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Young Adult: Visual Communication 445 Views


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Description:

Not a believer in the power of visual communication? All right; go ahead and watch this video with your eyes closed. We'll let you know when it's over. In the meantime, try not to bump your knee on a table.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

Visual Communication, a la Shmoop. Who doesn’t like a book with pictures?

00:08

Come on, Tolstoy… where are the doodles? All right, so some works can stand on their

00:13

own without the aid of illustrations or graphics.

00:16

But when you do come across a book containing… pretty pictures… they aren’t necessarily

00:21

there just to distract the reader’s eyes for a few moments…

00:24

…or to give them a break from reading all those tedious words.

00:28

Just as with language, visual communication can be used to convey ideas, evoke emotions,

00:33

or enhance a story.

00:35

You’ve heard that… a picture is worth a thousand words?

00:38

Well, it’s true. And if that can trim down a few pages in the long run, then there’s

00:44

a tree somewhere who feels exceedingly grateful. Images can be pretty powerful.

00:51

An author can go on for pages and pages describing the utter horror and desolation of Nazi Germany…

00:56

…but just one image can drive it all home. Or, better yet… a whole bookful of images.

01:01

Otherwise known as a graphic novel. They’re like comic books for adults.

01:06

Although, we’ve been in those stores, so let’s be honest.

01:09

Comic books are comic books for adults.

01:14

Graphic novels use illustrations to communicate same tough issues…

01:18

…like Maus by Art Spiegelman…

01:20

…and American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang.

01:24

Although even in graphic novels, words aren’t wholly absent.

01:27

They still pop up in the occasional dialogue bubble.

01:31

On a smaller scale, editorial cartoons have used images to make their points since the

01:35

days of Ben Franklin…

01:36

…who is credited with creating the very first political cartoon back in 1764.

01:44

It was a great day for him… until he tied the cartoon to a kite and was struck by lightning.

01:49

That guy and his electrical experiments… Ever been watching your favorite series…

01:54

…and next thing you know you’ve got a hankering for Taco Bell?

01:58

Advertisements… both in print and television media… use images to influence consumers

02:03

and convince them to…

02:04

…make a run for the border… or whatever. Doesn’t watching that mouth-watering taco

02:09

help you work up an appetite better than if they simply splashed the words…

02:14

TACOS ARE DELICIOUS, TRUST US… up there on the screen?

02:17

It may be true, but… we want to see that ground beef falling out of a flaky shell.

02:27

Look at Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as an example.

02:32

How do illustrations play a key role in communicating the narrative?

02:35

If you can come up with a brilliant answer, Shmoop just might hire you.

02:41

Part-Time, of course.

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