body section.

3. Pick powerful arguments for the body section

Naturally, you’ll collect different details during research, and some of them will be weaker and some of them will be stronger than others. Focusing on the most powerful ones is the best way to persuade a reader that your opinion is supported by hard evidence. But it’s necessary to pick relevant arguments connected with your ideas, and not to overload your paper with too much information.

4. Impress the audience with the conclusion

Your final words often matter even more than any other essay section. The conclusion should contain a powerful statement that reflects your confidence in the strength of your ideas. Clarify the importance of the artwork, how it influenced generations, and mention the emotions it brought you. You should also list the supporting details to accentuate the value of your opinion.

Write a Poetry Visual Analysis With HandmadeWriting

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Visual Argument Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

As it has been revealed, images are more powerful in persuasion and information provision than mere words. This is due to their ability to reach a wider audience base, including those who are unable to read or write. Importantly, images are efficient in producing clear mental images about the information being conveyed.

On this basis, many advertisers have been finding it more effective and efficient to use visual objects and pictures in their advertisements, which are reinforced by some explanatory words. Since images are great influencers on thinking patterns, their massive use in various advertisements impact more to the target groups than just mere words.

It has been revealed that, images portray hidden values of culture and therefore more appealing on human beliefs and values. Considering the advertisement shown below, eye appeal has been greatly realized.

The use of color mix in this advertisement seems appealing. Having green color mixed with and blue in the container in which the drink is stored reflects massive power of the drink to meet the consumer’s needs. This is because; green and blue are considered as natural colors, implying that nothing exceeds nature.

As a result, this ad meets the requirements of the consumers in its color mix to assuring success to the drink takers in their racing tournaments. In fact, the use of colors in this advertisement has largely realized the ultimate goal of enticing the target group of the product

In the advertisement shown above, the advertisement seems highly appealing by presenting how the castrode drink gives individuals supernatural power to win in a very competitive racing tournament. More precisely, the advertiser presents the drink as enhancing individuals to reach high levels than expected.

For instance, the advertisement presents a motor-bike sporting activity, where the advertiser presents the contestant who drinks castrode drink as reaching the sky, and finally emerges as the winner. This is a very powerful eye appealing advertisement, capable of creating enthusiasm among the consumers to take the drink. The use of visuals to reflect naturality in an advertisement impacts more than just mere words to the target groups.

The use of shock appeal in this advertisement has largely made the message being conveyed sink deeper in the target group’s heart. Having a figurative contestant in a racing tournament who seems to be reaching the sky, reflects the powerful nature of the drink to make individuals reach far much higher than they expected.

If fact, the use of sky at the back ground of this visual advertisement shows how natural the drink is to enhance self actualization. Quite significantly, the images presented in this advertisement reflect a real life racing tournament where individuals who take the castrode drink always emerges as winners. The use of visuals to reflect real life situation in an advertisement as one of the most powerful strategies to facilitate consumer’s confidence in the product.

As it has been revealed, high degree of accuracy in advertising is achieved through the use of pictures, other than using only mere words. With effective use of color mix, and presenting the pictures used to represent real life situation, the target group is greatly enticed to purchase the commodity. It has been revealed that, information presented by use of pictures impacts a lot on the mind, as precise and accurate information is relayed by use of images, rather than mere words.

Further Study: FAQ

📌 how to write a visual argument essay, 📌 what is a visual argument, 📌 what are some examples of visual arguments, 📌 what are good visual argument ideas.

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• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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See an example

An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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• Post hoc fallacy
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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved June 7, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/argumentative-essay/

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• Graduate School

How to Write an Effective Statement of Intent

While most students have heard of a personal statement or statement of purpose, not many can accurately describe what a statement of intent is. This grad school admissions requirement is subtly different from the other “statement” essays you may be familiar with. It is most often requested as an application component for research intensive master’s programs. It typically centers around a cohesive narrative of the applicant’s research interests, experiences, long-term goals, and what they intend to study in grad school. You’ll need to tailor your essay to ensure you meet the unique requirements for this application component.

