example of 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.

• Visual Arts and Politics Words: 1759
• Legalizing Marijuana: Analysis of Arguments Words: 1408
• Analysis of Arguments for God’s Existence Words: 656
• Contemporary Visual Culture Words: 307

Visual Argument: Examples, Definition, & Analysis [Free Essay]

What is a visual argument, visual argument example: gatorade ad, visual argument analysis: examples of rhetorical devices, visual arguments examples: conclusion, visual argument essay examples: faq.

It is often claimed that words are one of the most powerful ways to deliver information to the readers. After a long process of analyzing, a more effective way to affect the audience has been revealed. It is the use of images. Therefore, a visual argument essay takes the upper hand when it comes to influencing the readers. The examples of visual arguments are used in a wide variety of spheres. They are particularly popular in advertisements due to the effectiveness of pictures usage. In this visual argument essay, examples of persuasive images are provided, along with the definition, format, and analysis of visual arguments.

Basically, a visual argument is a supporting (or rebuttal) statement. It utilizes various images to intensify the effect on the audience. It is undoubtedly true that pictures or other visual art pieces help engage a wider range of people. In addition, images sometimes may reflect the values and beliefs of the culture. Thus, visuals arguments are more appealing to the public than verbal ones.

Exploring the usage of the images as a way of conveying the message requires substantial research. That is why visual rhetoric should be examined. The desire to watch a movie or a cartoon is probably familiar to everyone. Though, not everyone notices when it happens after seeing a poster. A bright advertising picture can lead to taking part in a charity event, as well. Such experiences may be shared for the majority of people. These are examples of the visual rhetoric impact. Hence, employing visual rhetoric, the author can reach different outcomes. For instance, they can induce a compassion effect, a comic effect, a tragic effect, etc.

Marketing companies often use the advantages of visual rhetoric. Each one tries to create an impressive image with appropriate supportive words. It can become an effective way for a successful product or a service promotion. Visual argument advertisements are the most effective in persuading consumers to make a purchase.

Among the diversity of visual argument images, one of the most powerful for a visual argument analysis essay is Gatorade’s advertisement—a drink for sportspeople. It illustrates the superiority of the Gatorade drink, among other beverages. A bright picture of a bottle and a memorable slogan is a marketing specialist’s dream. It combines three main aspects of a successful visual add: use of colors, supernatural power, shock appeal.

The developers of the given visual ad reached a perfect mix of colors. The dominating ones of the poster are blue and green, which are generally considered to be natural ones. Nothing can be more powerful than nature. This idea serves as the hidden message of this color combination. As a result of this color mixing technique, the ad creator reaches its primary goal—the assuring of success in the racing competition.

In addition to an effective colors’ combination, the advertisement reflects the supernatural power. The image illustrates the bright container with Gatorade drink that pulling away and winning the racing tournament. Moreover, it seems that the bottle with the advertised drink is reaching the sky. This detail makes the ad even more eye-appealing.

The rhetorical analysis helps to understand that the trick of placing the bottle ahead of other beverages is exceptionally effective. It persuades the audience to believe that Gatorade provides the drink takers with supernatural power. Hence, it motivates the target audience to purchase the beverage. The advertisement compares the athletes to the Gatorade. Thus, it convinces them that they will show excellent performance in the competition, as Gatorade does on the visual ad.

Apart from the use of colors and supernatural power, the given visual argument image implements other methods. For example, it uses a shock appeal technique. The ad demonstrates a real-life racing competition with a metaphoric contestant—the Gatorade beverage. Consider the effect of reaching the sky by the container. It creates a vision of an incredibly strong nature of the beverage. As a result, the audience is shocked by Gatorade’s supernatural power and encouraged to buy it. Consequently, a shock appeal makes the visual argument images more effective.

The visual argument pictures are more powerful than verbal arguments. They are widely used in the advertisement sector and help to reach a high degree of effectiveness. The advertisers can create well-developed persuasive advertisements via various techniques. For example, they can depend on the wise use of colors, the demonstration of supernatural power, and shock appeal. Therefore, visual effects are one of the most powerful tools for impacting the audience. Making them purchase a product is less complicated with an ad.

What is meant by art as a visual argument?

Some art pieces, such as pictures, graphic images, photographs, etc. can play the role of a visual argument. With the usage of the visual arts, the process of proving the rightness of ideas becomes more efficient. Thus, art may become a powerful tool for supporting the writer’s position.

Why are visual arguments important?

Visual arguments help to advocate the point of view, prove the idea, support the position. However, unlike verbal arguments, visual ones are more appealing to the audience. They have more effective attention-grabbing elements and engage a broader range of people. Thus, the effectiveness of the visual arguments makes them essential.

How to make a visual argument?

Chose an image that would support your position regarding the given issue effectively. Based on the selected picture, develop your ideas and persuade the readers to accept your point of view. Remember that your visual argument has to attract the audience and leave a strong impression.

What are some visual argument topics?

A successful topic for a visual argument has to be relevant to the audience. These are the most popular ones:

• Social inequity;
• Environmental pollution;
• Human trafficking;
• Advertisement;
• Social media influence.

Find a poster, banner, image, graph, etc. and develop your argument based on the chosen visual tool.

How do you start a visual argument essay?

The best way to start a visual argument essay is to introduce the selected image. Provide its brief background and explain how it fits in the general idea of your essay. Also, you can start your visual argument essay by familiarizing the readers with your topic.

What are the components of visual rhetoric?

The main components of visual rhetoric are images and illustrations. Then there are color, font style, size, the objects’ shape. The arrangement of the figures within a text also plays a role. The elements of the visual rhetoric are the tools that help the author to convey the message effectively.

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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.

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.

