Assignment Description

In place of a traditional five to seven page paper, and continuing with the course theme of "Viewing America," students are asked to write a series of five Visual ID's based on images supplied on the course website. Students will be presented with ten images relevant to materials presented in course readings, films, web sources, and lectures. Choosing five, they will for each selected image write a page-long caption that dates, describes, and identifies the action and individuals presented in the image within the context of the course.

Students should indicate the relevance of the images' subjects to broad themes discussed in the course, conducting close readings of the images as they would with written passages or concepts presented for identification. Consider the audience for the caption an informed member of the general public encountering the image as part of a book or exhibit discussing America from 1940 to the present.

Each image is to be treated individually of the others, though students may reference or compare Visual ID's if they discern relevant themes that link images. The images may include both materials already presented to the class and visuals unfamiliar to students. Some may be obscure, while it is likely one or more may be iconic images from the era. Students are encouraged to creatively analyze the images and make links among multiple course themes.

Images will be drawn from the period from the beginning of the course 1940) through the Vietnam War era, inclusive. This assignment will be submitted electronically via Collab on March 31.

Image Gallery

From the images below you will select 5 and write your one page caption of each.