Visual Analysis 101
University Writing Center
Jaclyn Wells
What is visual analysis?
In a visual analysis, your job is to break down the
different elements of a text that communicates
primarily with visuals. Your goal is to understand
how these different elements communicate a
message and accomplish a purpose.
Visual texts include things you see every day,
such as:
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Websites
Photos or paintings
Brochures or flyers
Advertisements
Visual vs. verbal analysis
Analyzing visual texts is both similar to and
different from analyzing verbal texts:
 In
both cases, you consider the text’s
rhetorical situation, which is made up of its
audience, purpose, and context (or
circumstances).
 In both cases, you think about how the
text’s elements communicate for that
audience, purpose, and context.
 But, in visual text, you focus primarily on
visual elements instead of verbal.
The rhetorical situation
Whether visual or verbal, you might investigate a
text’s rhetorical situation by asking journalistic
questions (the who, what, when, where, how, and
why) about its audience, purpose, and context.
Let’s consider UAB’s website, as an example:
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Who is the website’s audience? In other words,
who might come to the website?
What is its purpose? In other words, why might
someone come to the website?
What is its context or environment? In other words,
where, when, and how might someone visit the
website?
Visual Analysis: The Process
As with all writing, there is no one process that
will work for everyone when it comes to
analyzing a visual text. As you develop your
ideas for a visual analysis, though, you might
find it useful to follow three general steps:
1.
2.
3.
Describe
Respond
Analyze
Describe the text
Many people overlook this step, but simply describing
a visual text is an important part of the process. Trying
to analyze a visual text without being able to first
describe it would be like trying to analyze an article
without being able to first summarize it.
When you describe a visual text, you might look at:
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Colors and shading
Objects and shapes
People and places
Arrangement of elements on page
Foreground and background
Respond to the text
A good visual analysis will go beyond basic
reaction, but thinking about how you react to a
visual text can be useful in developing your ideas.
When you look at a visual text, think about:
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What’s my initial, gut reaction?
How does the text make me feel?
What does the text make me think?
Does the text make we want to do something?
Does the text remind me of anything I’ve seen,
heard, or read about before?
Analyze the text
In the next step, push beyond description and
response. Consider how the text’s different
elements communicate a message and
accomplish a purpose. Remember the rhetorical
situation: The audience, purpose, and context of
the visual text.
Analyze the text, cont.
To think about how the text communicates a
message to its reader, ask questions about each
element you described. For each element, ask: What
is its purpose? What is its effect on the audience?
How does it contribute to the text’s message? How
does it relate to the context?
As a reminder, some of these elements are:
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Colors and shading
Objects and shapes
People and places
Arrangement of elements on page
Foreground and background
Creating your thesis
The thesis for a visual analysis will depend upon your
specific assignment, purpose, and text you’re
analyzing. When in doubt, always return to your
assignment description and instructor to understand
your assignment’s focus, purpose, and requirements.
Generally, a visual analysis thesis will make a claim
about how the text communicates a message A
visual analysis thesis might sound like:
The Ford F150 advertisement uses dark colors,
images of men working, and an outdoor
setting to suggest that the truck is intended for
outdoorsy, hardworking men.
Introducing your analysis
Your introduction will also depend upon your assignment,
purpose, and text. Below are some general ideas for
writing an introduction for your visual analysis:
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Name the text you’re analyzing in the introduction:
“The Ford F150 advertisement,” “Auburn University’s
website,” “The University Writing Center’s brochure.”
Include a brief description of the text. You will include
more description in your body paragraphs, but a little
here will help set up your analysis.
Characterize briefly the text’s rhetorical situation (its
audience, purpose, and context). Again, you will
include more of this in body paragraphs, but a little
bit here will set up the rest of your paper.
Organizing your analysis
You have many options for organizing your visual analysis
(and, again, what you choose will depend on your
specific situation). Below are some general options for
organizing the body of your paper. Please keep in mind
that these are only a few options.
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Spatial: The structure of your paper follows the way your
eyes follow a visual text, generally from left to right or
from most to least prominent parts.
Elements: Each section or body paragraph focuses on
an element of the text, such as color, images, etc.
Rhetorical appeals: The paper’s sections are divided
into the three appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Rhetorical situation: The paper’s sections are divided
into the elements of the rhetorical situation:
audience, purpose, and context.
Further reading
Today’s workshop has only offered an introduction to
writing a visual analysis. If you would like more
information, the following resources might be useful:
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The Purdue Online Writing Lab offers number of
resources on visual and rhetorical analysis.
The Duke Thompson Writing Program website
contains many resources on visual analysis (Click:
“Genres of Writing” and then “Visual Analysis”).
The UWC offers one-on-one appointments or
Ask-a-Tutor services for all UAB students.