S. Graves - Geography

Lab: Landscape Literacy

Reading the Landscape-

Introduction: Learning to 'read' landscapes and visual reproductions of landscapes is an important skill for geographers, especially those focused on cultural, economic and political issues. It can also be very helpful to those interested in physical geography, planning and business geography. Understanding how to read landscapes gives geographers a means to understand how the built environment creates meaning in our culture. If you find this sort of exercise interesting, you should consider extra coursework in cultural geography.

Objective:

Geography students will demonstrate basic interpretative skills as they analyze a visual image.

Readings:

Chapter 10 in your text (Bartram)
Axioms for Reading the Landscape, by Peirce Lewis. There is a .pdf of it available on the web. I want you to find it.
Sample essay (hastily constructed by Dr. Graves).
Read Kit Salter's "Cowboy and the City" essay, which examines the marketing strategy imbedded in the Marlboro Man ad campaign. You may find it on the course Moodle Site.

Assignment:

Read the Peirce Lewis article. It's the classic introduction to reading the landscape. You need to read Rob Bartram's chapter on interpreting visual imagery as well. I would suggest you read Lewis before you read Bartram. Take the reading quiz over the two articles. Next begin thinking of a TV commercial or magazine advertisement that uses visual imagery and landscape to sell a product. Because I used an SUV advertisement in the sample essay, please avoid a similar product.

Your job is to write a short essay (2 to 3 pages) in which you briefly describe, interpret and analyze the way in which the landscape is used to sell the product being advertised.

In order to be successful you have to look beyond the obvious and explore the psychological and cultural reasons that make landscapes powerful backdrops for the advertisers .....or perhaps why it's not so powerful, why perhaps the landscape used by the advertiser undermines the seller's message. Think about the fantasy advertisers are selling and why those fantasies are powerful. What do we as consumers really want...especially since we have almost everything we truly need?

Make sure you focus your efforts on explaining how the landscape works to evoke emotions, needs and wants among consumers. If you think carefully about the landscape, you'll be able to discuss how it is used to make a psychological connection betweent the product (generally something we don't NEED) and some something we want (e.g., love, friendship, status, power, etc.) but may not have enough of in our lives.

If it is feasible, cut and paste the advertisement in question into the document, or place a web link in your document so I can see what you are trying to describe and analyze.

This is an essay, so make your thesis statement obvious. Make good use of topic sentences. See the sample essay.

Construct the essay in a word processor and submit it to me via "turnitin" on the Moodle site.

Many of you could improve your grammar, syntax and style. Here's a couple of websites that might help.

Please take a moment to look over these "common grammar errors " discussed on the website below. Don't make many of these or you won't get an A.

http://college.hmco.com/devenglish/fawcett/evergreen/7e/students/grammar_errors.html

Please also look at this web site that may help you avoid unnecessarily abusing the passive voice. Click below.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html

Rubric

The table below contains the rubric used to assess the quality of this assignment.

Rubric
	Exemplary (5 pts)	Satisfactory (3 pts)	Incomplete (1 pt)
Syntax and Grammar (10, 10%)	Syntactic variety in style. Sentences are forceful and clear and logical. No discernible errors in word choice, spelling or mechanics.	Moderate stylistic and formal flaws and inappropriate usages remain. Generally free from errors in word choice and mechanics.	Essay has serious and persistent errors in word choice and mechanics, serious stylistic weaknesses
Organization (15, 15%)	Essay is exceptionally well organized. Deft use of organizational tools.	Essay employs conventional organizational devices such as introductory and conclusion paragraphs, topics sentences and transitional phrases.	Student has neglected to edit the paper for content or paragraph construction. Poor sequence of ideas.
Topic (25, 25%)	Student shows insight into the purpose of the essay through the constructed response.	Essay addresses the assignment, both topic and strategies.	Student has failed to address the assignment. Wrote an essay off topic. Plagiarized papers will result in automatic zero for assignment.
Argument (25, 25%)	Essay demonstrates advanced argumentative position, skill and technique.	Essay shows careful development of related ideas in coherent, sequential paragraphs.	No argumentative or persuasion is evident in the essay.
Interpretation (25, 25%)	Interpretation and analysis is clever, insightful and beyond the expected or typical interpretive framework. Demonstrates independent or creative thought.	Student interprets imagery or landscape symbols conventionally or predictably.	Student is unable to interpret any symbolic characteristics in the landscape or the imagery.

Geography 300