Literacy

Visual Literacy and Multimodal Texts

Sort: Multimodal or Single-Mode?

Sort each text type into the correct column.

A newspaper advertisement with text and photographs

A plain written letter

A film poster

A spoken radio advertisement (audio only)

A website with text, images, and video

A page of unillustrated prose

A political cartoon

A text message (words only)

Multimodal (combines modes)

Single-mode (one mode only)

Match Visual Analysis Term to Definition

Draw a line to match each term with its definition.

Salience

Gaze

Angle

Vector

Framing

A line or shape that guides the viewer's eye through the image

The most visually prominent element — what the eye goes to first

The perspective from which a subject is photographed or depicted (high, low, eye-level)

How the image is bordered or bounded — what is included and what is cut out

Whether a subject in an image looks directly at the viewer or away

TipThese terms are the core vocabulary of visual analysis. Knowing them precisely enables your child to move from 'I notice this' to 'this is called X and it works because...'

Demand or Offer?

A gaze that looks directly at the viewer creates 'demand' (invites engagement). A gaze that looks away creates 'offer' (invites observation). Identify each.

A model in an advertisement looks directly into the camera.

Demand

Offer

A nature documentary photograph shows a bird looking away into the distance.

Demand

Offer

A charity advertisement features a child looking straight at the camera.

Demand

Offer

A landscape painting with no human or animal figures.

Demand (N/A)

Offer

Describe Your Chosen Multimodal Text

Begin with careful description before analysis. Answer each question with specific detail from your text.

What type of multimodal text is this and what is its purpose? (advertise, inform, persuade, entertain?) ___________________________________________

What is the most salient (visually dominant) element? Why do you think it was placed in this position?

Describe the gaze of any human or animal subject in the image. Are they looking at the viewer or away? What effect does this create?

What colours dominate? What associations or emotions do these colours typically carry?

TipGood analysis always begins with careful observation. Do not rush to interpretation — describe precisely what is there first.

Sort Colour Associations

Sort each colour-emotion pair into the correct column.

Green = health, nature, environment

Green = danger and warning

White = purity, cleanliness, simplicity

White = mourning (in some Western contexts)

Yellow = energy, optimism, warmth

Yellow = sadness and grief

Black = sophistication, authority, mystery

Black = celebration and joy

Common association (Western visual culture)

Uncommon or contradictory association

TipColour associations are partly cultural and can vary. Discuss any associations that feel different to your child from those listed.

Analyse the Image-Text Relationship

Examine how the written text and the image work together in your multimodal text.

What does the written text say or imply?

Does the image reinforce, add to, or complicate what the text says? Explain with specific reference to both.

Who is the target audience for this text? What specific features of the image and text make this clear?

TipHelp by asking: if you covered the words, what would the image alone suggest? If you covered the image, what would the words alone suggest? What is gained by having both?

Write an Analytical Response

Write a TEEL analytical paragraph responding to: How does this multimodal text use visual and textual features to influence its audience? Label each part.

Your TEEL paragraph:

Draw here

TipThis paragraph brings together everything observed and discussed above. Choose the single most powerful or interesting feature to build the paragraph around — the aim is depth, not a list of observations.

Analyse an Advertisement

Choose a print or digital advertisement. Write 5–6 sentences analysing it using all five of these features: salience, gaze, angle, colour, and image-text relationship. For each, be specific about what is present and what effect it creates.

Advertisement source and product/brand: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipBring a real advertisement to the analysis session — from a magazine, website, or social media. Real-world texts are more engaging than invented examples.

Analyse a News Photograph

Find a news photograph with a caption. Write 4–5 sentences analysing: the photographic choices (angle, framing, what is included and excluded), the gaze if any, the caption's relationship to the image, and what impression of the subject is created.

Publication and photograph description: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipNews photographs are rich analytical material because students often assume them to be objective. Discuss: could the same event have been photographed differently? What would change?

Identify the Target Audience

For three different multimodal texts (an advertisement, a website, and a social media post), identify the target audience and explain specifically which features — colour, image, typography, language — signal that audience.

Advertisement — audience: ___________________________________________ Features that signal this:

Website — audience: ___________________________________________ Features that signal this:

Social media post — audience: ___________________________________________ Features that signal this:

TipTarget audience identification requires looking at the text from the perspective of who it is designed for, not who you are. Discuss: what signals are in this text that tell us who it is aimed at?

Sort: Font Associations

Sort each font description to the brand type it most likely represents.

