In my Spring 2026 classes we will examine how images can make a visual argument.  We are reading a fictional novel about Frida Kahlo that will lead us to a Mexico City research paper.  My students will begin their semester writing journey by preparing a critical analysis of a visual image, advertisement or poster that relates to our reading and research. To me, this sounds like a fun, personal way to dive into the subject matter. It’s on my students to choose the most interesting images for the assignment. Through in-class workshops, I have arranged a series of visual analysis assignments that will elevate our Critical Thinking, Rhetorical Analyisis and  Comprehension skills – all important standards of the course. 

I haven’t been to Mexico City like in 25 years, but today I dug up an internet photo, dear to my heart, of the Mexico City Metro system. I myself have probably run my finger along the same pink line the woman is pointing to in the picture. The image will serve as a nice model in my assignment instructions.  I know the story behind the story.  I will tell my students that my ensuing visual analysis paragraph – and so will theirs – will look good in our Mexico City Scrapbook.

This Is How We Get Started:

• CHOOSE an interesting image of MEXICO CITY for your VISUAL ANALYSIS.
•  A properly placed Visual Analysis in your Essay or Research Paper will enhance meaning and interest for your readers.
• But it takes practice!  This semester we may practice THREE TIMES.
• Your FIRST Visual Analysis will require a MEXICO CITY image to share with your classmates on the class discussion board.
• It can be anything that relates to Mexico City – HISTORY; PEOPLE;  ARCHITECTURE; MUSIC; FASHION; MOVIE POSTER; POSTCARDS; ADVERTISEMENTS; FOOD; DRINK –  but choose an image that will provide you with enough to write about – 300 words.
• Below I brainstormed FOUR choices that I might consider.

I Will Ask My Students to Do the Following:

1. SUMMARIZE the overall idea  of the image – imagine describing the image to someone who cannot see it  – WHAT’S GOING ON?

2. DESCRIBE THE PARTS. Identify the visual elements that make up the entire composition. Consider the identifiable objects in the piece (such as buildings, shapes, icons, people, and so forth) as well as more abstract visual elements, like colors, textures, typefaces, organizational layout, groupings, patterns, and so forth  WHAT CATCHES YOUR EYE?

3. EXPLAIN HOW THE PARTS RELATE TO THE WHOLE. Look at the items in the visual holistically; that is to say, see how all of the combined elements together make for interesting meanings. How do the colors, buildings, shapes, locations, and so forth combine to make for an interesting communication and reading? MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR IMAGE.

4. EXPLAIN THE TITLE & CREATOR. Use the name of the piece and describe the creator/artist to analyze the message the artist may have been trying to convey. Understanding the title and author can provide clarity, historical context, and meaning to a piece.  IF YOUR IMAGE DOESN’T HAVE A TITLE – WHICH IT PROBABLY DOESN’T – MAYBE, YOU COULD PROVIDE YOUR OWN TITLE – Like this: This image doesn’t come with a title, but if I  had  to create one myself, I would call it this:  “Insert Your Title Here.”

5. CONCLUDE WITH A STRONG ANALYSIS – Now that you’ve described the many pieces of the visual, you’re in position to make interesting claims about the visual as an entire composition. Provide an analysis that gives insight into what the painting may be trying to portray – WHAT’S THE  MESSAGE – WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Jay’s Tips – Consider These Writing Prompts:

• What is the first thing that caught your attention?  Why?
• What is something you didn’t see at first but saw later?
• Is there something IMPORTANT that has been LEFT OUT of this picture?
• What is the background for your image.  Where did it come from?  What is it about?
• What is happening at the CLICK of the CAMERA – or What happens BEFORE – What happens next NEXT?
• What is the STORY behind the STORY?
• Is this a PEOPLE PICTURE – Can you analyze their expressions? – What are they looking at?  – What might they be thinking?
• What is the message taken from this image?  What will most people – or your classmates –  think when they see it?
• Focus on the details.  Size of things.  Location of objects.    Colors.  Shapes.  Facial Expressions.  Body movements.

Jay’s Practice Submission – The Mexico City Metro

• There is no ONE way to write a VISUAL ANALYSIS –  I picked and chose from the writing prompts above.
• You choose the writing prompts that BEST work for YOU – This assignment  calls for at least 300 words.
• I tried to follow my own instructions as best I could.  Jaja!
• I like the The Mexico City Metro Map – I felt I had a PERSONAL CONNECTION – I know of a STORY behind the STORY.

