Grade 10 2023

Visual Literacy
and
Critical Language Awareness
Visual Literacy and Critical Language Awareness

Visual Literacy is all about understanding what you see and is a form
of critical thinking.

What is Critical Thinking?

The use of logic, strict standards of evidence and careful reasoning

to analyse/discuss claims and beliefs on an issue/s.

The skills that we need to be able to think critically are varied and include:

• Observation
• Analysis
• Interpretation
• Reflection
• Evaluation
• Inference (reaching a conclusion)
• Explanation
• Problem solving
• Decision making

Important things to consider when analysing the text:

o Where did it come from?

o How is the message being delivered – sentences, single words, phrases, or an
absence thereof.
o Who is targeted?
o Why have they created this visual?
o How does the use of colour and/or images enhance the aim of text?
o How have things been positioned?
o What type of language is being used? – formal/informal/colloquial/slang.

These questions are helpful when commenting on the composition (the general
makeup) of the text.

The writer of the text has an opinion/attitude about the topic and wants the audience
to react in a particular way. To analyse these aspects, TONE and MOOD needs to be
considered.
Tone: A writer’s attitude towards a subject.

Mood: The feeling the audience gets from what the author has written. Mood is the
result of the writer’s tone.

Often, persuasive, manipulative, and emotive language is used to ensure the mood is
achieved.

Persuasive language is used to convince the audience to take a certain course of

action by inviting them to approve of the viewpoint being presented. The users of
persuasive language are not necessarily interested in giving facts. Their aim is to
engage their audience’s emotions rather than their reason.

Manipulative language is aimed at getting an unfair advantage over others mostly in

advertising or political speeches. Irony, hyperbole; alliteration, etc. are used to
manipulate the audience. Manipulative language aims to convince the audience to
invest in a writer’s point of view.

Persuasive techniques include:

• Involving the audience by using personal pronouns and shared experiences.

• Using rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking.
• Destruction/criticism of the opposing argument.
• Using hyperbole (exaggeration) to get the point across.
• Arousing the emotional response of the audience by using specific words,
phrases, and imagery.
• Using repetition of words, phrases, or ideas for emphasis.
• Using ambiguity - a word/phrase with more than one meaning that is open to
different interpretations.
• Being biased and using stereotypes
o Bias is implied in the phrasing of questions or statements.
o Stereotyping convinces people that someone has particular
characteristics because he/she belongs to a group that has this
characteristic.
• Using jargon - technical terms not commonly understood by the public, but used
by a specific group sharing a common professional, academic or any other field
of interest. A speaker or writer may employ jargon to make information sound
specifically important, highlight his/her credibility, emphasise an audience’s lack
of knowledge on a subject or muddle an audience’s understanding of what
issues are being discussed.
• Using alliteration to make lines quotable or memorable.
• Cautioning or inspiring audiences using anecdotes (a short and amusing or
interesting story about a real incident or person)
• Using cliches to create a conversational, relaxed tone which helps to persuade
the audience.
The use of Emotive Language

Emotive language is word choice that is used to evoke emotion. Emotive language is
considered a persuasive technique. The words can be used to evoke strong emotional
responses, such as anger, happiness or conviction, in order to pressure or even coerce
readers to agree with the writer.

• Connotation and denotation

Words have two different types of meanings: denotative meaning and the
connotative meaning.

The denotative meaning refers to the factual, objective meaning of the word; the
meaning you will find in the dictionary.

The connotative meaning refers to the emotional associations of a word or phrase,

as opposed to its exact meaning. The connotation is something you sense and for
which you develop a feeling. The connotation of a word is its implied meaning.

Some emotive words have negative connotations, e.g., ‘old’, ‘stale’, penniless’,
‘ache’, ‘cold’, ‘winter’, ‘stench’, ‘poor’, ‘helpless’. These words all produce feelings,
which are distasteful.

The emotional content of the words used in a written text is a very good indicator of
the writer’s feelings about the subject of the passage. It may reflect the writer’s bias
or prejudice.

The writer stirs the reader’s emotion (influences) so that they follow their point.

Some emotive words have positive connotations. The things readers associate with
these words are favourable because they make them feel good, e.g., warm, gentle,
fragrant, whisper, kiss, love, honest, slender, etc.

The use of Humour

An understanding of the following types of humour is necessary when evaluating texts:

• Caricature: a pictorial representation of someone in which the distinguishing

features are exaggerated to make it humorous.
• Hyperbole: a deliberate over-exaggeration of something
• Innuendo: a derogatory (to lessen the value of someone/thing) hint or reference
to a person or thing.
• Irony: the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention/
opposite of what is literally written.
• Parody: a work or performance that imitates another work with ridicule.
• Pun: a joke or type of wordplay in which similar senses or sounds of two words or
phrases, or two different senses of the same word are deliberately confused.
 • Sarcasm: the use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say,
made in order to hurt someone's feelings or to criticize something in
a humorous way.
• Satire: writing or art that ridicules a serious subject (often political) using humour.
The intention is often to provoke or prevent change.

Identify the following types of humour:

QUESTION 1

Study the advertisement (TEXT 1).

TEXT 1
1.1 What is being advertised. (1)

1.2 Who is the target market? Quote from the advertisement to support your answer. (2)

1.3 Write down the slogan of the advertisement and explain why you think it would
appeal to the target audience. (2)

1.4 Fully explain the gender stereotyping of males in the advertisement. Your response
should include reference to ONE visual clue and ONE verbal clue. (2)

1.5 What makes this advertisement funny or amusing? Provide an example from the
advertisement to support your view. (2)

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QUESTION 2

Study the cartoon (TEXT 2).

TEXT 2

2.1 Refer to the caption of the cartoon. What is the function of the ellipsis after "again"?
(1)

2.2 Why has the cartoonist written the word "not" in italics? (1)
2.3 Explain how the cartoonist's use of IRONY in the question, contributes to the humour
in the cartoon. (2)

2.4 What feeling does the teacher's body language convey? Support your answer by
referring to a VISUAL clue from the cartoon. (2)

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QUESTION 3

Refer to TEXTS 3 and answer the questions that follow.

TEXT 3

3.1.1 Explain how the meaning of the slogan 'Equal education for all' has changed from
1976 (frame 1) to today (frame 2). (2)

3.1.2 How is this shift captured in the visual details of each frame? Refer specifically to
facial expressions and two other visual aspects. (3)

3.2 The words 'No one is listening to us' are written without an exclamation mark. How
does this choice shape our understanding of the speaker's tone? (2)

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QUESTION 4

Refer to TEXT 4 and answer the questions that follow.

TEXT 4

4.1. Consider the text "Lying awake worrying about how many people saw that post
before you deleted it". Give a detailed explanation of how this can be seen to be smart
advertising. (2)

4.2. Explain the figure of speech used in the words in #SayGoodNytol. (2)

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QUESTION 5

Refer to TEXT 5 and answer the questions that follow.

TEXT 5

5.1 How is teenage behaviour stereotyped in frame 1? (1)

5.2 Why would Jeremy tell his mother that he is going "nowhere"? (1)

5.3 Refer to frame 4.

5.3.1 Give the tone of voice Jeremy would use when saying “Mo-om”. (1)

5.3.2 List two visual clues from frame 4 to support your answer in Question 5.3.1. (2)

5.4 What is implied by Jeremy's snake tongue in frame 5? (1)

5.5 What universal "superpower" of a mother is explored in this cartoon? (1)

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