Clean sans-serif, minimal design, lots of white space

Elegant serif, black and white or gold colour scheme

Rounded, colourful, playful font with bright primary colours

Traditional serif, dark colours, formal layout

Law firm or financial institution

Children's brand or toy company

Tech startup or app

Luxury fashion brand

Analyse Typography in a Real Text

Choose a multimodal text and analyse its typography choices. Write 4–5 sentences addressing: font style (serif, sans-serif, script), font size hierarchy (what is largest?), and what the typography choices communicate about the brand or purpose.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your typography analysis:

Draw here

Analyse Representation

Find a multimodal text that represents a particular social group (by gender, age, ethnicity, or other characteristic). Write 4–5 sentences analysing: how the group is represented, what the representation implies, and whether you think the representation is fair or limited.

Text and group represented: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipRepresentation analysis is a form of critical media literacy. Be sensitive but direct — the goal is to notice patterns and their implications, not to make accusations.

Film Posters as Multimodal Texts

Choose a film poster. Write 5–6 sentences analysing it using visual literacy tools: salience, gaze, angle, colour, typography, and image-text relationship. What does the poster promise about the film? How does it target its audience?

Film poster: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipFilm posters are excellent analytical material — they are professionally designed, highly compressed communications. A poster must convey genre, tone, and appeal in a single image.

Analyse a Social Media Post

Choose a social media post (from any platform). Write 4–5 sentences analysing its visual and textual choices: What is most salient? What does the colour palette suggest? What relationship does the image create with the viewer? What is the purpose (inform, entertain, persuade, sell)?

Platform and post description: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipSocial media analysis makes visual literacy immediately relevant to your child's daily life. Discuss: how does this analysis change the way you look at your own social media feed?

Write a TEEL Paragraph on a Visual Text

Write a TEEL analytical paragraph on any visual or multimodal text of your choosing. Your topic sentence should make a specific argument about how a visual feature positions its audience.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your TEEL paragraph:

Draw here

TipThe TEEL structure works for visual analysis exactly as it works for literary analysis. The evidence is a precise description of a visual feature rather than a quotation.

Analyse Propaganda or Political Imagery

Find an example of historical or contemporary political imagery — a poster, propaganda image, or political cartoon. Write 5–6 sentences analysing how visual choices are used to make a political argument or to create a particular impression of a political leader or cause.

Image and context: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipPolitical imagery is one of the most powerful and revealing forms of visual rhetoric. Use historical examples (wartime posters, political cartoons) if contemporary examples feel too sensitive.

Sort: Visual Feature and Its Effect

Match each visual feature to its most likely effect.

Low camera angle, subject looks down at viewer

Warm lighting, soft focus, smiling direct gaze

Bright red background, large bold text, close-up

Subject in business attire, centred composition, formal framing

Child making eye contact, soft natural light, pastel colours

Flashing text, countdown timer, urgent language

Visual feature that creates power/authority

Visual feature that creates warmth/connection

Visual feature that creates urgency/alarm

Critically Analyse an Advertisement

Choose an advertisement and write a critical analysis (5–7 sentences): What argument does it make through its visual and textual choices? Does it rely on stereotypes? Does it make an honest or a manipulative appeal? What does it assume about its audience?

Advertisement: ___________________________________________ Your critical analysis:

Draw here

TipCritical analysis of advertising is one of the most practically valuable forms of media literacy. Discuss: has an advertisement ever manipulated you into wanting something you did not need?

Identify Persuasive Visual Appeals

Find three advertisements — one that primarily uses pathos, one that primarily uses ethos, and one that primarily uses logos. For each, write 2–3 sentences explaining which appeal is used and how it works visually.

Pathos advertisement: ___________________________________________ Analysis:

Ethos advertisement: ___________________________________________ Analysis:

Logos advertisement: ___________________________________________ Analysis:

TipReal advertisements drawn from magazines, websites, or TV are much better than invented examples. Discuss which appeal each of you finds most convincing, and why.

Analyse a Charity Advertisement

Find a charity advertisement (from a well-known charity — animals, children, environmental, health). Write 5–6 sentences analysing: how it uses visual features to create an emotional appeal, what the image-text relationship creates, and how it positions the viewer in relation to the cause.

Charity and advertisement: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipCharity advertisements are designed to create both emotional connection and a sense of empowered action. Discuss: is the emotional appeal honest or manipulative? What is the relationship between the viewer and the people depicted?

Deconstruct an Online Advertisement

Find a targeted online advertisement (one that has appeared in your social media or email). Write 4–5 sentences deconstructing it: what does it seem to know about you? What assumptions does it make? How does it use visual and textual features to appeal to you specifically?

Advertisement description: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipTargeted advertising is a powerful example of the intersection of visual literacy and data privacy. Discuss: what does it mean that advertisers can build a picture of your interests and target you specifically?