You can also use pictures in your persuasive PowerPoint presentation or any other presentation that requires visual elements, such as a video or documentary.

How to write a visual Argument Essay

Brainstorm and research for your paper.

Researching your topic thoroughly is one of the most important parts of essay writing . You need to find out all the information you can about your topic, including the opinions and opinions of others.

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

Visual argument essays require gathering pictures and videos related to your topic. These items can be found on any number of websites or textbooks.

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 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.

In addition to developing arguments based on facts and concepts, you should also consider how the audience might react to different information or perspectives. This can help show them where they disagree with your viewpoints and how they might change their minds based on these new facts or arguments.

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.

2. Use clear visuals

One of the most important things to do is ensure that your visuals are clear and easy to understand.

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

A visual argument essay will require you to add some text to it. You can use this space to write about your opinion on the topic, or you can use it to give examples of things that support your argument.

4. Be brief

You can also use different camera angles or perspectives to give your audience more information about what you are trying to say.

Pros and cons of visual argument essays

Disadvantages.

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Unveiling a Visual Argument

A Persuasive Example: Gatorade Ad Reimagined

Analyzing the visual argument, in conclusion.

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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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Seeing Beyond the Obvious: Tips for Writing a Strong Visual Analysis Essay

Art, Philology, and Communication students very often come face to face with the need to write formal analysis essays. One of the varieties is an essay that explores the visual elements of the subject of art. While the structure of a visual analysis paper is not much different from other essays, the content requirements are quite intricate.

There are many different directions for writing a visual analysis essay. Each assignment requires an individual approach, but there are key pillars that you can rely on when writing your work. In this article, we will take a detailed look at all the details of a good visual analysis essay. Moreover, we are about to share tips from professional writers, which will make the process of writing a formal analysis much easier for you.

Visual Analysis Essay Features

A visual analysis essay is based on a detailed study of the selected artistic object. The main task of visual analysis is to highlight the major distinguishing features of a visual image, as well as to carry out a meticulous description of each component and visual characteristics. The purpose of the visual analysis essay is to examine the influence of common visual elements on culture, social life, and direction in the development of art. Sometimes you can find it difficult to understand the requirements for a paper. That’s why professionals of our service can write your lit review in a matter of hours. Also, the analysis of artistic works brings clarity to the overall portrait of the visual display of an entire nation. It’s because artists often portray the realities of their country’s life by depicting history through art.

Persuasive writing in the form of a visual analysis requires the student to have a comprehensive knowledge of the field of study. For this reason, you need to know basic concepts regarding the theoretical aspects of art to conduct a contextual analysis.

The task of such work is not only to briefly describe images or depict elements of the chosen piece of visual art but also to study the historical context in detail. That is, the conditions, prerequisites, visual arguments, and hidden meaning of the masterpiece should be of no less interest to the author than the piece itself.

Elements of a Visual Analysis Essay

Before writing visual analysis essays, art students have to get to know the key components of such works. There is a certain set of art elements that you need to pay attention to analyzing an art piece. They will help build a comprehensive picture of the context and meaning of the work of art.

Composition

Composition is the scheme by which an artist creates his work. When analyzing images, two-dimensional art, you have to pay attention to the visual representation of the central figures, such as the human body in the image. What is at the center of a particular image? What is the significance of this location? What is the first thing that catches your eye? What draws your attention the most in a painting or photograph?

While exploring three-dimensional art for your visual analysis essay, you will have to study sculpture design. The student should allocate the main figures present in the composition and examine in detail their placement within the boundaries of the work.

Elements of design

In the process of writing visual analysis papers, you need to study the basic design elements in detail. Among them, there are color, line, texture, shape, and form. It is this fragment of work that makes up the largest array of information and scientific novelty of your essay. The process of writing a visual analysis essay takes a lot of time and effort. That is why many students prefer to resort to the help of an analytical essay writing service to write a visual analysis essay professionally. You should evaluate design principles as objectively as possible. To conduct such an in-depth analysis, you have to study a large amount of theoretical literature and technical data.

Focal point

The focal point is the central figure of the composition. Study all the visible aspects in detail and calculate the author’s idea to include this data in the visual analysis essay. Which visual element is intended to be the centerpiece of a rhetorical situation?

The cost of the work tells the level of recognition of the artist at the time of the sale of the painting. This is one of the characteristics that allow you to analyze the history of the art piece more for your visual argument essay. Was the artist also famous during his lifetime, or did he become popular only after his death?

The size of the painting itself, as well as the objects and characters in it, is an important element of visual analysis. Study the volume and size of the painting, as well as analyze what meaning the artist concluded on the visual display of the scale.

Symbolic elements

The symbolic objects of the picture are designed to convey the hidden meaning that was laid down by the artist. The analysis of these visual elements will help you understand the prerequisites for writing a work and will also reveal to you the hidden meanings of the artist.

Visual Analysis Essay Outline

It is well known that outlining an essay is an integral part of the writing process. This is necessary to properly organize your thoughts and clearly state them in your work. Visual analysis sticks to a classical five-paragraph essay structure. Due to this essay format, the first paragraph is an introduction, then comes three paragraphs of the body and one paragraph of conclusions.

Start the first paragraph with a thesis statement. This writing technique exists to summarize the main idea of the text and give a brief description of the topic. Also, the visual analysis thesis statement should attract the attention of the reader, intrigue, and interest.

The body part of the painting analysis essay includes three separate paragraphs, each of which presents a detailed description of an idea. When creating your essay outline, plan how you will subdivide your thoughts. Be sure to separate technical detailed analysis from your ideas about the visual object.

The final paragraph of a visual analysis essay sums up what you have written so far. In this section, you should state as concisely as possible the thoughts that you came up with during the visual analysis. There is a working technique for writing essays. You need to write in the last paragraph what you would like the reader to remember the most.