     What this woman is doing in the picture is what anyone should do when they ride the Mexico City Metro.  Find out where you are, and locate where you want to go because it’s easy to get lost in a city this size.  They don’t call it “Mexico” for nothing.  There are so many people.  Up to five million people per day travel on the Metro.  Often you are packed into the cars like sardines. If you get confused and get off your train early or late, you will need to find another pictogram map like this one to find your way home.  There are 12 lines and 195 stations.  Each line comes in a different color.  You should run your finger along the different routes until you find your destination. This woman seems to be following the pink line (rosa mexicana).  Or she may be following the blue line.  Her finger is pointing to the Pino Suarez station, where she may want to transfer. You can’t see it here, but each station on these maps is reresents an Aztec motif.  The stations have names like Tacuba, Mixcoac, Texoxomoc, Coyoacán, Mxtucha, Iztapalapa. The Pino Suarez station is recognized by the image of a pyramid. I know this because 25 years ago, I did my graduate education program in Mexico City with a group of California State University teachers.  We did out classroom work in Spanish with Mexican professors on an urban college campus.  We did out student teaching in the Mexican public school system.  Every two weeks we were assigned different schools in different parts of the city.   I have solid memories  of my finger tracing that same pink line in this picture. I often had to transfer at Pino Suarez.  I lived  with a Mexican family on Insurgentes Sur.

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Jay’s Sample Visual Analyses from Previous Classes 

• Not to Be Confused – This semester our Visual Analyses will be required to express something VERY MEXICO CITY!
• Marilyn Monroe is from Los Angeles – I knew the story about her birthday dress.
• Faye Dunaway is from Florida – She’s my favorite actress – I found her on the cover of a magazine.
• Nico is from Germany – I have this picture from the Velvet Underground’s first album.
• None of these images represent or connect to Frida or Mexico City, but I find them useful to serve as models – I find GENIUS in each one.

1. Marilyn Monroe

• I looked for something with specific visual elements that would lead to my analysis.
•  Of course the dress!  I have articles in my research folder that describe the dress and Marilyn’s “Happy Birthday” perfomance at the  president’s party.  This gave me a great start.
•  But also, I know of the story behind the story.  I was able to look into this image and find important meaning. I notice Marilyn’s jaw is locked. Her hands are clenched. This may be a tense moment. 
• I tried to follow my own directions (above) as closely as I could.  I chose the writing prompts  that worked best for me. 
• When I was done responding to the prompts, I copied everything together.

They told her not to come, but she came anyway.  That’s Bobby Kennedy on the left.  That’s President Kennedy on the right.  And you know who that is in the middle – That’s Marilyn Monroe.  She had flown to New York to sing “Happy Birthday” to the president on his 45th birthday at Madison Square Garden.  Of course, the first thing anyone is going to see in this picture is the dress.   It’s skin tight.   It was so tight that it had to be practically sown on to her body for her performance.  This is a black and white photo, but the color of the guaze material is the same color as her flesh.  So, it looks almost transparent, like you could see right through it.  What you are not going to see is Marilyn’s underwear.  She’s not wearing any.  There was no room for any garments underneath that dress.  The dress is famous for all the jewelry that comes with it.  More than 2,500 crystals are sewn into it.  Her platinum blonde hair is arranged into a stylish bouffant.  It rises up and flows downward on one side to cover part of her face.   But nobody is looking at her hair.  I notice both the Kennedys have their heads tilted forward and their eyes pointed downward.  You can guess what they are looking at.  In this picture, their behavior surprises me.   They may be flirting with Marilyn right out in the open in front of everybody at the party.   They knew of the rumors going around.  People were whispering of their affairs with Marilyn.  And the rumors were true.  They were both sleeping with her.  Reports say they warned her not to come because at this point, both of them must have feeling nervous for the truth to come out.  Reports say they warned her not to come. But that’s Marilyn Monroe.  She’s not a small nation president, princess or queen who might be intimidated by the Kennedys. She’s calling the shots.  Nothing is over until she says so. 

2. Faye Dunaway

• In a previous class, we developed Film Histrory Research Papers – We compared what we saw on the Big Screen with what we found on the Campus Databases.
• Faye Dunaway is my favorite actress.  Bonnie and Clyde is my favorite movie.
• I found Faye on the cover of a national magazine
• For my visual analysis, I had fun researching elements of her fashion, makeup and style.