In this blog, our grad school essay tutors reveal what a statement of intent is, how it differs from a statement of purpose for graduate school , and how to write and structure your statement of intent. You can also check out a sample statement of intent for graduate school.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 16 min read

What is a statement of intent.

A statement of intent, sometimes called statement of interest, is one of the many written essay-style components requested during the higher education admissions process to help admissions committees understand the applicant better. Specifically, a statement of intent is something you’ll need to write to get into grad school . Not all master’s programs ask for it. It is typically requested in addition to the statement of purpose or as an alternative to the statement of purpose. Research-intensive programs most often favor this type of statement. In this essay, they are looking for applicants to expand on their research skills, research experience, and specialized interests.

A statement of intent is, at its core, a functional document with an implicit argument. It serves a very specific purpose and has a singular theme: explaining how your research or career interests align with the features of the program you’re applying to.

It’s important to understand the difference between a statement of purpose and a statement of intent, especially if you need to submit both during a single application cycle. It’s easy to mix up these two essay components! They have a lot of overlap in terms of their content, presentation, and format. Both ask applicants to focus on their research interests, describe why they are interested in a specific field, expand on relevant past academic/professional experiences, and explain their long-term career goals. Admissions committees evaluate both of these statements to assess specific skills and qualities: communication skills, research skills, scientific literacy, problem solving, intellectual curiosity, teamwork, and leadership potential.

Despite these similarities, there are certain factors that differentiate a statement of intent and statement of purpose. The key difference is the scope. A statement of purpose is more general, focused on your overall suitability for the program. A statement of intent is more specific and detailed, focused on your intention to make use of actual features of the program. Statement of intent prompts often ask you to talk about which faculty members you want to work with, what program faculties you wish to use, etc.

The way you discuss your experiences is also different in each of these essays. In a statement of purpose, you can discuss your overall research vision, and connect your past experiences to your long-term career goals. While you can certainly do this in a statement of intent as well, you need to take it one step further. Programs actually expect you to use this essay to expand on the specific skills you gained through past research experiences and connect them with program details like curriculum, preferred departments or modules, faculty members, on-going projects, etc.

The statement of intent actually works as a base template for your research proposal. Many students opt to use their statement of intent to develop their research proposals later in their career. As it’s extremely detailed, some programs even opt to use it in lieu of an interview. On the other hand, some programs refer to your statement of intent as a kind of blueprint to structure your graduate school interview questions . You can expect questions that directly reference the ideas and experiences you’ve discussed in your statement of intent. That’s why it’s so important to be confident about and committed to the ideas you discuss in your statement of intent.

Are you working on your statement of purpose and looking for tips? Check this out:

The structure of your statement of intent is very important as it serves to build a coherent progression of experiences. In this type of essay, you need to provide specific, technical details related to your research interests and experiences, while also telling an engaging narrative that logically builds to the conclusion of you applying to grad school. The key to achieving this balance is creating an effective essay structure.

Start by creating an outline of your essay that is centered around your basic thesis or main point. Return to this thesis periodically to ensure you’re not straying from it as you structure your essay.

Add the following paragraphs:

Introduction:

The first paragraph should immediately grab the reader’s attention and set up a clear framework for the rest of the statement. Unlike, say, a medical school personal statement , or college essays , we don’t recommend starting with an “anchor” story or incident. Since this is a more functional document, including dramatic personal details or childhood memories would only end up clouding the key message of your statement. It’s better to go with a more straightforward introduction that succinctly sets up the main thesis. You can opt to make your introduction more engaging by adding a quote or referencing a specific book or mentor who inspired you; having said that, make sure any external references are always relevant to your actual research interest and further your central argument. Critically, make sure you don’t forget to introduce your research topic, the name of the school you’re applying to, as well as the name of the specific program/department in the very first paragraph.

