LibGuides: ENGL 1010: College Composition &amp; Rhetoric: Visual Analysis

Visual Analysis Assignment

The Visual Analysis assignment requires you to locate a still, visual text for analysis during your time in the course. Examples of this may include a public service announcement (PSA), advertisement, album cover, or other type of visual text your instructor decides on.

Your essay will look into how the visual text persuades its audience through a thesis-based argument. A focus on the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos---as well as their roles in shaping the need for the visual text within a specific cultural and historical context---will be expected of you in this assignment.

This page will aid you in the process of discovering the art of rhetorical reading and observation through finding useful resources and accessing available services through UW Libraries which is always open and ready to assist you in any way. Feel free to stop by, make an appointment, or contact us through email or chat!

"Research is seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought."

Albert Szent-Györgyi

Finding Recent PSAs - Tutorial

ENGL 1010 - Finding Recent PSAs through UW Libraries

Finding Older PSAs - Tutorial

ENGL 1010 - Finding Older PSAs through UW Libraries

Using Google's Advanced Image Search - Tutorial

ENGL 1010 - Using Google's Advanced Image Search

Google Search Options

Google Advanced Image Search
Advanced search feature by Google for images. Recommended for the VA assignment.
Google Advanced Search
Similar to the Google Advanced Image Search, this feature allows users to search for supplementary sources.

How to Cite Images - APA & MLA

Depending on your instructor, you will be asked to cite your resources in either APA or MLA format.

Since you'll most likely be accessing your image through either a website or database, the below examples are made to portray that. The links at the end will give you more information on citing different resource types.

MLA (9th Edition):

In-text citation: "..." (Creator's last name or Corporation, "Title of image").
Works cited page: Creator's last name, First name. "Title of image". Site name, URL. Date accessed on Day Month Year.
- Pacific Outdoor. "Fight Back...Drive 55! A Billboard Editorial." Duke Digital Collections, https://repository.d uke.edu/dc/outdooradvertising/ BBB5007. Accessed 31 August 2023.

MLA Citation Guide through OWL Purdue

APA (7th Edition):

In-text citation: "..." (Creator's last name or Corporation, Year)
Reference page: Creator's last name, Initials. (Year). Title of image. Website name. URL
- Pacific Outdoor. (n.d.). Fight Back...Drive 55!. Duke Digital Collections. https://repository. duke.edu/dc/outdooradvertising/ BBB5007

APA Citation Guide through OWL Purdue

Popular Image Database Collections - Multidisciplinary

Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
A collection from the Associated Press chronicling moments in history through photographs, audio sound bites, graphics, and text.
Ebsco Image Collection (click on "Images" in MasterFile Complete) This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary image collection database.

Subject-Specific Databases

The following databases provide visual resources of interesting topic for your assignment. Feel free to play around and search their collections!

First World War: Personal Experiences; Propaganda and Recruitment; Visual Perspectives and Narratives; A Global Conflict This link opens in a new window
Collection of various WWI materials for research includes recruitment posters and ephemera. On the Adam Matthew platform.
Gender: Identity and Social Change This link opens in a new window
Primary source collection on the changing nature of gender roles from the nineteenth century to the present.
Latino American Experience This link opens in a new window
Chicano studies database with full-text articles, documents, media, speeches, maps, songs, interviews, and photographs. On the ABC-CLIO platform.
Political Extremism & Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Database concerning political extremism consisting of periodicals, government records, oral histories and campaign ephemera from 1900 – 2010s. On the Gale platform.

Popular Databases for Finding Secondary Sources

ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Database platform that includes 100-some other indexing, full-text and reference databases (listed separately). On the ProQuest platform.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary indexing/full-text database that covers scholarly journal articles back to 1975. On the EBSCOhost platform.
Britannica Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Full-text reference database that includes encyclopedia articles from Encyclopædia Britannica, primary sources, and media. On the Britannica platform.
JSTOR (Journal Storage Archive) This link opens in a new window
eJournal platform running complete back runs of journals in a multitude of disciplines. On the JSTOR platform.