Tips for Analyzing a Sculpture

When analyzing a sculpture, we pay attention not only to the overall composition but also to the historical context of its creation. Sculpture analysis consists of a detailed study of visual images. Let’s look at the following aspects of writing a quality essay:

Start by learning the history of the sculpture. This is considered to be one of the best rhetorical analysis writing tips for college essays. What guided the sculptor when creating this visual rhetoric? In what period of life and work was this work created?

Evaluate the volumes and pay attention to space and lines. What is the general form of the sculpture? Does the sculpture inherit natural motifs, or does it depict something man-made? Is the work dominated by clear lines, or is it prone to randomness? What is the distance between the repetitive elements of the sculpture? Is there a feeling of airiness or, on the contrary, infringement?

Distinguish the role of the light. Did the author try to convey a certain effect with the help of light? Does the light bring the visual argument to the piece? Does chiaroscuro add drama to the work? Does the light help to intertwine opposing elements?

Understand the function. Perhaps the artist intended the sculpture to be a part of a private collection. Does the artwork represent some historical meaning?

Study composition. Who or what is the primary figure of the sculpture? How different elements are combined within the piece?

Tips for Photo Analysis Essay

Photo visual analysis also consists in studying the components of the portrait itself and analyzing the visual arguments and the background of its creation. It is very important to take a complex approach to the issue and make the work as comprehensive as possible.

The exposure. What is the range of light in the photo? Is the portrait overexposed or darkened?Did the author put special meaning into this visual display?

The skyline. Was the photo taken parallel to the ground or at a certain angle? Why did the author decide to shift the horizon line?

The key figures. Is there a key element in the photographic composition? Is the central figure one or several? Who or what is the center of the composition?

The texture. Is the photo clear and sharp, or smooth and hazy? Is there graininess in the photo? Was the graininess added during processing, or is it inherent in the basic settings of the camera?

The colors. What color is the photo taken in? Is the photo color black and white? Did the author want to achieve a certain effect with the play of color?

How to Write a Visual Analysis Paper

As we have already mentioned, writing a visual analysis requires analyzing visual arguments, considerable preparation, and theoretical knowledge in the field of art. And although the process of writing a critical analysis essay is quite time-consuming and energy-intensive, this is undoubtedly an interesting task to complete. Let’s summarize and find out how to write an essay on visual analysis.

First of all, always start by creating an outline of your visual analysis essay. Not only will this help you structure your ideas, but it will also point out flaws in the composition of your essay. Also, don’t forget to pay attention to the thesis statement, which is designed to grab the reader’s attention and state the main idea of the analysis essay.

Start by studying art history before moving on to analyze different visual elements. Carrying out a historical analysis to understand the origins of creative work will lead to a better understanding of the purpose and idea of the work.

When you write a visual analysis, you should make sure to include your personal opinion . Your fresh thou on famous paintings can open up a new audience’s perception of well-known masterpieces.

Never forget, the same approach in the analysis may be suitable for the study of classical painting and be completely inappropriate for modern one. Artists of different trends use actual lines and textures in different ways. Somewhere the smears are clear and graphic, and somewhere soft and weightless. Select study methods depending on the characteristics of a particular work or author .

Visual Analysis Essay Topics Ideas

Visual analysis essays, for sure, are one of the most difficult and interesting forms of rhetorical analysis in college writing. The art world provides us with a huge variety of topics and directions that require study. Here we list some of the most recent and relevant topics for writing your visual analysis essay.

• Analyzing the use of color in Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night”
• The symbolism of the mirror in Diego Velázquez’s “Las Meninas”
• The political and social commentary in Banksy’s street art
• Analyzing the use of light and shadow in Caravaggio’s paintings
• The cultural significance of Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits
• The emotional impact of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”
• The use of perspective in Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
• Analyzing the portrayal of women in Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”
• The use of negative space in the minimalist art of Agnes Martin
• The visual representation of power in propaganda posters from World War II

Example of Visual Analysis Essay

And yet, no matter how much we explain to you the theoretical aspects of writing an essay on visual analysis, it is always better to see something on your own. Let’s study together an example of such an essay and consider how different concepts were combined into this work.

Here’s an example of a Visual Analysis Essay on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Dinosaur”:

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting “Dinosaur” is a powerful work of art that combines various elements to create a stunning visual experience. The painting, which was created in 1983, features a large dinosaur-like creature in the center of the canvas. The creature is depicted in Basquiat’s signature style, with bold, black lines and vibrant colors. At first glance, the dinosaur appears to be the focal point of the painting. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that there are many other elements at play. The background of the painting is a chaotic mixture of different colors and shapes, which gives the impression of movement and energy. The various shapes and lines seem to be swirling around the dinosaur, as if it is the center of a vortex. One of the most striking features of the painting is the way that Basquiat has incorporated text into the composition. The word “dinosaur” is written in large, bold letters at the top of the painting. In addition, there are many other words and phrases scattered throughout the canvas, including “skeletons”, “wings”, and “teeth”. These words add an extra layer of meaning to the painting, suggesting that the dinosaur represents something more than just a prehistoric creature. One possible interpretation of the painting is that it is a commentary on the nature of power and dominance. The dinosaur, with its large size and fierce appearance, represents those who hold power over others. The chaotic background of the painting, with its swirling lines and shapes, could represent the chaos and confusion that often accompany the exercise of power. The words and phrases scattered throughout the canvas could be seen as further commentary on the subject, highlighting the various aspects of power and dominance. Overall, Basquiat’s painting “Dinosaur” is a complex and multi-layered work of art that invites viewers to contemplate its meaning and significance. Through its use of bold lines, vibrant colors, and provocative text, the painting challenges us to think deeply about the nature of power, dominance, and the human condition.