Body Paragraph 1/2/3/4/5

Next, you can add 1 to 5 main body paragraphs (depending on your word count) where you build a foundation of your research work, interests, experiences, and goals. Each paragraph should be clear, concise and informative. There are certain critical content targets you should keep in mind as you write these paragraphs:

Address the prompt and talk about the specific aspects of the program you\u2019re interested in, such as faculty members you\u2019d love to work with. "}]">

Your conclusion should include a concise statement of your key qualifications and unique suitability for the program. Touch upon how you’ll make use of your time at this school, and how that will help you in your long-term career goals. Reiterate your interest in their specific program.

The word count for a statement of intent can vary from school to school, but it generally ranges between 250 to 1000 words. You should tailor your statement as per your specific word count requirements.

Top Tips for Writing Your Statement of Intent

Keep these tips in mind to write an outstanding statement of intent that effectively communicates your research strengths.

Develop your central research thesis

If you’re applying to grad school, then you probably already have some idea about the kind of research you want to specialize in. If you’re having trouble formulating this idea or condensing it down for your statement of intent, try using the following strategy to structure your thinking and organize your thoughts in a more logical flow. Break down your research interest into three levels, as follows:

Are you solving any specific problem or addressing an existing issue via this research? ","label":"Problem","title":"Problem"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

As we mentioned above, your statement of intent needs to be very specific and must reference the programs you’re applying to. Some schools even provide a specific prompt asking you to talk about which faculty members you want to work with, what sub-department you want to study under, and so on. Make sure you do the required research about what the school and the program have to offer so you can accurately reference this information in your statement. To begin with, you should check the program websites. If they don’t provide enough information, we recommend you reach out to alumni, professors, and current students to learn more.

Find out about the credentials of faculty members, their previous published work, their on-going projects, etc. Check the range of facilities that the school is offering, such as equipment, labs, and academic resources, as well as unique research or clinical experience opportunities. Don’t neglect the extracurriculars such as student support groups, prestigious clubs, and other opportunities that you won’t get on any other campus.

While you’re doing this research, make notes about how your own strengths connect to the unique features of the program. Do you have skills that could be particularly useful for an on-going research project? Do you have past research experience in the same topics that a faculty member is an expert in? When you’re actually writing the statement, these notes will help you to explain not only what you have to offer to the program, but also how you can use this program to further your long-term professional or academic goals.

Looking for a summary of our top tips for writing an effective statement of intent? Check out this infographic:

Follow the guidelines

As you begin your writing, ensure that you review all the guidelines that the school has provided and are closely adhering to then. For example, if there’s a prompt, go through it a few times, and make sure you are responding to the spirit as well as the letter of the prompt. Other considerations you should keep in mind include the maximum and minimum word count, the specific format, and “recommended” stylistic guidelines. For example, some schools ask you to write a formal statement that includes academic citations of works to support each of your research arguments along with references to works that have inspired you. You’ll have to customize the presentation, format, and content of each statement of intent to meet these kinds of specific requirements.

Tell a story with your experiences

It’s very important to remember that your statement of intent, though it is a more technical and functional essay, should not be merely a dry summary of facts, similar to a CV for grad school . Instead, you should write a logical and engaging narrative of the achievements and experiences that led you to your research goals, and how they connect to the program you’re applying to. Add details of your skills and commendable qualities backed up by actual experiences that demonstrate your passion and enthusiasm for the subject. Admissions committees are always more impressed by “proof” of abilities i.e., they want applicants to show them their journey, not merely tell them about it. For example, instead of merely saying that you have an extensive knowledge of bio-chemical reactions in banana enzymes, identify the specific research experience where you honed this knowledge, and explain the circumstances in your essay. If it was a research project, then provide details about the project name and supervisor, as well as your own role in the project and the daily tasks you performed.

Check out this video for tips on writing your CV for Grad School:

Don’t clutter your statement of intent with too many experiences and achievements. Always keep referencing your central thesis and evaluating if a specific experience will add to your overall narrative or not. After you’ve worked out your central thesis, spend some time analyzing all your academic, research, volunteer, extracurricular, employment, and life experiences. Select 2 to 5 of the most suitable experiences that align with both your research interests and the program admissions criteria and add only those. If you have numerous such experiences to choose from, we suggest prioritizing current or recent experiences.

