Description
Instructions:
Design Analysis Paragraph:
This will be an analysis of your chosen media, static/still or dynamic/moving, and will be one paragraph long. The DESIGN analysis focuses on composition, arrangement, focus, foreground and background images, images in the center and on the margin, symbols, cultural references, and key features of the genre. Factors to consider include such as shapes and colors, arrangement and emphasis, facial expressions and body language, visual tropes or figures of speech, and font styles and sizes.
Media choice from 5.5
(Refer to hyperlink 9/30 Choices for your Visual Analysis Essay )
(Also use the Design Analysis paragraphs from model Student Examples as models in 10/05 Breakout Group I Discussions : Short Critique of One Student Visual Analysis Essay Example )
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Format (only suggested)
Depending on the genre and size of the document under analysis, there are a number of logical ways to organize your DESIGN ANALYSIS paragraph. Below are a few possible options. Whichever you choose, the goal is to present an extended analysis of how that part functions, and suggest how the part ties into a larger point (your thesis statement or goal). CONSIDER: factors such as shapes and colors, arrangement and emphasis, facial expressions and body language, visual tropes or figures of speech, and font styles and sizes as it influences composition, arrangement, focus, foreground and background images, images in the center and on the margin, symbols, cultural references, and key features of the genre.
1.) CHRONOLOGICAL (DESIGN ANALYSIS BODY PARAGRAPH)
BEST FOR A DYNAMIC IMAGE: MOVING
This is the most straight-forward approach, but it can also be effective if done for a reason (as opposed to not being able to think of another way). For example, if you are analyzing a photo essay on the web or in a booklet, a chronological treatment allows you to present your insights in the same order that a viewer of the document experiences those images. It is likely that the images have been put in that order and juxtaposed for a reason, so this line of analysis can be easily integrated into the essay.
Be careful using chronological ordering when dealing with a document that contains a narrative (i.e. a television show or music video). Focusing on the chronological could easily lead you to plot summary which is not the point of a rhetorical analysis.
2.) ***SPATIAL (DESIGN ANALYSIS BODY PARAGRAPH)
BEST FOR A STATIC IMAGE: STILL
A spatial ordering covers the parts of a document in the order the eye is likely to scan them. This is different than chronological order, for that is dictated by pages or screens where spatial order concerns order amongst a single page or plane. There are no unwavering guidelines for this, but you can use the following general guidelines.
- Left to right and top to down is still the normal reading and scanning pattern for English-speaking countries.
- The eye will naturally look for centers. This may be the technical center of the page or the center of the largest item on the page.
- Lines are often used to provide directions and paths for the eye to follow.
- Research has shown that on web pages, the eye tends to linger in the top left quadrant before moving left to right. Only after spending a considerable amount of time on the top, visible portion of the page will they then scroll down.
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Composition Concerns: the Analysis paragraph is to be written in formal voice (3rd person);
advice on paragraph construction follows:
Basic paragraph structure.docx
Third-Person Objective Viewpoint.pdf