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Viewing: Analyzing Design Elements

Devon Williams
Context: 9th grade general English composition; suburban

1.

2.
Broad, Lifelong Goal/s & Rationale: By learning to analyze the
design elements of an image, students will be better equipped to view
images with a critical lens. In this image-saturated internet age, being able
to effectively analyze an image is a crucial skill.
3.

Specific Daily Objective:

Students will learn to effectively analyze the design elements (title,
characters, objects, color scheme, setting, and appeal) of a book cover
to determine the artists purpose for designing their image a certain
way.

4.
Common Core or NCTE Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.6
Determine an author's [or artists] point of view or purpose in an [image] and
analyze how an author [or artist] uses [design elements] to advance that
point of view or purpose.
5.
Assessment and/or Outcomes: Students will fill out a worksheet
analyzing a book cover for Speak, which will be worth 10 points when
completed. After analyzing the book cover, students will create their own
cover for the novel and provide an analysis (with textual evidence) for each
of the elements they used (see attached for criteria). This project will be
worth 50 points.
6.
Materials: Book Cover Analysis worksheet (XX copies), Judging a
Book by Its Cover powerpoint presentation, Speak
7.

Methods:
Minilesson Categories:
Anticipation: Teacher will show students some examples of school
appropriate book cover designs for romance novels (see attached).
Teacher will ask students what they think these novels are about, based
solely on the covers. Teacher will ask students to back up their claims with
visual evidence (e.g., what aspect of the cover gave them their idea(s)?).
(5 min)
Overview: Teacher will pass out copies of Book Cover Analysis
worksheet (see attached) and explain each element:

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Title and authors name

People / characters: characters or people that appear on the
cover
Objects: non-human objects that appear on the cover
Color scheme: the colors (or lack thereof) used on the cover and
their brightness / darkness
Setting: some covers depict the setting of the novel (not all of
them do but setting can be analyzed especially if characters are
absent)
Appeal: who the cover is meant to appeal to (consider gender, age,
etc.) (5 min)

Modeling: For each element, teacher will analyze that element as it

appears on the cover of the first edition of Speak. Teacher will go through
each of these categories for the cover, explaining her rationale for each of
her answers. (Students may follow along on their copy of the worksheet,
but they shouldnt fill anything in yet.) (see attached powerpoint) (5 min)
Guided Practice: Students will then get into their literature circle groups.
Teacher will give each group a copy of a different cover for Speak, and
each group will fill out their own analysis worksheet for that cover. After
each group is finished, they will present their cover to the class and
explain how they analyzed each element (see attached for student
example). (30 min)
Application: After groups are finished presenting, teacher will introduce
the following assignment: students will design their own book covers for
Speak. After their book covers are complete, they will fill out a Book Cover
Analysis sheet for their own cover, explaining each element and citing
textual evidence for why they chose to design the cover the way they did.
(5 min to explain students will work on this in-class the following day)
8.
Adaptations: Paper copies of the power point presentation will be
available for students who need to follow along at their own pace or need the
presentation available to look back on. Dictionaries will be available for
students to look up or translate difficult words.
9.
Possible Problems & Solutions: If the power point doesnt work or
isnt available, teacher should have an extra copy of the worksheet and a
physical copy of Speak (or she should ask students to get out their own copy
to look at) so she can have a visual example to explain the elements of a
book cover.

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Name:_____________________ Date:____________________
Period:____________
Book Cover Analysis
Directions: As you view your book cover, consider each of the elements
below and answer the questions in the analysis column.
Element
Title / authors name

People / characters

Objects

Color scheme

Setting

Questions
How are the title and the
authors name placed on
the cover (left aligned,
centered, right aligned,
straight, crooked, etc.)?
What font is used (cursive,
plain, handwritten, etc.)?
Does the title take up a lot
of the cover space, or only
a small amount?
Are there any characters
represented on the cover?
How many, and which
ones? What poses /
expressions do the
character(s) have? How
much of the character(s)
do we see (full body, face
only, etc.)?
Do any non-human
objects appear on the
cover? What are they?
What do you think they
could symbolize?
What color scheme does
the cover use? Is it dark,
or light? Is it in color, or
black and white? Does the
cover use neutral colors,
or bright/dark colors?
What mood does the color
scheme create?
Does the cover reveal the
setting of the novel? If so,
how is the setting
portrayed?

Analysis of my cover

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Appeal

Who do you think this

cover is meant to appeal
to (consider gender, age,
etc.)? Why?

Speak Book Cover Project Criteria

To earn a full 50 points, a cover should...

Fill all or most of an entire 8 x 10 sheet of printer paper (5 pts)

Be in full color (Black and white covers may be acceptable if designed
artistically, e.g. created digitally or with markers, colored pencils, etc.)
(5 pts)
Include the following design elements:
o Title / authors name (required 5 pts)
o People / characters (required 5 pts)
o Objects (required 5 pts)
o Color scheme (required 5 pts)
o Setting (optional)
On a separate sheet of paper, include a brief (2-3 sentence) analysis of
each element and why / how it was used (10 pts)
As part of the analysis, include one or more pieces of textual evidence
for two or more elements (not including title / author). Of the remaining
required elements (people, objects, and color scheme), two of them
should have at least one piece of textual evidence supporting their
design (10 pts)
Example Cover

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