A2, Week 8, Task 1: Tool Kit

 

Planning and Preparation:

• Develop a clear understanding of the essay question by pulling out keywords, breaking it down, rewriting it in your own words and looking at the both explicit and implicit requirements.
• Use Mind Maps to get all of your ideas out of your head onto paper – enabling you to organise, categorise and make connections between ideas.
• Research the topic using keywords from the essay question for direction. Approach all sources with caution and try to locate credible sources.
• Develop a strong understanding of set readings (such as the Mirzoeff text) by reading them more than once and analysing them – looking at the text as a whole and then focusing in on chapters and paragraphs.
• Use a calendar to manage time and set goals.

Writing Skills:

• Write multiple drafts – revising your essay to ensure it has a logical structure, correct word choice, conciseness and that it answers the question.
• Use visual texts and credible sources to justify and support your claims.
• MLA referencing – using in text citations, image captions and the works cited list correctly.
• Ask someone else to read it and give you honest feedback with regards to clarity, flow and any grammar issues.
• Use of ‘Writer’s Diet’ to help keep writing concise.

Content and Visual Text Analysis Tools:

• Describing: Before delving into analysis take a step back and just describe the visual text – as if describing to someone who can’t see the image.
• Contextualising: Looking at an object in context, and seeing how it connects with the world. This can involve looking at its intended purpose, the producer’s worldview, the intended audience’s worldview and its society’s ideologies.
• Looking at the visual text’s denotative meaning (its explicit, literal meaning)  versus its connotative meaning (what the image implies – a meaning informed by its cultural, social and historical context).
• Consider different perspectives and responses to the visual text – how might people with different worldviews respond?
• Make connections between the content or visual text and your essay idea using Mind Maps or WordClouds.

Research and Information Gathering Tools and Protocols

• Using Massey Library’s catalogue section online to locate credible and relevant sources – using the ‘Refine by Tag’ tool to filter out irrelevant search results.
• Use of Artstor to locate credible, high quality and well annotated images.
• Use of Digital NZ to locate quality, well annotated New Zealand heritage images.
• Try to gather a range of perspectives and opinions.
• Correct MLA referencing (in-text citations, image captions and works cited list) to avoid plagiarism, and easy access to sources used.

 

Works Cited:

Kleiman, Eden. 2016. Tool Kit.  Digital Image.