VISUAL LITERACY EXERCISE: 
INSIGHTS

The exercise you have just completed suggests the following:

Have questions in mind when reviewing visual materials so as to have something to watch for as you view them.

Know what you are looking for -- ask the right questions of the material, moving beyond aesthetic contemplation.

Review visual materials more than once to catch all available information -- another pass through the "data base" often increases retention of the information imbedded in the material and suggests comparative insights not always apparent the first time around.

Learn to ask for explanations of "cultural mysteries": torii gateways, kago palanquins, stone temple lanterns, temples and shrines, oil paper umbrellas, straw raincoats, rice stacks, architectural variations.

Learn to make inferences from observed data and to form hypotheses / inquiry questions that can be tested by reference to more conventional written sources and materials.

Deal with what is not present in visual information as well as with what is found: no chimneys; no cathedrals; no parks; no central squares; no wheeled vehicles; no machines nor mechanized power sources.

Use effective associated written materials: captions and other explanatory aids (as well as outside readings) can add to your sense of how best to observe the materials being studied.

This completes the full visual literacy exercise. Please click on the RIGHT BUTTON below to find an evaluation questionnaire; completion and submission of this form to the creator of the exercise would be much appreciated. Thank you. 

For those with the time and inclination, BellSystem24 in Japan has developed an enjoyable quiz based on the full series of prints by Hiroshige that formed the visual basis for this exercise. Test your knowledge of the time period from which these woodblock prints emerged (the Edo -- or Tokugawa -- era running from 1600 until 1868) while, along the way, learning more about Japanese history and viewing a full series of varying visual portraits of Japan's geographical setting. Click on the word "quiz" above to begin your journey!
Another possiblity: examine the photographs in this Introduction to Japan, an illustrated lecture that will give you the opportunity to confirm your initial impressions of Japan's geography as shown in the Hiroshige prints you have just seen ...
Exercise originally created by Lee A.Makela (l.makela@popmail.csuohio.edu) in April 1996. Last modified February 9, 1998.