Bottom Line

Students often have to keep in mind a large number of requirements for a visual analysis essay. Sometimes it is very difficult to concentrate, and there is not enough time and energy to write a paper. Remember that experienced specialists are always ready to help you. We hope this article has become useful for you, and we wish you success in writing a visual analysis essay!

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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.

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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. 

We provide essay writing service for students  that you can trust for better grades. Place your order now and get the best visual analysis essay writing 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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There is no one perfect way to organize a rhetorical analysis essay. In fact, writers should always be a bit leery of plug-in formulas that offer a perfect essay format. Remember, organization itself is not the enemy, only organization without considering the specific demands of your particular writing task. That said, here are some general tips for plotting out the overall form of your essay.

Introduction

Like any rhetorical analysis essay, an essay analyzing a visual document should quickly set the stage for what you’re doing. Try to cover the following concerns in the initial paragraphs:

• Make sure to let the reader know you’re performing a rhetorical analysis. Otherwise, they may expect you to take positions or make an evaluative argument that may not be coming.
• Clearly state what the document under consideration is and possibly give some pertinent background information about its history or development. The intro can be a good place for a quick, narrative summary of the document. The key word here is “quick, for you may be dealing with something large (for example, an entire episode of a cartoon like the Simpsons). Save more in-depth descriptions for your body paragraph analysis.
• If you’re dealing with a smaller document (like a photograph or an advertisement), and copyright allows, the introduction or first page is a good place to integrate it into your page.
• Give a basic run down of the rhetorical situation surrounding the document: the author, the audience, the purpose, the context, etc.

Thesis Statements and Focus

Many authors struggle with thesis statements or controlling ideas in regards to rhetorical analysis essays. There may be a temptation to think that merely announcing the text as a rhetorical analysis is purpose enough. However, especially depending on your essay’s length, your reader may need a more direct and clear statement of your intentions. Below are a few examples.

1. Clearly narrow the focus of what your essay will cover. Ask yourself if one or two design aspects of the document is interesting and complex enough to warrant a full analytical treatment.

The website for Amazon.com provides an excellent example of alignment and proximity to assist its visitors in navigating a potentially large and confusing amount of information.

2. Since visual documents often seek to move people towards a certain action (buying a product, attending an event, expressing a sentiment), an essay may analyze the rhetorical techniques used to accomplish this purpose. The thesis statement should reflect this goal.

The call-out flyer for the Purdue Rowing Team uses a mixture of dynamic imagery and tantalizing promises to create interest in potential, new members.

3. Rhetorical analysis can also easily lead to making original arguments. Performing the analysis may lead you to an argument; or vice versa, you may start with an argument and search for proof that supports it.

A close analysis of the female body images in the July 2007 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine reveals contradictions between the articles’ calls for self-esteem and the advertisements’ unrealistic, beauty demands.

These are merely suggestions. The best measure for what your focus and thesis statement should be the document itself and the demands of your writing situation. Remember that the main thrust of your thesis statement should be on how the document creates meaning and accomplishes its purposes. The OWl has additional information on writing thesis statements.

Analysis Order (Body Paragraphs)

Depending on the genre and size of the document under analysis, there are a number of logical ways to organize your body paragraphs. Below are a few possible options. Which ever you choose, the goal of your body paragraphs is to present parts of the document, give an extended analysis of how that part functions, and suggest how the part ties into a larger point (your thesis statement or goal).

Chronological

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.

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.

Persuasive Appeals

The classic, rhetorical appeals are logos, pathos, and ethos. These concepts roughly correspond to the logic, emotion, and character of the document’s attempt to persuade. You can find more information on these concepts elsewhere on the OWL. Once you understand these devices, you could potentially order your essay by analyzing the document’s use of logos, ethos, and pathos in different sections.

The conclusion of a rhetorical analysis essay may not operate too differently from the conclusion of any other kind of essay. Still, many writers struggle with what a conclusion should or should not do. You can find tips elsewhere on the OWL on writing conclusions. In short, however, you should restate your main ideas and explain why they are important; restate your thesis; and outline further research or work you believe should be completed to further your efforts.

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Marketing and Advertising — The Effectiveness of Visual Arguments in Persuasion

The Effectiveness of Visual Arguments in Persuasion

• Categories: Marketing and Advertising Media Analysis

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Published: Jan 31, 2024

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Table of contents

Introduction, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, body paragraph 3.

• Burton, S., Kiernan, M., Jobber, D., & Argarwal, R. (2008). Critical edge: Controversial advertising conversations. Journal of Advertising, 37(3), 143–154.
• Nairn, A., & Fine, C. (2008). Who's messing with my mind? A study into the implications of audience fragmentation for advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 48(1), 62–71.
• Ranganathan, K., & Smith, M. D. (2012). Organic food consumption in the United States: Analysis of household survey data. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 63(1), 21–40.

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The Visual Argument in the Photograph 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

Abuse has been an issue for a long time and has attracted the attention of not only policymakers but artists, who were eager to illuminate the detrimental effect of maltreatment through visuals and words. In the given visual, one can see a child who is crying. The hand that represents abusive remarks grips the young boy’s neck. In this photograph, the artist emphasizes the power of words and their influence on people’s mental states. As the author accentuated, one should use the words wisely so that not to hurt another individual. Thus, the visual influences not only the emotions of the audience by incorporating pathos but implements the overall color of the photograph to demonstrate a grim atmosphere and stylistic choices to emphasize the scope of the issue.

