Home | Information | Multicultural | Media | Visual

Lesson: The Function of Images in Text

Description

The purpose of this lesson is to show students that images can be used in a variety of ways in a text. The lesson will focus on three major ways - as example, as evidence, and as expression - that images can be used in a text.

Learning Outcomes   I   Suggested Procedure   I   Assessment    for this Lesson

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to recognize that images can have different functions in a text.
Students will be able to understand that the same image can function in more than one way depending on context.

Set-up

Teachers may want to write the following on a transparency, whiteboard, or handout.

1. Example - An image can be used to show what an idea might look like. The picture may be used to illustrate a concept that is being described within a text or strengthen a point of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
2. Evidence - An image can be used to add new information. The picture may be used to represent data that is being described within a text or highlight one aspect of an argument of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
3. Expression - An image can be used to express a feeling or attitude. The picture may be used to stylize information that is being described within a text or make an ironic or emotional comment on the point of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.

Suggested Procedure

The Three E's - Example, Evidence, Expression (Large group presentation - 10 minutes)

Introduce students to the three major ways that images can be used in text. They are the following (to better illustrate, look for examples of each one in something like a Social Studies, Science, or Language Arts textbook.):

1. Example - An image can be used to show what an idea might look like. The picture may be used to illustrate a concept that is being described within a text or strengthen a point of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
2. Evidence - An image can be used to add new information. The picture may be used to represent data that is being described within a text or highlight one aspect of an argument of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.
3. Expression - An image can be used to express a feeling or attitude. The picture may be used to stylize information that is being described within a text or make an ironic or emotional comment on the point of which the author is trying to persuade his or her audience.

Identifying Examples of The Three E's (Small group practice - 10 - 15 minutes)

Ask students to work in small groups looking through their Social Studies, Science or Language Arts textbooks to try to locate examples of all three ways that images are used.

Ask some of the groups to share what they found. Is the way the image is being used in the text always clear? Are there cases where it is unclear as to the way the image is being used? Are there times when the image is being used in two different ways? Are there times when the image is being used in a way other than the "Three E's"?

One Image, Three Functions (Large group introduction - 10 minutes)

Explain to students that the same image can be used differently in a text. Brainstorm answers for one of The Three E's worksheets. 1, 2, 3, & 4

Assessment (Paired production - 15 - 20 minutes)

Give students The Three E's worksheet. 1, 2, 3, & 4   Instruct them to look at the picture, and then, identify what the picture could be an example of, what it could be evidence for, and what it could be an expression of. After students are finished, discuss answers as a class.

 Other visual literacy lessons: Locating Images   I   Scanning for Visual Details   I    Structural Comparisons   I
    
              The Function of Images in Text   I   Framing and Point of View  I   Images as Persuasion

This page was last updated April 25, 2002 This lesson was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies. The Function of Images in Text was created by Cricket Heinze and Cornelia Brunner.