Create and Annotate a Multimodal Text

Design a simple multimodal text — a mock advertisement, a book cover, a poster, or a web page layout. Draw or describe your design in detail, then annotate every deliberate visual choice: colour, placement, typography, image, image-text relationship.

Description or sketch of your design (include all visual elements):

Draw here

Your annotations (explain each deliberate visual choice):

Draw here

TipCreating a visual text requires the same analytical thinking as analysing one. The design process makes visual choices explicit and deliberate. Discuss your design decisions together as they are made.

Write a Full Multimodal Analysis

Write a complete analytical response (intro + two TEEL paragraphs + conclusion, approximately 300 words) on any multimodal text of your choice. The essay should make a clear argument about how the text uses visual and textual features to achieve its purpose.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your essay:

Draw here

Analyse a Website Homepage

Analyse a website homepage using visual literacy tools. Write 5–6 sentences addressing: the hero image (or most salient element), the colour palette, the typography, the placement of key elements (navigation, call-to-action), and the image-text relationship. What overall impression does the homepage create?

Website: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

Political Cartoon Analysis

Find a political cartoon (from a newspaper website or news archive). Write 5–6 sentences analysing: what the cartoon is about, what visual symbols are used, what exaggeration or caricature is employed, and what argument the cartoon is making. Discuss whether you find the cartoon's argument convincing.

Cartoon source and subject: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipPolitical cartoons are one of the oldest forms of visual rhetoric. Discuss: what is the cartoonist's position? Do you agree with their argument?

Analyse a Book Cover as Multimodal Text

Find a book you have read or know well. Analyse the cover as a multimodal text: what visual choices has the designer made, what do they promise about the book's contents and tone, and how does the cover position its intended reader?

Book title: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

Create Your Own Multimodal Analysis Essay

Write a complete analysis essay (intro + three TEEL paragraphs + conclusion, approximately 400 words) on a multimodal text of significant cultural importance — a famous advertisement, a memorable film poster, or an iconic news photograph. The essay should demonstrate your full visual literacy analytical toolkit.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your essay:

Draw here

Analyse a Data Visualisation

Find a graph, chart, or infographic on a topic that interests you. Write 4–5 sentences analysing: what the data shows, how the visual design presents it, whether the design emphasises or downplays certain aspects of the data, and whether any visual choices could be considered misleading.

Visualisation source and topic: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipData visualisations are powerful multimodal texts precisely because they appear objective. Discuss: could the same data be presented to give a different impression?

Evaluate Your Own Multimodal Text Design

Return to the multimodal text you designed earlier in this worksheet. Write 4–5 sentences evaluating your own design choices: what works? What would you change? Does your design achieve its intended effect? What have you learned since making it that would improve it?

Your self-evaluation:

Draw here

Comparative Analysis: Two Advertisements, Same Product

Find two advertisements for the same product (or product type) from different eras (e.g., a 1950s and a contemporary advertisement). Write 5–7 sentences comparing how the visual and textual approaches differ, and what this tells us about changing social values or attitudes.

Advertisement 1: ___________________________________________ Advertisement 2: ___________________________________________ Your comparative analysis:

Draw here

Analyse Denotation and Connotation in an Image

Choose any image from a multimodal text. Write 3–4 sentences on what the image literally shows (denotation), then 3–4 sentences on what it implies or suggests (connotation). How do the connotations serve the text's purpose?

Image description: ___________________________________________ Denotation:

Connotation:

Write a Counter-Analysis

Choose a multimodal text you have previously analysed. Write a counter-analysis: argue for a reading of the text that is different from your original interpretation. What other meanings or effects might the text create for different audiences?

Text: ___________________________________________ Your counter-analysis:

Draw here

TipCounter-analysis is a sign of sophisticated thinking. Texts can be read differently by different audiences. Discuss: who might read this text very differently from you?

Analyse Visual Diversity and Inclusion

Find three different multimodal texts (advertisements, websites, or other public texts). For each, write 2–3 sentences analysing: who is represented, who is absent, and what the pattern of representation implies about who is considered the 'normal' audience or subject.

Text 1: ___________________________________________ Representation analysis:

Text 2: ___________________________________________ Representation analysis:

Text 3: ___________________________________________ Representation analysis:

TipRepresentation analysis requires noticing absences as well as presences. Discuss: what assumptions about 'normality' are built into these texts?

Analyse Environmental and Sustainability Messaging

Find three multimodal texts related to environmental or sustainability issues — these might be advertisements, government campaigns, or environmental advocacy materials. Write 5–6 sentences comparing how they use visual and textual features to make their case. Which do you find most effective and why?

