Visual Literacy

Gilbert, Chris. (2013). Changing the Lens: The Necessity of Visual Literacy in the ELA Classroom. English Journal, 102(4), 89-94.

After our discussion of visual literacy, I decided to read some articles about it. This particular article presents visual literacy as I am most familiar with it. It promotes the necessity of teaching students how to "read" images and uncover the narratives of economics and class that they present. It emphasizes the tendency for students to unconsciously and uncritically take in these stories without question.

I the past I did a unit on advertising I which we would go into great detail about color, positioning, copy, etc. we also started to notice patterns and tends in ads. The students would also watch the video Killing Us Softly, an insightful discussion of the repeated messages conveyed by ads. Teens are aware of messages about body image for girls, but they hadn't thought about how commonly women of other races have been portrayed as exotic and aligned with animals. As Gilbert's article points out, the students start to analyze the images the way an anthropologist would. 

After this reminder, I think that I will show students the illustrations from the original printing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and ask them how they affect their impression and analysis of Jim. We will also discuss whether the images would enhance or contradict Twain's satirical purpose.