When looking at the photograph, the first thing that the author intends to achieve is to bring out emotions in the audience. While many images carry philosophical meaning, the given visual tends to put the meaning on the surface. The photograph and the remark appeal to pathos, striving to first show the emotions of the child in the picture and then accentuating how the words shown through the hand around the boy’s neck can be suffocating. Among the remarks one can observe in the hand are “moron,” “punk,” “worthless,” “pig,” and “Is that all?” (Lennineduusada, n.d.).This way, the author convinces the audience of the hurtful nature of words by giving them the distinct examples mentioned above. The author wishes that the audience can feel about the matter the way they feel.

Furthermore, the author accentuates the grim atmosphere of the photograph by using neutral colors with grey undertones. The author of the art puts effort into depicting the lack of cheerfulness. Nevertheless, in the photograph, among the distinguished parts are the abusive remarks shown as a hand and colored black and white remark that calls to action and rethinks one’s approaches toward others. By implementing this technique, the author accentuates the overall mood and emphasizes the essential parts.

Lastly, among the strengths of the visual is also the stylistic choice that aids in highlighting the detrimental effect of the issue. The comment on the photograph says, “Your words have power, use them wisely.” When looking at the art and the remark, one can see that the author used metaphor. After indicating the power of one’s comments, one can see that the hand holding the neck of the boy resembles such power. The child seems vulnerable and helpless and as if looking at the abuser in the hope for the pain to stop. Thus, the word power in the comment implies the hand, and the author calls for such an approach to stop.

Hence, the visual argument is effective since it influences the audience’s emotions not just via the use of pathos but also through the use of the general hue of the image to convey a gloomy atmosphere and style choices to accentuate the gravity of the problem. By using specific examples, the author uses pathos to persuade the audience of the harmful nature of words. Additionally, the author highlights the gloomy vibe of the image by selecting neutral hues with grey undertones. The abusive statements, which are depicted in the image as a hand and are colored black, and the call to action, which is depicted in white, stand out as distinctive elements. Lastly, one of the visual’s benefits is the style decision that helps to emphasize the problem’s negative effects. One may see that the author employed metaphor by examining the artwork and the statement.

Lennineduusada. (n.d.). My story . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, August 19). The Visual Argument in the Photograph. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-visual-argument-in-the-photograph/

"The Visual Argument in the Photograph." IvyPanda , 19 Aug. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-visual-argument-in-the-photograph/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Visual Argument in the Photograph'. 19 August.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Visual Argument in the Photograph." August 19, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-visual-argument-in-the-photograph/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Visual Argument in the Photograph." August 19, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-visual-argument-in-the-photograph/.

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IvyPanda . "The Visual Argument in the Photograph." August 19, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-visual-argument-in-the-photograph/.

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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Creating a Visual Argument, Essay Example

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Figure 1 demonstrates that even though the GDP of the United States is increasing, wages have not increased significantly. In fact, the two appear to have an inverse relationship. An increasing GDP is supposed to indicate a strengthening economy. One would expect that in a strengthening economy, companies would be able to pay their workers more money. However, this is not the case. This is detrimental to the well-being of the country because individuals that are paid low wages are not able to live a high quality life style. As a consequence, wealth is distributed unfairly between the wealthy and the poor.

If the United States wishes to remain strong, it is important for members of the government to understand this relationship and work towards closing the gap between GDP and wage. If the economy is strong, it is important for wages to be high as well. It is only fair to allow all citizens of a country to fairly enjoy its wealth. While many people would argue that this is a socialist concept, this is not the case. Equal sharing of wealth is not necessary, although the disparity in wealth should be eliminated. It is expected that doing so will support business in the country and more money will be invested to facilitate future GDP growth. It is important to understand that these two characteristics are tied closely to one another. GDP growth and wage should not be an indirect relationship; a high GDP should always indicate a high salary for workers across the country.

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Israel-Hamas War White House Issues Rare Criticism of Israeli Minister Who Opposes Cease-Fire

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White House assails ‘extremist’ Israeli minister for opposing cease-fire.

The White House sharply rebuked a far-right Israeli cabinet minister on Friday for making what it called “ridiculous charges” against a U.S.-brokered cease-fire proposal and declared that the minister “ought to be ashamed” for impugning President Biden’s longstanding support for Israel.

In a prepared statement delivered by John F. Kirby, a national security spokesman for Mr. Biden, the White House went after the cabinet member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in unusually explicit terms, denouncing his opposition to a possible cease-fire and even accusing him of being willing to sacrifice the lives of Israeli hostages.

“Some critics, like Mr. Smotrich, for example, have claimed that the hostage deal is a surrender to Hamas or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners,” Mr. Kirby said at the start of a briefing for reporters. “Smotrich essentially suggests that the war ought to go on indefinitely without pause, and with the lives of the hostages of no real concern at all. His arguments are dead wrong.”

The statement came a day after Mr. Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar declared that “the time has come” for Israel and Hamas to finalize a cease-fire agreement that would free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to the war and the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel agreed to send a delegation back to the talks next Thursday, Mr. Smotrich called it “a dangerous trap” that Israel should not fall into and objected to equating hostages with convicted prisoners.

“It is definitely not the time for a surrender deal that would stop the war before the destruction of the Nazis of Hamas-ISIS, enabling them to regroup and return to murdering Jews again,” Mr. Smotrich said on Friday. Mr. Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister and a far-right ally, have threatened to quit Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition if he signs a deal ending the war.

The Biden administration’s pushback was striking because rarely does a White House spokesman go after a minister from another country so directly and by name in an official briefing. That it came in a planned statement that Mr. Kirby volunteered without prompting, rather than in response to a reporter’s question, indicated how much Mr. Smotrich’s opposition to a cease-fire has irritated the White House.

