Diploma Exam Preparation - Visual Reflection

Exploring the Example Images (continued)

Note It

Here is a handout to help you collect your impressions of these images. You do not need to write a full response to these visuals, and you will not hand this in. This handout is here to help you record your observations and learn how to plan and write a Visual Reflection for the diploma exam. Don’t skip this important practice! Go ahead and give it a try now!

If this were the diploma exam, once you had made notes on the images, your next step would be to decide whether to write a personal, critical, or creative response for your Visual Reflection.

For example, if you were writing a creative response to these particular images, you could choose to assume the persona of one of the people in the visuals and write a short story about your experience as that person.

If you are comfortable with the script form, you could write a script inspired by the main ideas in the image as another way to responsd creatively.

If you like the idea of connecting personally to the images, you could connect the main idea in the visuals to an experience in your own life.

If you feel like you have a strong understanding of the actual composition of the visuals, you could write a critical analysis of the visual, explaining how elements such as lighting, colour, focus, and space all contribute to the main idea.

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Regardless of the prose form you choose, when you write the Visual Response on the diploma exam, do the following:

Identify the main idea at the beginning of your response.

Develop your main ideas and give specific examples to support your main idea in the middle of your response.

Come back to that main idea, explaining why this idea is significant in the conclusion of your response.