Three texts found: ___________________________________________ Your comparative analysis:

Draw here

Analyse a Film Scene for Visual Rhetoric

Choose any scene from a film you have watched recently. Write 5–6 sentences analysing the visual choices: camera angles, lighting, colour palette, framing, and any other deliberate visual decisions. How do these choices create meaning or affect your response to the scene?

Film and scene: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipFilm analysis applies the same visual literacy tools as still image analysis. Pause a scene together and look at it frame by frame if needed.

Analyse Propaganda Technique: Bandwagon, Glittering Generalities, and Transfer

Propaganda and advertising use specific visual and verbal techniques. Write 2–3 sentences on each: (1) Bandwagon — the appeal to joining the crowd; (2) Glittering generalities — using vague but positive words and images; (3) Transfer — associating a product or idea with a trusted symbol or person. Give a real example of each.

Bandwagon example and analysis:

Glittering generalities example and analysis:

Transfer example and analysis:

Write an Essay on Visual Literacy and Citizenship

Write a short essay (intro + two TEEL paragraphs + conclusion) arguing that visual literacy is an essential skill for 21st-century citizens. Use specific examples from your analysis work in this worksheet as evidence.

Your essay:

Draw here

Evaluate the Ethics of an Advertisement

Choose an advertisement that you think raises ethical questions. Write 5–6 sentences evaluating: what claims does it make, how does it use visual or emotional appeals, are these honest or manipulative, and what harm (if any) could it do? Write a clearly argued evaluative response.

Advertisement: ___________________________________________ Your ethical evaluation:

Draw here

TipEthical evaluation of advertising is an important critical literacy skill. Discuss: at what point does persuasion become manipulation? Where is the line?

Analyse a Government Public Information Campaign

Find an example of a government public information campaign (road safety, health, environment). Write 5–6 sentences analysing how it uses visual and textual features to communicate its message and influence audience behaviour.

Campaign: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

Design a Visual Literacy Guide

Create a concise visual literacy guide that explains the five core tools (salience, gaze, angle, colour, image-text relationship) to someone who has never heard of visual literacy. Include a simple example for each tool. Write it in a semi-formal register accessible to a general audience.

Your visual literacy guide:

Draw here

Analyse Absent Representation

Choose any prominent public multimodal text — a government campaign, a major brand advertisement, or a mainstream media image. Write 4–5 sentences analysing who is absent from the representation — which groups, experiences, or perspectives are not shown — and what this absence implies.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your analysis of absent representation:

Draw here

TipWhat is absent from a text can be as revealing as what is present. This is one of the most sophisticated forms of critical media literacy.

Multimodal Text and Cultural Context

Find a multimodal text from another culture (you might find an advertisement, poster, or public image from another country). Write 4–5 sentences analysing how its visual and design choices reflect values or aesthetics that may be different from Australian or Western visual conventions.

Text and cultural context: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipCross-cultural visual analysis reveals how much of our visual literacy is culturally learned rather than universal. Discuss: what seems surprising or different about the other text's visual approach?

Write a Comparative Visual Analysis Essay

Write a comparative essay (three analytical paragraphs) comparing two multimodal texts on the same theme (both are advertisements, or both are charity campaigns, or both are political posters). Each paragraph should compare a different aspect of visual design.

Text 1: ___________________________________________ Text 2: ___________________________________________ Your comparative essay:

Draw here

Final Analysis Essay

Write a complete analysis essay (intro + three TEEL paragraphs + conclusion, approximately 400 words) on the most visually sophisticated multimodal text you have encountered in this worksheet.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your essay:

Draw here

Teach Visual Literacy

Design a ten-minute visual literacy lesson for a Year 5 student. Choose one specific visual literacy concept (e.g., gaze, or colour symbolism). Write the lesson plan including an example image, three discussion questions, and one simple analytical activity.

Your lesson plan:

Draw here

Analyse AI-Generated Images

Find an example of an AI-generated image (from a news article, social media, or a generative AI tool). Write 4–5 sentences analysing it: How can you tell it may be AI-generated? What visual features reveal its artificial origin? What are the implications of AI-generated images for visual literacy and trust in images?

Image description and source: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipAI-generated images are an emerging and important issue in media literacy. Discuss: how does the existence of AI imagery change how we should approach all images?

Your Most Impactful Analysis

Look back through all your visual analysis work in this worksheet. Which analysis do you feel was most insightful — the one where you found something genuinely surprising or important in a text? Write 4–5 sentences explaining your choice and what makes that analysis strong.