As you’re discussing each experience or achievement, be specific and detailed, and provide all the relevant information including the names of supervisors, a detailed list of your duties, and so on. You can also make your statement of intent more robust by referring to a wide variety of sources as your research “inspiration”, including classes, academic conversations, workshops, lectures, seminars, books, as well as the more typical experiences of volunteering, work, or research.

A useful tip: make sure you’re adding transitory statements at the end and beginning of each paragraph, to build that logical flow and connect one experience or idea to the next. If you think your essay is looking too dry or CV-like, this is one quick fix you can try in order to narrativize your experiences.

Since a statement of intent is a more formal document written for a very specific purpose, ensure you are using professional/academic and formal language and, if required, you can use technical terms to explain your research ideas. Your evaluators will most likely be professionals from the same field, and they actually expect you to show your expertise in that specific area.

At the same time, avoid using long, complicated sentences. Make sure you use your authentic voice and keep your tone as natural as possible. Thoroughly check your essays for grammar, spelling, clarity of thought, logical flow, and coherence.

Remember that your statement of intent is very different from a personal statement. As we mentioned previously, it’s more formal and has a very specific focus. The admissions committee is expecting to see a coherent autobiography of your academic or professional interests and experiences. That should be your focus – you should only refer to personal information as it relates to the larger context of your academic experiences. For example, avoid telling stories from your childhood about your early interests or including details about life events that shaped you, unless they are strictly relevant to your research journey.

This isn’t the right platform to expand upon excessively personal issues such as an illness or major life changes. You can briefly touch upon these topics or weave them into your professional narrative, if it makes sense. For example, if your grades took a serious dip in a specific period due to personal circumstances, you could choose to briefly address that. But don’t make such incidents the central thesis of your statement of intent. Focus on skills, abilities and contributions, and your inspiration and motivation to pursue research. Rather than expanding on irrelevant childhood details, expand on your professional, academic, and personal connections to the program and school you’re applying to.

Avoid cliches and focus on facts

You don’t need a high-level research “break-through” or nationally recognized academic or research award to make your statement of intent stand out. Many students turn to cliches such as “I want to make the world a better place” or “I just want to help people” to hide what they perceive as insufficiently impressive experiences. In fact, no matter what your past experiences, it’s much better to focus on covering the facts, rather than evoking sentimental cliches to make your experiences seem grander than they actually are. Admissions committees aren’t expecting you to have advanced achievements beyond your level – the whole point of applying to grad school is to get the opportunity to do that level of work.

So instead of worrying about the “quality” of your experiences, focus on ensuring that your essay effectively discussed your best skills and true capabilities. Spend some time self-reflecting about what you learned from your academic, professional, and extracurricular experiences, how they contributed to your journey to grad school, what new skills you developed, what obstacles you overcame, and so on.

Write multiple drafts and seek feedback from experts

A statement of intent requires a little more intensive writing and editing than your typical admissions essays and statements. We suggest sharing your essay with subject matter experts such as research supervisors, faculty members, and other academic mentors who can give you their detailed feedback about the technical aspects of your statement. Their suggestions can help you refine your essay and identify ways to differentiate your thesis from others.

If you’re sure about the technical content of your essay, but need help with the writing, flow, coherence, grammar, and other such stylistic elements, consider getting expert help from a graduate school admissions consultant . These consultants have worked with numerous other students and can help you improve your written communication skills with proven strategies that work.

Whether or not you engage the help of experts, make sure you ask at least 1 other person to review your statement of intent once, even if they’re just a friend or family member. Remember, after going over the same content over and over again for days and weeks, visual fatigue sets in. A fresh pair of eyes can spot small errors and mistakes that you might have missed.

Sample Statement of Intent

Here’s a sample statement of intent for your reference:

Program/School : Clinical Psychology Masters at Ryerson University

Prompt : Describe your reasons for pursuing graduate study in the Psychology program, your research interests, how your previous studies and experiences have prepared you for the program, as well as your career objectives and how the graduate degree will advance them. (500-1000 words)

Statement of Intent:

“What is the ticking mechanism of the human mind? How can we truly know it?”

