Annotated+Visual+Literacy+Resource

**__Resource for Visual Literacy Lesson__** Image from: http://wallpaper.365greetings.com/d/1615-2/chinese-new-year-4.jpg  The Chinese New Year image allows for discussion to be developed around the use of vectors, colour and salience in images to convey meaning. The resource is valid in relation to the unit topic 'Celebrations', specifically HSIE outcome CUS2.4- Describes different viewpoints, ways of living, languages and belief systems in a variety of communities, as it directly links to the indicators relating to celebrations and the exploration of different cultural celebrations in Australian and the world. When teaching students about visual literacy at a stage 2 level, it is important to ensure that students have an understanding of the technical terms relating to visual literacy being explored, with Callow stating that metalanguage needs to be introduced so that students can talk about and critique texts (2003). In introducing this metalanguage, students must be provided with scaffolds by providing relatable examples in language students are familiar with, coupled with this new metalanguage to ensure understanding takes places. Kress & Van Leeuwen (1996) say that the part of an image that attracts the viewers attention, either by size, colour, placement or a combination of both, is the most salient image (p.183). When introducing 'salience' to students and when discussing it throughout the lesson, it would be beneficial to explain the technical term with an accompanied explanation such as 'the salient image, where the eye is most drawn to, is...' to consolidate student understanding. In the given image, salience can be introduced by having students explain what part of the image their eye is drawn to and why. At this point, students may talk about size, colour, position, lines, detail, all of which are valid when justifying ones choice of which part of the image is the most salient part. Based on student answers, other elements such as vectors and colour can be introduced as methods of creating salience. Vectors are the lines that draw the eye to a certain point. In the image above, the vectors appear to be rays of light, created by the use of lighter colours, drawing the viewers eye from the edges of the image to the central point, the salient image of the Dragon's head. The children's hands can also be said to be vectors as they point up toward the salient image, again working to draw the eye to the focus point. From the salient part of the image, there is one bright, white 'ray of light' shining directly onto the children, taking the viewers eye from the salient image to the next most salient part of the image. From here, there is a thicker yellow strip which serves as a vector taking the eye from this resting point, coupled with the front child's hand pointing, to the next important part of the image, the words that say 'Happy Chinese New Year'. By using this image as an example to explore vectors, students can see how, through the use of obvious lines drawn to a focus point, vectors serve to draw the eye to the salient image. Further than this, by exploring the 'white ray of light' and the 'thicker, yellow strip' coming from the Dragon, the idea of vectors creating a reading path can be explored. Colour is often used in images to capture the viewers attention, create mood, trigger emotions and to create salience (Callow, 2003). When exploring colour in visual literacy, it is important for students to understand how and why colour is used. In the image above, the colours used are symbolic of Chinese culture and evoke emotions and memories relating to Chinese New Year. Red, for example, is symbolic of fire in Chinese culture and is used to ward off bad spirits. Kress & Van Leeuwin talk about the colour red as representing warmth, energy salience and foregrounding (1996, p.235). The creator of the image made a conscious choice to use bright colours in red tones that symoblise strength and power in relation to Chinese culture and to evoke emotions pertaining to this in the intended viewers. Kress & Van Leeuwen talk about colour saturation as a way to express emotive 'temperatures' (1996, p.233), with bright, highly saturated colours, such as those in the above image, evoking intense feelings of positivity, exuberance and adventure. Taking into consideration this information about colour, it would appear to be an important aspect to consider when exploring visual literacy. Would the above text have conveyed the same meaning or had the same affects had it been in pale blue tones? Probably not, hence the importance of exploring colour choice with students. Using the above image as an example, students will explore why they believe the author of the image has used the colours they have, taking into consideration the purpose of the poster, the significance of the colour palette in Chinese culture and the effect the colours will have on the intended Western viewers (given that the text is written in English). Using this resource to teach about components of visual literacy will work to highlight the importance of colour, vectors and salience as each of these features are easily recognisable in the image. The vectors, rays of light, direct the eye to the most salient part of the image, the Dragon's head. The Dragon's head is the most salient part of the image for multiple reasons, including the large size, its location in the centre of the image, the vectors directing the eye to it, and it's vibrant colours. The colours used are bright and symbolic of power, excitement and prosperity, gaining the viewers attention immediately. An interesting activity to highlight the importance of vectors, colours and salience when looking at images would be to alter the image, similarly to what is shown below. Students could be encouraged to think about how the meaning and impact of the image is changed by re-arranging the elements of the image, altering colour and changing the obvious vectors. Students could compare and contrast the two images, talking about which image they think would be most effective in gaining the viewers attention and conveying the intended meaning and why, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the elements of visual literacy that make images so powerful. Image adapted by Lisa Cameron from original image taken from: http://wallpaper.365greetings.com/d/1615-2/chinese-new-year-4.jpg By introducing students to vectors, colour and salience when exploring visual literacy, they will begin to develop skills and an understanding of text composition that will aid them in creating their own multimodal texts (a wiki) at the end of this unit of work on 'Celebrations'.

__References:__ Callow, J. (2003). Talking about visual texts with students. //Reading Online, 6//(8). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=callow/index.html Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). //Reading images : The grammar of visual design.// London: Routledge.