Visual Critical Thinking

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but maybe they are worth far more than that. Pictures, although seemingly simple in nature, are extremely complex. Far too often, people overlook what a picture truly is. When a person looks at an image, they most likely see only the image, nothing else. Many people do not look deep enough into an image to fully comprehend the true meaning of it. However, when an individual begins to truly study an image in an attempt to understand the true complexity of it, they will be surprised at what they overlooked before. As stated by French Realist Painter, Gustave Courbet, “Fine art is knowledge made visible.”

The authors tell the reader that a picture must be interpreted like an essay or piece of writing. The motive and goal of the author or photographer must be figured out.

Although books full of words are more efficient in delivering and describing what the author feels, sometimes pictures can give a deep meaning depending on how they are organized. The Veil by Marjane Satrapi’s is a graphic novel that’s organized in a particular way, to deliver a certain message through the pictures. Marjane includes different sizes and frames that serve what she is thinking and feeling. Choosing certain sizes, frames and colours isn’t arbitrary. As each box increases in size, it means that she wants to emphasize the message behind that box, or show her relation to that particular text. Contrast is also one of the main elements that Marjane uses in her graphic novel. For example, on page five, there is a big picture of

This week, many topics have been discussed in class with the importance of understanding context and analyzing visual texts. On Monday, in a class discussion we read a letter from Jourdon Anderson and looking at five different cereal boxes. The letter was from an old servant, provoke the Colonel. The former “employee” Jourdon to come back and work. Instead of accepting the opportunity, Jourdan decline the offer. He didn’t want to come back to work, because he is worried for his children’s safety. Even though, he doesn’t have a good life. He rather be where he is at right now and not moving to where his former employee at. The way he talks about his life, his jobs, his family, and how he appreciated the offer is different many other letters. The reader can imagine Jourdan’s feeling, emotion when he wrote the letter, and by the words he used. The reader can imagine how his former employee will feel when he read the letter. Remember when the time I was beaten until you bowed down on my feet and pray to live? I find that this letter is very interesting.

Critical thinking is defined as the ability to effectively, conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action in their execution of their duties to better understand the client.

Each picture that I displayed the meaning of the text that I chose for critical theory. The pictures that I picked represented the setting of my presentation. The pictures

Visual language is a lens through which we categorise and interpret visual information in order to understand the world, society and the human condition. The process of reading the visual world relies on the assumption that the images and symbols in art can have inherent meaning. Visual literacy is based on an accumulation of knowledge that develops a repertoire of symbolic representations. Historical and cultural references and images can be viewed as a library of visual information that is continually added to as society and its communications evolve and change. Some past artistic symbols retain their currency whilst others lose their potency or relevance and fade from use over time. Through artistic symbolic

Although books that are full of words are more efficient in delivering and describing what the author feels, sometimes pictures can give a deep meaning depending on how they are organized. The Veil by Marjane Satrapi’s is a graphic novel that’s organized in a particular way, to deliver a certain message through the pictures. Marjane included different sizes and frames that serve what she was thinking and feeling. Choosing certain sizes wasn’t arbitrary. As each box increase in size, it means that she want to emphasize the message behind that box, or show her relation to that particular text. For example, one of the big boxes in the story included the girls at the school and forced to wear the veil. Because they didn’t understand why they

Images are prominent everywhere in our world today, and are interpreted by each person who views them in a differing way. The reason individuals may view an image in a different way has to do with the context that it is viewed in. The context does not necessarily change the signs that an image displays, but instead leads to different signifiers and conclusions that can be drawn from those same signs. The drastic change that a different caption on the same photo can make in one’s comprehension and conclusions of an image and the meaning of it, presents how vital it is that an image is viewed in the context the author intended to achieve.

Visual thinking has multiple ways in helping people including on the political, personal, and educational level.

Critical thinking is the questioning of ideas. It is the process in which you take an argument and analyze it in order to conclude whether that argument is valid. Thinking critically is a good skill that can help others make intelligent decisions and helps them understand what to believe or not believe. Critical thinking is involved in our daily life. For example, every day we make decisions and before every decision we think critically if that is the right decision. We take into consideration the possible consequences of such decision and from that we reach a conclusion. Critical thinking involves disciplined thinking and it teaches you to think for yourself. It is personal growth and confidence that results from learning to exercise your mind to its fullest potential.

Critical thinking means accurate thinking in the search of appropriate and dependable knowledge about the world. Another way to describe it is sensible, insightful, responsible, and skillful thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking is not being able to process information well enough to know to stop for red lights or whether you established the right change at the supermarket.

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.

Art appreciation may vary from person to person. Viewers will judge art based on their own definition of beauty. However, it is important to not just look at the piece of art but take a deeper observation and interpret the meaning behind it. What a piece of art means can often times be more important than how it looks. Instead of simply judging whether a piece of art is visually pleasing or not, the observer should react to the message that the author is sending through his creation. When reacting to the meaning of a piece of art, the basic values, beliefs, and ideology that the viewers possess affect how they see and what they see on the