Professor Donaldson’s words from my very first Intro to Psychology class sparked my interest in the world of clinical psychology. Following my curiosity rewarded me with the discovery of my central academic passion in life – developmental psychology and its applications for adolescent females. Today, I hope to enroll in Ryerson University’s Clinical Psychology program so I can further explore my research interests and channel them towards my long-term goals of becoming a research-psychologist, combining clinical psychology practice with research experience to make new discoveries in this area. I believe my undergraduate education has prepared me to undertake advanced research projects and I would be an excellent candidate for your program.

My initial interest in psychology at the beginning of my freshman year soon led me to take on advanced psychology coursework, targeted personal reading, and extra credit projects. I soon built up a strong foundational base in the concepts of General Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and Psychology of Gender Roles. When completing the last course during my sophomore year, I found that I had a strong academic interest in the intersections of gender theory and clinical psychology. I was simultaneously completing a Psychological Assessment Tools course to hone my clinical lab skills. The confluence of these two courses helped me synthesize my special interest in understanding and addressing the biases in classic psychological assessment tools and analyzing their impact on incorrect diagnosis, failed treatments, and rate of relapse in impacted patients, especially women. That was when I decided that I wanted to improve my research skills so I could eventually complete advanced studies in this area.

A statement of intent is an autobiographical summary of your research interests and experiences, with an emphasis on how the program you’re applying to can help you achieve your goals. Some schools provide specific prompts for their statement of intent, asking students to describe aspects of their program they would most benefit from. A statement of intent is a more formal and functional document than your typical admissions essays, and usually only research-intensive master’s courses request this type of essay in your application.

While these two admissions essays have a lot in common – for example, they are both research-focused and help admissions committees evaluate your academic and professional credentials for their program. However, a key difference between them is the scope. A statement of purpose is more general, focused on your overall academic, professional and/or extracurricular experiences and your long-term career goals. A statement of intent is more targeted and detailed, with a clear focus on your specific research interests. In your statement of intent, you must reference the programs you’re applying to, and explain at length how you can contribute to them and which of their offerings most attract you.

This depends on the specific requirements of the program you’re applying to. Generally, a statement of intent has a prescribed word count ranging from 250 to 1000 words. Even if there’s no maximum word count provided, we recommend not exceeding 900 words. While you need to explain your research interests in detail, remember that this essay is not a research thesis and doesn’t need that level of scientific enquiry.

Your statement of intent should have the following structure:

• Introduction : This should clearly set out your central thesis and reference your research interests and the name of the program/school you’re applying to.
• Main body paragraphs : You can add 1 to 5 body paragraphs to discuss the details of relevant experiences and achievements, key skills and qualities, and your specific interest in the program you’re applying to.
• Conclusion : Here, make sure you reiterate your research thesis, and call back to the program/college name. Provide a clear statement of why you think you are a uniquely well-suited candidate for their program.

To write an impressive statement of intent, you’ll have to spend sufficient time researching the facilities and features of the program and school you’re applying to, analyzing your own research interests and skills, and coming up with a central “thesis” that aligns the two. Include details of multiple experiences, achievements, awards, and activities to support your claims and prove your passion and suitability for a specific research area. Avoid including irrelevant personal details or cliches, and instead focus on creating a logical flow of experiences leading to your current application.

No, your statement of intent must be tailored for each program you’re applying to. That’s the whole point of a statement of intent – it explains why you’re well-suited to a particular program, and how you intend to use their resources to further your research interests. If you don’t refer to their unique offerings and instead just provide a general summary of your research interests, admissions committees will not be able to gauge why you’re a good fit for their program.

No, not all graduate programs ask for a statement of intent. Some ask for an additional statement of intent along with a personal statement and/or statement of purpose, while others only require the statement of intent. You should check the admissions websites of the schools you’re applying to learn more.

We recommend that you spend at least 6 weeks writing your statement of intent. This will give you sufficient time to refine your central “research thesis”, analyze your history of experiences to identify the most suitable ones, write and edit multiple drafts, and seek out feedback from expert reviewers.

