Assignment:
Write a polished first draft of a 500-700-word analysis of a photo from the website Shorpy dot com. Use APA-style formatting and citation (including in-text citation) throughout.
Two sample photo analysis essays that both earned A's are available in Files as "Photo Analysis Sample #1" and "Photo Analysis Sample #2."
In addition to the photograph, you will need to cite at least two other sources for this essay.
Assignment Details:
For this assignment, you will select a photograph from Shorpy dot com of some historical interest or value, describe it to the readers, and analyze how that photograph presents a particular view of its historical moment. Need Assignment Help?
Please be careful to find a photo that seems to have an obvious perspective; in other words, it is framed in a particular way by the photographer to "make a statement," to "say something" specific about its subject.
After you find the photograph, you will want to describe and analyze the photograph and write its historical significance.
Title your essay. Consider your essay's title as a short version of your thesis.
Begin each paragraph with a sentence that uses only active voice and transitive verbs. Lanham's Paramedic Method in Revising Prose will help here.
Structure of Final Essay:
Your essay should have, roughly, three sections (and a conclusion):
1. Introduction to Photograph:
Provide some specific contextual information about the photograph from Shorpy: who took it, where, when, and what is the general scene being depicted? What historical details can you provide, if any, about the "who, what, where, and when" of the photograph? Why, out of all the possible photos taken (and the vast number that might have been taken) might this one be remembered?
Include a bolded thesis in your first paragraph. This thesis should be divisible, debatable, and concise.
2. More Broad Historical Context:
Provide one to two paragraphs worth of information that would help your reader better understand how the photo relates to its historical context. For example, is it an iconic photo that you've seen before to illustrate a historical era or event?
3. Analysis of the Photograph:
- What is the setting or scene? What action is happening or has happened? What features of the photograph do you first notice? What features do you notice upon closer inspection?
- Who is in the photograph? Describe the physical characteristics of the people: what are they wearing? What do they look like? Describe their emotional or mental characteristics. What kind of expressions do they have?
- Look at how the photograph is framed--from what angle is it taken; what features are in the foreground, the background, off to the side, etc.? What seems to be emphasized the most, and how do the different figures--human or otherwise--intersect or stand apart in the photograph?
- Why might this photograph have been taken? Why was this picture something that the photographer felt was important to capture? What draws you toward this photograph and makes you interested in it? Was the photographer working for a government agency, such as the WPA, FSA, or OWI, that wanted photographs to promote a program or a cause? (Be sure to find out who paid for the photograph and why.)
- What do you think about the historical moment that is captured in this photograph? What about the photograph makes you think that way? How does the photograph shape your understanding of the historical moment?
Be sure to include an APA-style reference page in which you cite the photograph and the other sources you may have used for this paper. You will need to cite two sources other than the photograph itself.