English First Additional Language Grade 9

VISUAL LITERACY

What is visual literacy?

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and understand information presented in the form of an image.

To understand the deeper meaning of visual materials like cartoons, advertisements, photographs, pictures, graphs, films etc.
We are going to look at cartoons and cartoonstrips today.

Why is visual literacy important?

It helps you interpret visual media that you are faced with everyday in school, in the newspapers, on television etc.
Allows deeper understanding of texts. Develops analytical thinking about the meaning of

texts. Improves the enjoyment of reading. Helps to be more informed viewers of visual texts, including cartoons and advertising.

Pictures:
Can be analysed in terms of the following:
Composition (centre, foreground, background) Line Colour

Texture
Light Shadow

Perspective (Where are you in relation to the picture?)

ALL PICTURES HAVE A MAIN OR FOCAL POINT.

Cartoons:
Cartoons are usually a humorous, drawn picture

of a situation. They are used to express ideas or to draw attention to a situation or a well-known personality. They often highlight a current social or political issue. Cartoons provide enjoyment but they often have a serious or even a sharp message.

Sharp message?

 Cartoons must be seen in context against

particular backgrounds (especially political cartoons). Humour draws attention to a particular issue.

Now look at the following political cartoon and

explain the particular background and the issue the humour points out

Background? Issue?

Cartoons
Cartoons can be pictorial, use bubble speech,

or have a caption. Dialogue is used to reveal the authors thought and feelings.
Thought bubble Scream bubble

Speech bubble

 Each drawing is placed in a frame and may be

presented as a single drawing or as a sequence of drawings. When it consists of a sequence of drawings, we call it a cartoon strip (or a comic strip).

How do we analyse cartoons:

When analysing cartoons we look at the following:
1. The characters
Do they represent stereotypes? Are they caricatures? (ridiculous exaggerations) Note their facial expressions and body language.

2. Background and setting

Where and when is the scene taking place? Is the cartoon based on facts or fiction?

3. Language and punctuation

Do they use slang in the cartoon? Does it use single words, phrases or sentences? Does the punctuation affect the mood and tone?

4. Actions
These are expressed pictorially by the clever use of lines, facial expressions and symbols.

5. Objectives
Is the intention of the cartoon to educate, inform, entertain etc? Has the cartoonist achieved his or her objective? How has he or she achieved this objective?