Online search terms: Even Graphics Can Speak with a Foreign Accent.

The passage explains how culture plays a part in the way visual graphics are presented. In China, for example, red is often used for positive financial values, whereas the same color is usually used for negative values in the United States. In Arabic countries, graphs are often flipped because Arabic is read from right to left. In the reading passage, designers who have worked in countries other than their own discuss what they have learned about how cultural differences affect graphic design preferences. The passage is based on the article Even Graphics Can Speak with a Foreign Accent by Chiqui Esteban, which appeared in National Geographic magazine.
Online search terms: Even Graphics Can Speak with a Foreign Accent
Assignment:
Complete all activities on pages 135-146 of your Pathways textbook. Read and understand Unit 6B – Visual Culture (pages 136-138). Complete the Pre-Reading exercise on page 135.
You can listen to the audio of the reading as you follow along, by clicking here (Links to an external site.) and choosing the appropriate reading passage.
After taking the time to understand the reading, make sure that you have completed all of the activities on pages 135-146. Pay close attention to Language for Writing – Describing Visual Information (page 141), as well as Writing Skills – Writing a Persuasive Essay (Page 142-143).
The Language for Writing box explains how to describe visual information. For example, you are taught to capitalize the word “Figure” when referring to a specific diagram that they are citing in their writing, as well as the use of commas. You are also given a list of words and phrases that help you to present numerical data in word form.
The Writing Skills introduces how to write a persuasive essay. The writer’s main argument should be presented in the thesis statement, and each body paragraph should focus on a supporting reason. The thesis statement states the writer’s position on a specific part of the topic. For the body paragraphs, details—including visual data—help make a persuasive argument sound more credible.