In 1968, Faye Dunaway appeared on the covers of Time, Cosmopolitan, and Paris-Match.  She became an overnight sensation for her appearance in the movie Bonnie and Clyde. (See her light up a Life magazine cover to the left.)  Her stylish portrayal of 1930s “gangstah” Bonnie Parker created a world-wide fashion craze. In the spring following the release of Bonnie and Clyde, women clamoured for berets and knit cotton pullovers. They all wanted to look like Bonnie.  The men wanted to look like Clyde.  In this cover photo, Faye styles a wool beret flat on top of her head about three-quarters of the way up the forehead and an inch or so behind the ears. Her golden hair softly falls just below her chin.  This cut is called a “Bob.”  It first became popularized in the 1920s and 1930s.  Back then, women like Bonnie cut their hair to show off their free spirit.  A woman’s chopping off her hair was a sign of independence.  The color of this beret might be described as a soft-blue gray.  It coordinates well with her cream blouse, blue jacket, and matching pencil skirt.   Faye’s make-up touches appear minimal.  I mean she doesn’t need it.  In this photo, her attitude dominates the camera.  The film Bonnie and Clyde is known to be modeled on New Wave French Cinema of the 1960s. French women are known for their  “less-is-more” approach to beauty.  I’m not sure if the real-life Bonnie knew anything about French style, but she knew everything about outlaw fashion.  Whenever she had the chance, she liked to pose – feisty, gun-slinging, and cigar smoking – for the cameras.  (See photos below.)

Faye’s pose is angular, erect and confidant.   She hikes up her skirt to show her legs.  Her open jacket allows for a peek at her breasts. Her shoes are high-heel peep-toe pumps.  That must be an caraciture of Clyde in the upper-right-hand corner.  He’s dressed in a pinstripe double-breasted suit. His shoulders are rounded, his pants are narrow, and his shoes are pointy.  Of course he has a gun in his hand.  He’s a stone-cold killer.  But here in this image, Bonnie is the star of the show – and equally as dangerous. 

Below:  In the original photo on the left, Bonnie is twenty-two years old and stands just a fraction under five-feet tall.  This must be a year into Bonnie and Clyde’s famous 1930s crime spree.  Bonnie holds a stolen police revolver at her hip and props her foot on the bumper of a getaway car.  She has a cigar clenched between her teeth.  On the right, Faye captures her defiant stance. I read somewhere, that in April of 1933, Bonnie and Clyde were holed up in a rental house near Joplin,  Missouri.  They were lying low, looking forward to meeting up with Clyde’s brother who had just been released from prison. When a neighbor became suspicious of their behavior, she called the police, and an intense gunfight soon followed.  Bonnie and Clyde were able to escape, but not before they left a number of lawmen dead and/or injured. In the ensuing investigation, police found a camera with undeveloped film. The photos from this roll somehow found their way to newspaper front pages across the country.  The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde Was On.

3. Nico

• In my English 105 classes, we read a sixties novel and write sixties research papers.
• For a very short time, Nico was the lead singer in one of my favorite bands – The Velvet Underground
• She was so UNIQUE, DIFFERENT, BEAUTIFUL
• In my visual analysis, I tried to isolate on WHY.

The first thing you might notice about Nico is her high cheekbones. I say they are high, because they are closer to the bottom of her eyes than the bottom of her nose. Maybe they give her an icy look, for she was a very cool customer.  This probably came from her modeling experience. She was non-flamboyant.  She showed little expression.  Her hair, long and straight, falls to her shoulders and down her back.  Her look is accentuated by her bangs, which  are full and cut straight across the face.  This page-boy look accentuated her cheekbones.  The golden blonde hue of her hair sharply contrasted with the dark tones of her bandmates.  The Velvets were famous for dressing in black and wearing mirrored sunglasses on stage.  I just read some place the lips are the face’s most sensuous feature. The structure of the lips is thought to offer information about a women’s sensual aspect.  In this photo, Nico looks extremely attractive but at the same time very sad.  Nico’s time in the Velvet Underground may have been the most exciting time of her life; however, the jealosy and anamosity she felt from her bandmates brought her down. They were serious musicians.  She was a pretty face.  They didn’t like being pushed into the background. The expression that appears on Nico’s face may have nothing to do with her sensuality.  It probably has to do a lot with her depression.   Bandmate John Cale once said, “She hated the idea of being blonde and beautiful, and in some ways she hated being a woman, because she figured all her beauty had brought her was grief.”

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From Fotos to Frida:

Will our development of Visual Analysis elevate meaning in our essays? I was excited to once again explore the Mexico City Metro.   I was just reading Judith Ortiz Cofer’s The Myth of the Latin Woman in our class textbook.  .   Judith writes about real-life racial and sexual stereotypes.  This had to be like one of those chocolate meets peanut butter moments. She could have been writing about Frida. By the time we finish our Mexico City visual analyses, I will ask my students to select their own Frida Kahlo painting to examine in their essays. They will have plenty to choose from. Below I try to model my visual analysis for The Two Fridas. ( I have taken this image from a previous classroom blog.) My hope is our attention to detail in our Mexico City Scrapbook will enhance both our joy for our reading and our level of writing.

This is going to be GREAT. You will SEE.