Your reflection:

Draw here

Analyse Visual Literacy in News Media

Find three news stories from the same event, from three different news sources (e.g., different newspapers or websites). Compare the photographs chosen: angle, framing, gaze, and the caption's relationship to the image. Write 5–6 sentences on what the differences reveal about each source's perspective or editorial choices.

Event and sources: ___________________________________________ Your comparative analysis:

Draw here

Portfolio: Your Best Visual Analysis

Select the strongest piece of visual analysis writing from this worksheet. Copy it here, annotate three specific analytical choices, and write a self-evaluation (4–5 sentences).

Your best work:

Draw here

Self-evaluation:

Draw here

Synthesis: What You Have Learned

Write a synthesis (8–10 sentences) of what you have learned about visual literacy and multimodal text analysis. What can you see now that you could not see before? How has this changed the way you experience visual media?

Your synthesis:

Draw here

Extended Visual Analysis Essay

Write a complete analytical essay (500+ words) on the most significant multimodal text you have analysed in this worksheet. The essay should demonstrate your full visual literacy toolkit and make an original argument about the text's purpose and effect.

Your essay:

Draw here

Visual Literacy and Democracy

Write 5–7 sentences arguing that visual literacy is essential for democratic participation. Use specific examples from political imagery, news media, or advertising to support your argument.

Your argument:

Draw here

Analyse a Meme as Multimodal Text

Choose an internet meme (from a current trend or historical meme format). Write 4–5 sentences analysing it as a multimodal text: what is the image, what is the text, how do they interact, what cultural knowledge does the meme require to understand, and what argument or emotion does the meme express?

Meme description: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

TipMemes are one of the most interesting contemporary multimodal forms — they are compressed, culturally specific, and often highly political. Analyse one together.

Write a Visual Literacy Manifesto

Write a short manifesto (5–7 sentences) about why visual literacy matters — your own argument for why everyone should learn to read images critically. Draw on specific experiences from this worksheet as evidence.

Your manifesto:

Draw here

Final Design Project

Create your most sophisticated multimodal text: a complete mock advertisement or campaign poster for a cause you genuinely care about. Make every visual choice deliberately and with specific intent. After creating it, write a full design rationale (6–8 sentences) explaining every significant decision.

Design description (or attach sketch/image):

Draw here

Design rationale:

Draw here

Reflective Synthesis

Write a final reflection (8–10 sentences) on what you have learned about reading and creating multimodal texts. What has changed in how you look at images? What will you notice differently from now on?

Your reflection:

Draw here

Analyse Visual Literacy in Your Favourite Media

Choose your favourite visual or multimodal media — a series, a game, a brand, a social media account. Write 5–7 sentences analysing the visual choices that make it distinctive and appealing. What makes its visual identity recognisable?

Media: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:

Draw here

Create an Annotated Visual Reference Card

Create a reference card for visual analysis covering: definitions of salience, gaze, angle, colour, and image-text relationship, with one example of each. Make it visually organised and genuinely useful for future analysis.

Your visual analysis reference card:

Draw here

Analyse the Most Manipulative Text You Have Found

Over the course of this worksheet, you have encountered many visual texts. Choose the one you believe is most deliberately manipulative. Write 5–7 sentences making a specific case for why — identifying the techniques used, the audience targeted, and the manipulation employed.

Text: ___________________________________________ Your argument:

Draw here

A Letter on Visual Literacy

Write a letter (7–9 sentences) to someone who is about to start studying visual literacy for the first time. Tell them what to expect, what the most surprising insight was for you, and what the most practically useful skill you developed is.

Your letter:

Draw here

Publish Your Best Visual Analysis

Choose your strongest visual analysis essay from this worksheet. Prepare it for sharing — edit it carefully, format it properly, and write a 2–3 sentence introduction explaining what you analysed and why it is worth analysing. Share it with someone.

Your piece and introduction:

Draw here

Who you shared it with:

Annotated Portfolio Entry

Select the visual analysis work you are most proud of. Copy it here, add annotations pointing to your three strongest analytical moves, and write a self-evaluation (4–5 sentences).

Your annotated work:

Draw here

Self-evaluation:

Draw here

Final Extended Design and Analysis

Create a multimodal text on any topic, then write a 5–6 sentence analysis of your own design. The analysis should use the same analytical tools you have used throughout this worksheet: salience, gaze, angle, colour, typography, and image-text relationship.

Design description:

Draw here

Your analysis of your own design:

Draw here

What Has Changed in How You See?

Write a personal reflection (8–10 sentences) on how studying visual literacy has changed the way you experience visual media. Be specific about two or three things you now notice that you did not notice before.

Your reflection:

Draw here