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ITABANA, BLESSING EFFIONG

Absolutely loved reading this. Great job!!!

BeMo Academic Consulting

Hello and thank you very much for your comment! So glad you enjoyed this article!

Do you have any research statement of intent for Master's in Physics?

Hello Saba! Thanks for your comment. We will try to include one when we update the blog :)

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3.14: Writing a Visual Analysis

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• Page ID 173070

• Terri Pantuso
• Texas A&M Univesrity

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While visuals such as graphs and charts can enhance an argument when used to present evidence, visuals themselves can also present an argument. Every time you encounter an ad for a certain product, stop and consider what exactly the creators of that visual want you to believe. Who is the target audience? Does the message resonate more with one group of people than another? While most advertisements or political cartoons seem to be nebulous conveyors of commerce, if you look closely you will uncover an argument presented to you, the audience.

So how do you write a visual rhetorical analysis essay? First, you’ll want to begin by examining the rhetorical strengths and weaknesses of your chosen visual. If your purpose is to write an argument about the visual, such as what artworks are considered “fine art,” then your focus will be on demonstrating how the visual meets the criteria you establish in your thesis. To do this, try a method adapted from one on working with primary sources where you Observe, Reflect and Question. [1]

Arguments About a Visual

Take for example Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” (Figure 3.14.1). [2] If you want to argue that the painting is a classic example of fine art, you’ll first have to define the criteria for your terms “classic” and “fine art.” Next, you’ll want to look for elements within the painting to support your claim. As you study the painting, try the following strategy for analysis: Describe/Observe ; Respond/Reflect ; Analyze/Question .

Describe/Observe

First, describe what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font if you’re analyzing an advertisement. In the case of “The Starry Night,” you might begin by describing the various shades of blue, the black figures that resemble buildings, or shades of yellow that cast light. As you describe them, observe the texture, shape, contour, etc. about each element. For this initial stage, you are simply describing what you observe. Do not look deeper at this point.

Respond/Reflect

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the ad or painting? If there are words present, what does the artist’s font selection do for the image? This is where you’ll want to look for appeals to ethos and pathos. In the case of “The Starry Night,” how does the use of black create depth and for what reason? Reflect on how the intermittent use of shades of blue impacts the overall impression of the painting. At this stage, you are questioning the elements used so that you may move to the final stage of analysis.

Analyze/Question

After you’ve described and reflected upon the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the visual. This assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Ask yourself if the arrangement of each item in the visual impacts the message? Could there be something more the artist wants you to gather from this visual besides the obvious? Question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of your selected image.

Arguments Presented By/Within a Visual

In the summer of 2015, the Bureau of Land Management ran an ad campaign with the #mypubliclandsroadtrip tag. The goal of this campaign was to “explore the diverse landscapes and resources on [our] public lands, from the best camping sites to cool rock formations to ghost towns.” [3] The photo below (Figure 3.14.2) [4] is of the King Range National Conservation Area (NCA) in California which was the first NCA designated by Congress in 1970. [5] Returning to the Observe, Reflect and Question method, analysis of this photo might focus on what the image presents overall as well as arguments embedded within the image.

As with “The Starry Night”, you might start by describing what you see in the visual quite literally. Begin by focusing on colors, shading, shapes, and font. With the Bureau of Land Management ad, you could begin by describing the multiple shades of blues and browns in the landscape. Next, you might focus on the contrasts between the sea and land, and the sea and sky. Making note of textures presented by various rock formations and the sand would add depth to your analysis. You might also note the solitary person walking along the shoreline. Finally, you would want to observe the placement of the sun in the sky at the horizon.

Next, respond to the ways in which the things you described have impacted you as a viewer. What emotions are evoked from the various shadings and colors used in the photo? How does the artist’s font selection impact the image? Through these observations, you will be able to identify appeals to ethos and pathos. In the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might respond to the various shades of blue as seemingly unreal yet reflect on their natural beauty as a way of creating an inviting tone. Next, reflect on the textures presented by the rocks and sand as a way of adding texture to the image. This texture further contributes to the welcoming mood of the image. By focusing on the solitary person in the image, you might respond that this landscape offers a welcoming place to reflect on life decisions or to simply enjoy the surroundings. Finally, you might respond to the placement of the sun as being either sunrise or sunset.

