Infographics, Cartoons, and Multimodal Texts

Some non-literary texts communicate primarily through images, or through a tight fusion of image and word. Infographics translate data into visuals; political cartoons compress commentary into a single drawing; multimodal texts of all kinds combine modes to make meaning. Analyzing these texts requires a vocabulary for visual composition alongside the familiar tools of purpose, audience, and context.

Reading visual composition

Whatever the visual text, a few compositional questions apply. Salience asks what draws the eye first, through size, color, contrast, or position. Framing asks how elements are grouped or separated by lines and space. Vectors are the implied lines—of a pointing arm, a gaze, an arrow—that direct attention and suggest relationships. Reading path asks how the eye moves t