Maldonado 1

Jaden Maldonado

Professor McCann

English 1301.129

23 October 2023

Learning to Understand Visual Texts

To begin with, from essay 1, I learned how to look at the deeper meaning of what

something is trying to say. For example, I learned that the community I researched posted about

the team because they wanted to feel a sense of pride, which is something that cannot be found

on the surface. In essay 2, I had to see how the visual elements of the movie poster helped

advertise the movie and give more information about the movie.

In addition, something that was not applicable from essay 1 to essay 2 was being able to

research the type of people that were in a community. Since the topic I chose was a movie poster,

I had to talk about the visual elements and not about who would want to see the movie. For

example, the movie poster gives common horror movie tropes; however, I was not able to show

who would notice these characteristics.

Furthermore, from essay 2, I learned how to analyze different elements in visual text.

This would be helpful in many classes so that I can understand what is happening in the pictures.

For example, in U.S. history, I must analyze different political cartoons and be able to show what

is trying to be said in the pictures.

Additionally, from essay 2, having to decide which topic to choose from and having such

a wide range of options is something that is not applicable to other classes. Most classes give out
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set topics that I need to talk about and do not give much freedom to choose most of the time. For

example, in History 1302, I had to do a position paper on the New Deal, a set of programs that

aimed to help the American people during the Great Depression and was only give a set number

of articles I could use. Most of the articles talked about how the New Deal was a failure and did

nothing for most of the American people. I wanted to write about how the New Deal was a

success in some parts of it, yet none of the articles talked about the things I wanted to reference.

Moreover, being able to analyze visual elements will improve my writing because it will

allow me to go farther into depth on my reasons. For example, I could be doing an essay on a

book, and I would be able to show how the cover of the book foreshadows what happened in the

book. This will help me approach writing tasks differently in the future because it would allow

me to see the whole picture and not just a small piece of the assignment.

In addition, my peers said that my writing strengths from essay 1 to 2 did not change

much. I was able to formulate what I wanted to say on the paper with ease and I did not struggle

much with writer’s block on this essay. For example, the first time I saw the movie poster, I

already knew what my 4 elements were going to be about. On the other hand, my weakness did

not change either. I had basically turned in an almost completed final draft as my first draft. I still

not allowing myself to wait and take my time. The first draft and the final draft are similar. The

only difference being that I finished the last body paragraph that I was missing.

Furthermore, I believe the comments that that I received from you in essay 1 will be close

to the same on essay 2. I believe that I improved in my writing yet stayed the same in most

aspects. For example, I wrote my sentence and formulated my thoughts in essay 2 as I had done

in essay 1.
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Additionally, the most challenging part of this essay to me was choosing a visual text.

There were so many things to choose from that it was overwhelming. For example, before I

settled on Orphan: First Kill, I was close to choosing a movie poster on The Batman. The

different options had me stressed at the beginning of the essay. The least challenging part of this

essay was finding the different elements I was going to use from the movie poster. The elements

popped out and stood out from the rest of the clutter. For example, the different colors, the blood

on Lenna’s body, the text, and the markings on the wall were easy to see at first glance. To me it

was even easy to find the deeper meaning behind them.

In conclusion, this essay changed how I view myself as a writer because it has opened

different ways, I can express myself on paper. I can use different visuals instead of just facts. For

example, I can talk about what it takes to be a doctor, I can give a visual on how they look at the

end of their shifts and be able to give a deeper understanding as to why they look that way.