Do you neeeeeeeeed to talk about the visual in your argument analysis? YES!
VCAA has made it very clear that analysis of the visual component in the text is very, very important! In order to do well in this AOS, students must analyse it as part of their analysis.
So where should you write about it?
The first time that the visual is mentioned should be in the introduction, as part of the introduction of the text.
After this, it depends on where the visual appears in the text. It makes the most sense for most students to discuss it in conjunction with the argument that it is physically close to.
For example, if the visual is a header image at the very top of the piece, it is probably meant to act as an audience engagement device, so it makes sense to talk about that header image in the same paragraph as where you analyse the opening paragraph, where I assume there are also lots of attempts to engage the audience’s interest.
If the visual is further down, in the middle of the article, again I would suggest talking about the visual in the context of the arguments that it is physically close to. It would be difficult to analyse this embedded visual in support of an opening paragraph where the author is mostly engaging their audience. Rather, it would be more effective to analyse the visual in the same paragraph where similar arguments are being made.
This is where planning comes in. Many students skip the planning step because the structure of the argument analysis feels simple – you just talk about the arguments in order, right? But here we see that if students are to maximise the visual analysis as part of an overall argument analysis, some foresight is required!
How to analyse a visual?
Analysing the visual is almost the same as analysing a persuasive technique or device, or language feature.
Here are the steps to a great analysis:
- Identify a specific part of the visual (eg. a smiling child holding a flower in the foreground)
- Discuss what is the audience supposed to feel or think immediately after seeing this part of the visual
- Discuss why the author or creator of the text would want the audience to feel or think this way (psst this is where students should connect to an actual argument in the article!)
And there you go! A quick and easy way to visual analysis in the Argument Analysis essay.
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