Wysocki

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

2. How does how Wysocki set up the text visually work for you as a reader? Is it a low-visual text as Bernhardt would explain it? Explain your answer.

Firstly the picture engages the reader’s attention straight away because it breaks down the text and makes it look as though there is not as much writing as there actually is. Secondly the photos and diagrams help the reader understand and engage in the piece of writing. The piece is very well structured with a clear title and bold headings. The headings and paragraphs breakdown the piece, enhancing the chance of the reader having a positive attitude whilst reading the piece rather than an attitude that it is too much to read so they will not bother reading it. I do not think it is a low-visual text because it contains different variations in the font, for example bold, highlighted and italic fonts which changes it up for the reader.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

2. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Do you agree with Kant that “the beautiful is that which pleases universally,” that some things are inherently beautiful? Or do you agree with Wysocki that “beauty is something we construct together” and subjected to social forces?

I believe that a person can contain beauty not only physically but in their characteristics aswell. If a person is polite then to someone they may seem beautiful because they are a lovely person. I believe beauty is a mixture of genetic inheritance and social structure. In the media we see images which are classified as beautiful so therefore our views are socially constructed to believing this however we may not necessarily think this without being told. Also genetically we are giving features and we are shaped internally through socialization, however we can use external sources to shape beauty such as surgery or being changed in to someone we are not depending on who we hang around with and our environment.

Meta Moment

Wysocki states, "There is no question that there is a certain necessity to effective visual composition because a design must fit a viewer's expectation if it is to make sense… but if design is to have any sense of possibility—of freedom—to it, then it must also push against the conventions, the horizon, of those expectations" (97). How does this statement apply to Wysocki's article? Does it apply to any other visual art? If so, how?

Wysocki states that a statement must make a big enough impact to effect views in society which does apply to this statement. In order to have an impact the message must be put across so the deign has to be strong. This can be expressed through words but the biggest impact would be through images. Images show beauty in a light which people may not have expected and which may shape peoples views.