Exercises — Week 17: Week 17 — Visual Arguments
2 hands-on tasks. Do them in order; each one feeds the Canvas item it names.
35 min · analysis
1. OPTIC Analysis
- Select a photograph from a magazine, newspaper, or reputable news source (describe it in your notes — do not reproduce it).
- Complete the full OPTIC framework in writing: one sentence minimum for each of the five elements.
- Write a final paragraph explaining what argument the image makes, without quoting any words in the image itself.
Turn in / bring: Full OPTIC analysis with concluding paragraph on the image's argument.
25 min · analysis
2. Data Visualization Analysis
- Find one chart or graph embedded in a news article.
- Identify four design decisions: what is measured, the scale of the y-axis, the baseline, and the comparison group.
- Write one paragraph explaining what argument those design decisions advance and whether a different design would change the argument.
Turn in / bring: One-paragraph data visualization analysis with four labeled decisions.