On Thursday, I asked you to consider some images that are significant to you, that hold meaning or memories or some other significance for you. I wanted you to consider whether or not it was simple to explain in words, the significance of those images. I did this because I wanted you to think deeply about images that were important to you and see if you could determine why they were important. In other words, are pictures worth a thousand words? How can text and images work together? These questions are important for various reasons. Unit Two and Three concentrate on the visual and these questions can help you begin to consider some issues that will come up again as you progress through these units.

You are bombarded with images on a daily basis and I want you to consider the messages in those images, to think critically about visual persuasion, about the interplay between text and image and what one can offer the other. Unit Two asks you to create a visual narrative. This means the bulk of your project will be images, while you will need to decide how much text accompanies the images and what purpose that text might serve. You may feel that this kind of project is more art oriented than composition. However, audience, purpose are possibly even more important in visual narratives than simply textual ones. We can compose in multiple media and this is your chance to flex those creative muscles.

The assignment (and you only have about a week to do this) is to compose a visual narrative. You may use a series of images to tell your stories. The story you tell might not be autobiographical but it certainly can be.

You will want to choose a manageable topic. You might visualize a story, song lyric, poem, news release or your own narrative. The story might be published or personal, something that happened to you. If you want to use your Changing Skins project as a starting point, feel free to do so. You can do this in any media you choose. If you want to produce a photographic essay, a painting, a graphic story or comic strip, you have that freedom. You might draw or sketch and produce a series of sketches. Use the interests and talents you have to your advantage.

You can use Photoshop, Website Design Programs, PowerPoint, or any other imaging software. Be sure you are CREATING your work, however. Do not simply rip off pictures from the Internet. You can buy a cheap disposable, digital camera for less than 15 dollars. You can use pictures you already have. You can use magazines and other materials to create some kind of collage or art project. If you can think of it, you can probably do it for this project. However there are some Guidelines:

1)Your project must be visual.
2) It must be your own. If you want to work with a partner for this project you can. But I will warn you, it is often more difficult to work with someone when you are under a time crunch like you are for this project.
3)You must be able to "hand in" the project or give me access to it.
4) There are no extensions. The due date for this project is September 29.
5) Keep in mind this is to help you prepare for Unit Three so if you want to read ahead and combine or turn this project into something larger for Unit Three, you can certainly propose those ideas to me.

The collage above is a collection of images from my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. These images are significant to me for many reasons, some of them difficult to articulate. I am nostalgic when I see these images. I can smell the azaleas in my grandmother's yard. Feel the breeze off the water as the sun sets. I see myself walking through the cemetaries where my loved ones are buried; I can go home through the images though I feel further than the thousand mile drive to the actual scenes.

These images evoke emotion and memories. Choose images for you that do the same. You want your audience to connect, to understand your connection to the images you choose.