The reproach of Mr. Smotrich was clearly a warning to Mr. Netanyahu not to cave into pressure from the right wing of his governing coalition at the cost of an agreement that could ultimately lead to an end to the war. But whether it could help Mr. Netanyahu to have the Americans weigh in on his domestic politics was not as clear.

Mr. Kirby expressed particular umbrage that Mr. Smotrich had suggested that Mr. Biden was forcing Israel to sign a surrender agreement at a time when the president had ordered more warships and aircraft to the region to defend Israel in case of an anticipated attack by Iran in the coming days.

“The idea that he would support a deal that leaves Israel’s security at risk is just factually wrong,” Mr. Kirby said of the president. “It’s outrageous. It’s absurd. And anybody who knows President Biden and how staunchly he’s been a defender for Israel for the entirety of his public service ought to be ashamed for thinking anything different.”

“Simply put,” he added, “the views being taken against this agreement, the views expressed by Mr. Smotrich specifically would in fact sacrifice the lives of Israeli hostages, his own countrymen and American hostages as well.”

Mr. Kirby added that Mr. Biden would not be deterred. “He won’t allow extremists to blow things off course — including extremists in Israel making these ridiculous charges against the deal,” he said.

— Peter Baker Reporting from Washington

Key Developments

U.S. will disburse another $3.5 billion in military aid to Israel, and other news.

The United States will disburse $3.5 billion in new military aid to Israel from a supplemental budget bill approved earlier, the State Department said in a statement on Friday. The disbursement was expected to go forward in 15 days. Israel is expected use the money to purchase arms from the U.S. government or from American companies.

A Hamas official responsible for security at a large Palestinian refugee camp was killed in an Israeli strike on Friday in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, south of Beirut, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. The official was identified as Samer al-Hajj, who oversaw Hamas security forces in the Ein al-Hilweh camp. Two civilians were also injured in the strike, the news agency reported. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike, calling Mr. al-Hajj a Hamas “commander” who was “responsible for promoting and executing terrorist plans and launches from Lebanon into Israeli territory.” Hamas confirmed the reports in statement on Telegram.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry accused Israel on Friday of being responsible for repeated attacks on ambulance crews in southern Lebanon. The statement came after an Israeli strike on an ambulance in the Lebanese town of Mays al-Jabal on Friday that injured a health worker, the ministry said. The Israeli military said its artillery did hit targets in Mays al-Jabal on Friday after rocket launches toward Israel originated there, although the military did not say if an ambulance had been hit. At least 21 health workers have been killed in Lebanon over the last 10 months in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, according to the United Nations.

The volume of aid being brought from working border crossings into Gaza has fallen by more than half since early May, when the Rafah crossing was closed, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday. For months, aid groups have said they cannot distribute needed food and supplies because of the chaos and anarchy in Gaza, part of the domino effect of the Israeli military campaign in the enclave, which has toppled much of the Hamas government without any civilian administration to take its place.

Israeli and American military officials continued to coordinate ahead of the highly anticipated Iranian retaliation for the assassination of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. On Friday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin and Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, spoke for at least the sixth time since the latest escalation began last month. The day before, Michael Kurilla, the U.S. general who oversees Central Command — which includes the Middle East — arrived in Israel for his second visit in less than a week.

Houthi militia targeted a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in the Bab el Mandab strait with four attempted attacks, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which tracks commercial ship activities, said on Friday. The attacks on Thursday involved attempted drone strikes and rocket strikes from small manned vessels. Armed security personnel on the ship shot at one of the drones aimed at them, causing it to explode at a distance from the vessel. No injuries or damage was reported in any of the attacks. The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in allegiance with Hamas fighters in Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 set off the war in Gaza.

The U.S. says it won’t halt aid to an Israeli military unit accused of abuses, after Israel took remedial steps.

The Biden administration will not block U.S. security assistance to an Israeli military unit found to have committed human rights violations, after Israel’s government took steps to prevent further offenses, the State Department said on Friday.

The department determined in April that the unit, the Netzah Yehuda battalion, had committed abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that were serious enough to prompt the invocation of the Leahy Law, which bans U.S. training or the provision of U.S. equipment for foreign troops who commit “gross human rights violations” like rape, murder or torture.

In April, when it became public that the United States was considering imposing sanctions on Israeli battalions accused of human rights violations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders called the possibility “the peak of absurdity and a moral low” at a time when Israeli forces were fighting a war in Gaza against Hamas.

But Israel took sufficient action to meet the Leahy Law’s criteria for “remediation,” in the form of justice and accountability, to make the unit eligible for continued American assistance, the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said in a statement on Friday. The statement did not specifically name Netzah Yehuda, but officials have said it was the only Israeli unit under such scrutiny.

After spending months evaluating information provided by Israel’s government, Mr. Miller said, the department found that the unit’s violations — which occurred in the Israeli-occupied West Bank before the current war with Hamas in Gaza — had “been effectively remediated.” It added: “Consistent with the Leahy process, this unit can continue receiving security assistance from the United States of America.”

A U.S. official said that Israel had provided the Biden administration with information showing that two soldiers who Israeli military prosecutors said should be disciplined had left the Israeli military and were ineligible to serve in the reserves.

The official also said that the Israel Defense Forces had taken other steps to prevent further offenses, including enhanced screening for new recruits and the implementation of a two-week educational seminar for such recruits.

Netzah Yehuda, created to accommodate the religious practices of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, has been repeatedly accused of mistreating Palestinians. The charges against the unit include binding and gagging a 78-year-old Palestinian American who died of a heart attack while in military custody in January 2022.

The unit was transferred in 2022 from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in northern Israel, according to an April letter on the matter that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken sent to the House Speaker, Mike Johnson.

That letter revealed that the State Department had found that two other units with the Israel Defense Forces and two civilian authority units had committed gross human rights violations, but that Israel had also taken adequate remedial steps in response to those cases.