After describing and reflecting on the various elements of the visual, question what you have noted and decide if there is an argument presented by the image. Again, this assessment should be made based upon what you’ve observed and reflected upon in terms of the content of the image alone. Using the Bureau of Land Management ad, you might ask if the font choice was intentional to replicate the rolling waves, or if the framing around the edges of the image is done intentionally to tie back into the Bureau logo in the upper right-hand corner. Once you’ve moved beyond the surface image, question the criteria you established in your thesis and introduction to see if it holds up throughout your analysis. Now you are ready to begin writing a visual rhetorical analysis of an argument presented by/within your selected image.

• This exercise was inspired by a workshop titled “Working with Primary Sources,” hosted by Meg Steele, given at the Library of Congress alongside the National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Washington, D.C. in November 2014. ↵
• Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Wikimedia Commons, accessed November 15, 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_-_Starry_Night_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg . ↵
• "Drop A Line: Explore Your Lands! My Public Lands Summer Roadtrip 2016," Bureau of Land Management, accessed November 14, 2021, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=0d3fdf6ca0e44d258adde314479b3bdb . ↵
• Bureau of Land Management, My Public Lands Roadtrip, June 3, 2015, digital photograph, Flickr, accessed January 6, 2021, https://www.flickr.com/photos/91981596@N06/18607529954 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License . ↵
• “King Range National Conservation Area,” U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, accessed January 14, 2021, https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/california/king-range-national-conservation-area . ↵

Six non-fiction books you can read in a day

Resolved to read more there may be no more rewarding genre than the short book.

T HE SHORT book, long underestimated, has a lot going for it. To start with the prosaic: if you want to get through more volumes, short is shrewd. Slender books can be slipped into a bag or coat pocket and plucked out again in an idle moment, so you’ll be more likely to finish them. For adventurous readers the format allows for casual experimentation with new styles, topics and authors. For indecisive ones it can make a bookshop’s universe of possibilities feel less daunting: just scour the shelves for slim spines. Most of all, there is a rare satisfaction in reaching the final pages of a book while still holding the full sweep of its story in your mind. Taut prose is intense and immersive, like a distilled fragrance. These books offer that, too. They must; they don’t have long to make their point. In an era of many distractions, that is a great virtue.

These six non-fiction books include memoir, journalism, essays and pictorial essays. They take you into the bedroom of a grieving husband in imperial China; into the courtroom where a sensational murder trial split New York’s Bukharan Jewish community in the late 2000s; and, classically, into a room of one’s own. In short, they get plenty done in just 150 pages.

From the June 8th 2024 edition

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Are American Workers’ Wages Really Lagging Productivity?

By Peter Coy

Opinion Writer

It’s become conventional wisdom in some circles that sometime in the 1970s, the link between pay and productivity broke. Workers’ productivity kept rising, but their inflation-adjusted pay did not. “The divergence between the two trends suggests that there may be forces suppressing the pay of workers relative to their productivity,” President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers wrote in 2022.

The reality is more complicated. There is a problem in the labor market — a big one — but it’s not about employers winning against workers. It’s more about some workers winning big while most don’t. In short, it’s a problem of inequality, not subjugation by management.

I’m building this newsletter on the following two charts, which appear to contradict each another. The first, from the center-left Economic Policy Institute, shows a huge gap opening between pay growth and productivity growth. The second, from the center-right American Enterprise Institute, shows no such gap.

Both charts are correct in the sense that they are accurately plotting real data. The main source of the discrepancy is that they define pay and productivity differently, in ways that create very different impressions of economic reality. That, anyway, is what I figured out after speaking with scholars from both organizations: Josh Bivens, the chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, and Scott Winship, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who has a new report , “Understanding Trends in Worker Pay Over the Past Fifty Years.”

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