Resource+2



This image is an advertisement for whale watching, part of a travel brochure for tourism in Gold Coast, Queensland. It depicts whales surfacing in front of the coastline of the Gold Coast, complementing the words "Magnificent" and "Breathtaking". The image below shows high angle shots of people aboard the whale watching boat looking at surfacing whales in the sea. Snapshots of various whales and people on boats in the form of photos are placed on the sides of the advertisement to get the point across: see whales! The right-hand side shows a list of dot points providing information about the cruise, freebies to expect, and the experience of the crew to ensure the "Ultimate Gold Coast experience". The image is predominately blue and white, to capture the colours of the splashing of water and the sea. This contrasts well with the pink highlighted words to further gain attention.
 * Description of resource **

This resource is effective in showing the students the relationship between text and images, as well as showing what features appear in travel brochures. The image allows the students to see important icons and activities done in this particular state. There is a strong sense of 'given' and 'new' in this advertisement, as well as a techniques such as enlarged or highlighted text and strategic placement of images. These visual techniques allow the students to think about what to use when they create their own multi-modal texts.
 * Relevance to the Unit of Work **

Students can explore visual literacy using this resource in many ways. Students can learn to read the intended message of the images by looking at the placement of the images. The reader looks at the large text in the middle first, and then the reading path (Callow, 2006, p. 13) is from left to right, guided by the whales jumping at the top of the image. Students learn about the effects of large and bold text, colours and saturation of the images, the layout of text and image placement, and bullet points, as well as the use of emotive language and action verbs. There is also a strong frame in the picture, supported by the lines above and beside the middle text, thus emphasising the elements of the image (Unsworth, 2001, p. 109). The text 'The ultimate Gold Coast experience' also shows definiteness, teaching the students about high modality (Unsworth, 2001, p. 103).
 * The key points about visual literacy **

 Callow, J. (2006). Images, politics and multiliteracies: Using a visual metalanguage. //Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 29 (1), 7-23.//
 * REFERENCES **

//Unsworth, L. (2001). //Teaching multiliteracies across the currciulum: changing contexts of text and image in classroom practice.// Buckingham, England: Open University. (Chapter 3: Describing Visual Literacies. pp. 103 - 109) //