The State Department notified Congress this week of its intent to disburse $3.5 billion in new military aid to Israel from a supplemental budget bill approved earlier, the department said in a statement. The disbursement was expected to go forward in 15 days. Israel is expected use the money to purchase arms from the U.S. government or from American companies.

Edward Wong contributed reporting.

— Michael Crowley reporting from Washington

Israel said its new attack in Khan Younis involved fighter jets, helicopter gunships and paratroopers.

Israel’s military said early Friday that it had launched another offensive in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, in an attack involving ground troops, fighter jets, helicopter gunships and paratroopers, after ordering thousands of Palestinians to flee the area.

The attack was the latest in which Israeli forces have returned to devastated cities and neighborhoods where they fought Hamas for months, saying that militants had managed to regroup there. Israel is still struggling to achieve one of its main war aims: wiping out Hamas, which planned and led the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that set off the war in Gaza.

Hours earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he would send negotiators next week to what President Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar said would be the presentation of a “final” cease-fire proposal .

“The time has come” for an agreement, the leaders said in a joint statement, the latest push for peace talks amid concerns that the conflict will engulf more of the region.

Before the attack, the Israeli military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the area, again displacing people who have repeatedly moved across the 140-square-mile territory in search of elusive safety, with no end to the war in sight.

Photos and videos from Gaza on Thursday showed streams of people trudging through piles of rubble, carrying bedding and bags, to leave the evacuation areas in anticipation of the attack.

The Israeli military said its coordinated attack had struck “more than 30 terrorist targets” and that it had killed several militants. Israel said it had ordered the evacuation to protect the safety of civilians living in the areas, from which some rockets had been fired at Israeli territory.

It is at least the third time that Israeli soldiers have launched a major operation around Khan Younis. The Israeli military withdrew in April after fighting there for about four months, destroying large swaths of the city. Some residents went home and began laboriously clearing rubble from the streets — only to flee again in the face of the new operations.

Elsewhere in Gaza, at least 16 people were killed in airstrikes on Thursday on two school complexes in the northern part of the enclave. Schools in Gaza have been closed since the war began 10 months ago, but displaced people have crowded into the buildings, seeking safety.

Israel’s military said that the strikes had been intended to destroy Hamas “command-and-control centers” inside the compounds and that measures had been taken to protect civilians. Israeli officials have blamed Hamas for hiding among displaced people, while rights groups have said Israel must do more to protect civilians.

Earlier in the week, the United Nations Human Rights Office expressed “horror” over what it called an “escalating pattern” of attacks in the past month on schools turned into shelters.

— Victoria Kim Johnatan Reiss and Aaron Boxerman

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee another Israeli offensive in Khan Younis.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza are fleeing homes and shelters once again, according to the United Nations, many for a third time or more, after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a large part of the city of Khan Younis and launched a renewed attack.

Between 60,000 and 70,000 had fled by 7 p.m. Thursday, according to UNRWA, the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees. More continued to flee into the night and into Friday.

“The situation is very difficult,” Yafa Abu Aker, a resident of Khan Younis and an independent journalist, told The New York Times in a text message. “People are sleeping in the streets. Children and women are on the ground without mattresses.”

Under a blazing sun, women carrying babies and blankets, men pushing carts and wheelchairs over the sandy road and young children carrying suitcases and backpacks have walked away from homes and shelters and toward unknown destinations. Some were in tears.

“Death is better,” an older woman said on Thursday in video footage from the Reuters news agency. “We’re fed up. We’ve already died. We’re dead.”

The Israeli military has said its 10-month war in Gaza — which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, and has destroyed large swathes of the territory — is aimed at destroying Hamas after the Palestinian armed group led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The Israeli military said it had launched an offensive on parts of Khan Younis as Hamas tried to regroup, and it again ordered an evacuation on Thursday as it began its offensive.

Israel has already carried out multiple ground invasions into Khan Younis, leaving large parts of the city — once a lush area where many residents lived off the fruits and vegetables they grew — unrecognizable to its residents.

Much of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million have been on the run throughout the war, chased from neighborhood to neighborhood and city to city by Israel’s ever-changing military offensives. With the borders closed, most Gazans can’t leave the enclave.

“This is the 14th time we are displaced since the beginning of the war,” Rami Zaki Al-Qara, 42, and a father of four, told The Times by voice message.

Mr. Al-Qara said that packing up his extended family of 40 people over and over to find safety was exhausting and draining him of hope.

“During each displacement, we wish for death at every moment because there is no life in constantly having to take the tent and move it from place to place,” he said.

Mr. Al-Qara and his family have had to leave behind more belongings with each displacement. Finding transportation has become more difficult as the war drags on, so they often leave with only the things they can carry. Sometimes they’ve had to flee under Israeli bombardment, forcing them to abandon items like clothing and pots and pans.

Mr. Al-Qara says he knows that this displacement most likely won’t be the last.

“Based on what we have witnessed, the Israeli are liars,” he said, noting that even the places designated as safe by Israel often come under attack.

The United Nations and other rights organizations have criticized Israel for attacking areas that its own military has designated as safe. Israel argues that Hamas hides among civilians in the territory, using them as shields in populated areas.

Mr. Al-Qara sees only the thousands of people without homes who are forced to wander from one destroyed area to another.

“They cause hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced,” he said of Israel. “And, still, now we see the rocket as it falls and wish it would fall on us.”

— Raja Abdulrahim and Ameera Harouda reporting from Jerusalem and Doha, Qatar

Gaza cease-fire push by U.S., Qatar and Egypt faces big challenges.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have mounted a high-stakes effort to renew negotiations for a truce in Gaza next week, as fears rise of an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran. But substantive disagreements persist that could torpedo a deal.

