Year 9 English

Semester 1, 2021

Visual text analysis

The Rabbits by Shaun Tan and John
Marsden
Word limit or time length: Due date week: Week 8, Term 2
4 – 5 minute multimodal presentation Final submission via: DayMap (if file is too large to submit via
DayMap, submit via Dropbox and include the link on a word
document)

Task description:
You are to produce a multimodal presentation of one - two chosen double-sided openings
from Shaun Tan and John Marsden’s text, The Rabbits. Your analysis should answer the
following key question:

In what ways does Shaun Tan create meaning through representation, interaction and
composition in this opening?

You will need to use the scaffold provided by your teacher to help you identify a range of
visual resources, such as:

Representation
• Action qualities: Active and reactive participant, lines
• Setting
• Conceptual qualities (symbols)
• Words and images working together

Interaction
• Gaze (demand, offer)
• Angle (high-angle, low-angle, eye level)
• Distance (close, mid, long)
• Proximity between participants
• Colour

Composition
• Salience - what takes your eye first?
• Reading paths – movement or gaze around the page, directed by salience or vectors
• Placement – rule of thirds
• Layout – top/bottom, left/right, centre, foreground, mid-ground, background.
• Framing – the way objects/elements are separated or connected

Your voice-over analysis needs to be clear and maintain an academic tone.

Literacy requirements:
Genre being produced: Multimodal analysis
Mode being produced: Video
You may use iMovie, PowerPoint or Google Slides or any
program that saves as an .mp4 or .mov
Purpose of task: To analyse a visual text
Intended audience (real or imagined): Teachers
Tone required: Academic/formal
Key vocabulary to be included: In addition to the terms listed above:
1. Colonisation
2. Allegory
3. Industrialisation
4. Stolen Generation
5. Landscape
6. Indigenous people
Resources to support task completion: See DayMap or Google Classroom

Achievement Standards assessed (see rubric below)

Year 9 Visual Literacy rubric 2021

A B C D E

They select evidence Insightful analysis, Effective analysis, Clear analysis Identification of the Limited and/or
from texts supported by evidence, supported by evidence, supported by evidence, visual resources used inaccurate
to analyse and explain h of how an of how an of how an by an individual identification of
ow language choices author/illustrator’s use of author/illustrator’s use author/illustrator’s use of author visual resources
and conventions are visual resources of visual resources visual resources
used to influence an influence readers’ influence readers’ influence readers’
audience. response response response

Achieved by:
• Accurately using language of the visual text analysis as described on the task sheet
Understanding and Skills

• Using active verbs to show connection between author’s use of techniques, and the meaning created (shows/highlights/reveals/portrays etc.)
• Using specific language for explaining the effect on reader (e.g. creates empathy for the character, persuades/challenges the viewer to…)
Demonstration of how Sophisticated use of Effective use of Use of language Limited/inaccurate Limited evidence
manipulating language language features and language features features and images to use of language
features and images can images to create a and images to create create a multimodal features and images
create innovative texts multimodal a multimodal presentation to create a
presentation presentation multimodal
presentation

Achieved by:
• Designing and creating a multimodal presentation that effectively uses voice-over and selection/highlight tools to engage the viewer in the
analysis.

Use of editing strategies • Sophisticated • Effective • Relevant vocabulary • Varied suitability Limited or
that take into account vocabulary choices vocabulary choices of vocabulary inaccurate use of
accurate spelling, choices choices vocabulary
punctuation and
vocabulary.