For days, Israel has tensely awaited retaliation for the assassination of top leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah, both groups backed by Iran. As fears grow of a regional conflict’s erupting, President Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar called Thursday for more talks between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza, saying they would be willing to present a “final bridging proposal” to both sides.

There is “no further time to waste,” the leaders said in a joint statement, a sign of the growing impatience over the stalled peace talks. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he would send negotiators to talks next Thursday, while Hamas has yet to respond to the offer.

There are risks to such a high-profile ultimatum. While the renewed urgency presented the opportunity for a breakthrough, substantial issues remained to be worked out, an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

And if the cease-fire talks falter at such a tense moment, that could substantially raise the chance of escalation, said Danny Citrinowicz, a retired Israeli intelligence officer and fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Mr. Citrinowicz said the United States and its allies were probably seeking to limit the attack by Iran and Hezbollah by dangling the carrot of a potential truce in Gaza. After the retaliatory strikes, the Biden administration would then pressure Israel not to respond with overwhelming force, he said.

“They could then turn the page on this event and focus on the Aug. 15 meeting with the hope of putting something on the table that could bring all sides to an agreement,” he said. “That’s the hope — but will it work? There are a lot of variables.”

“If you build up hype around this event and it fails, the path to regional war becomes much shorter,” he added.

Iran might be interested in a path to de-escalation, but the killing of Fuad Shukr — one of Hezbollah’s most senior figures — has infuriated the Lebanese armed group, meaning its leaders would probably feel the need to launch an aggressive assault, Mr. Citrinowicz said.

The United States was moving military firepower into the Middle East, one senior Biden administration official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to comply with protocol. A major attack on Israel would seriously jeopardize a potential cease-fire deal in Gaza and lead to serious consequences for Iran, he added.

At the same time, Mr. Netanyahu faces a difficult political calculation. His government relies on far-right political leaders who hope to rule Gaza indefinitely and build Israeli settlements there. They have generally ruled out a permanent truce with Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hard-line finance minister, called the proposed cease-fire “surrender terms” on Friday, adding that it would mean that “all the blood we shed in this most just of wars was in vain.” He called on Mr. Netanyahu “not to fall into this trap.”

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating on and off for months on the basis of a three-stage cease-fire proposal backed by the Biden administration and the United Nations Security Council. Over the next week, officials will hold preparatory conversations in an attempt to minimize the gaps in advance of the summit, according to the Israeli official and the senior Biden administration official.

Sticking points between the two sides include the future control of the Gazan side of its border with Egypt and the identities and numbers of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in exchange for the remaining 115 hostages held in Gaza. Hamas and Israel have also been at an impasse over how Israeli forces will withdraw from key parts of Gaza and the transition from a short-term truce to a permanent cease-fire.

— Aaron Boxerman

Iran says the call for peace talks in Gaza will not change its resolve to retaliate against Israel.

When the United States, Qatar and Egypt issued a joint statement on Thursday calling on Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire deal, it was widely seen in the Middle East as a last-ditch attempt by Washington to persuade Iran to hold off on attacking Israel and to avert a wider regional war.

But senior military commanders in Iran said on Friday that they were not reconsidering plans to retaliate against Israel after the killing of Hamas’s top political official, Ismail Haniyeh, on Iranian soil 10 days ago, even as some politicians made public statements suggesting that negotiations might be a better path. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination, but is widely believed to be behind it.

Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is in charge of securing Iran’s borders and would be leading a strike on Israel, vowed that Iran would not stand down on its pledge to punish Israel.

“The supreme leader’s orders to severely punish Israel and avenge the blood of Ismail Haniyeh is explicit and direct,” General Fadavi said in an interview with Al Mayadeen news outlet on Friday. “This is now Iran’s responsibility and will be carried out in the best form possible.”

Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Guards, reported that the cease-fire talks would have no bearing on Iran’s decision and that senior officials, including the new president Masoud Pezeshkian and military commanders, remained united in the decision to retaliate.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a statement on Friday saying that Iran’s priority was to establish a cease-fire in Gaza and that it would recognize any agreement accepted by Hamas. The statement added: “We have the legitimate right to self-defense — a matter totally unrelated to the Gaza cease-fire. However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential cease-fire.”

Israel’s killing of Mr. Haniyeh at a secure military compound on the day of the new president’s inaguaration ceremony delivered a humiliating blow to Iran’s security apparatus. Iranian officials have said that they considered the incident a violation of Iran’s sovereignty. Israel has not acknowledged playing a role in Mr. Haniyeh’s assassination, but the country is widely believed to have been behind it, including by U.S. officials.

Iran’s army transferred 2,640 pieces of military equipment, including ballistic missiles and advanced drones, to the naval branch of the Revolutionary Guards Corps on Friday, publicizing footage and photographs of the weapons on state media. A photograph of the weapons transfer showed a large picture of Mr. Haniyeh placed next to missile launchers.

Still, there were signs that some members of the ruling elite in the country were open to seeking a diplomatic solution to the war in Gaza and thus avoiding a military escalation in Iran’s long-running conflict with Israel.

A former vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, said in a post on X : “Iran’s effort to end the war between Israel and Hamas and save the people of Gaza would be the best retaliation for Mr. Haniyeh’s blood. For the people of Palestine, Iran and the entire region.”

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of parliament and a recent presidential candidate, told a group of clerical students on Friday evening that he favored negotiations as a method to achieve Iran’s ends.

Some clerics, in their Friday prayer sermons, suggested just the threat of retaliation was achieving something: the psychological toll and anxiety inflicted on Israeli citizens as they anticipated attacks from Iran and its militant allies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

— Farnaz Fassihi

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