Saying What You See [1 ed.] 0733993265, 9780733993268

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Alison Annals, Abby Cunnane and Sam Cunnane

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Why do some artists choose to work with visual media? " m()ki') ~·hut tl1c'I :.ct-h tl1c :.u~jcct " how we c()n

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Sriwhana Spong, Goona Goona. 2007, mixed media installation, courtesy the artist and Anna Miles Gallery, Auckland

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Sooner or later, anyone with any kind of interest in art will be asked ·what is the point of art?' Why do some people feel compelled to produce works which probab ly won't make them rich and probably will attract either polite indifference or. at best, some raised eyebrows? Humans l ike to express themselves. All of the higher l ife-forms communicate, but our species is the only one that describes, remembers, and hopes (as far as we know at the moment). Communication occurs when, by one means or another, an idea in one person's mind is made avail able to the minds of other people. Most people express themselves by talking, but others want to make a statemen t that lasts longer than the few moments our spoken words hang in t he air. Some people choose to do this by writ ing; ot hers say what they want to say by means of a camera, or paintbrushes, or spray-cans, or a set of chisels. Even ephemeral works, that is those constructed of materials that dissolve, rot. or disi ntegrate. such as Sriwhana Spong's decaying fruit wor ks, and time-based installations such as Christo and Jeanne-Claude ·s 'wraps', express things that the artists intend viewers to find memorable.

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Introduction

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Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Trees. Fondation Beyel er and Berower Par k, Ri ehen. Swi tzerland 1997-98. Photograph : Wolfgang Vol z. © Chri sto 1998. http://www.christojeannecl aude.net/ wt.shtml

Installation art is an a.rt work constructed for, and responding to, a specific site or space.

Far mers who work with animals sometimes say of a particularly fine specimen that it 'fills the eye·. This is a striking description of the way our attention can be caught and held by something, so that we want to gaze at it - to look and look, as though we can somehow fix it in our memory, our mind's eye, and ta ke it with us. This gives us a straightforward way of thinking about why some arti sts make artworks. The i mpulse of the adult installation artist who creates a sophi sticated installation is the same as that of the pre-schooler who draws th eir moth er as a big smiling face with hair flying out all round it, and of the prehistoric hunters who painted semi-abstract galloping horses and antelopes on the walls of their caves. In each case, the subject 'filled the eye' of the arti st, and this exper ience was so significant that th ey wanted to record it in some way, for th emselves and for oth er people. The artwork is simply the record of th at most important fact, achieved i n the prefer red medium of the individual arti st.

Introduction

I don't make art. I make things and if they are art it's because other people think so. Art is something created between people and things. A sculpture by itself is just a stupid thing.

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Martin Creed, i nstallation artist. Rad io New Zealand interview with Kim Hill, 7 October 2006

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Kawara does in a very distilled way what painting has done ever since those prehistoric paintings were made. It marks time. Leaves a note for the future. Says: ·1 am here. This is my best record. · Justin Paton. How to Look at a Painting. 2005, Awa Press. Wellington. p. 57

This process is most clearly seen in those works which can be described as representational. Their subjects exist out there in the world, as objects, and can be looked at by other people besides the artist. The artist's rendition of that subject - what he or she makes of it in the process of creating the artwork - packs into it th e P.xtr;i l;iyP.r. or l;iyP.rs. of significance which the artist sees in it. We have all gazed at skies heavy with stars. but only Va n Gogh painted Starry Night; and Grahame Sydney's landscapes (see overleafl have a weightiness which calendar shots of the Central Otago cannot repl'icate .

Representational means showlng things as they appear to

the eye.

Vincent Van Gogh. Starry Night. c. 1889, oil on canvas.

730x920 mm

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Introduction

Grahame Sydney, Timeless Land, 1992, oil on canvas. 760 x 1520 mm

Another major group of representational arti sts includes all the arti st-craftspeople of the world's cultures who through the centuri es of human history have formulated their :>ucieti.::>

religious artworks. Whether painted, carved or sculpted, religious symbols. totems. and icons commonly have some object in the external world as their source - a hawk, a wave, a growing shoot, a cross - but this tangible origin has been made more than that by the eyes and hands of artists for the contemplation. encouragement and inspira tion of the non-artists of their communities. The twenty-first century equivalent of these ancient artworks are the icons used on road signs. car dashboards, and computers. Like the representational artists, the maker of what may loosely be called conceptual art also strives to record a most important fact; but it is one which is known. or at least sensed, by him or her alone, and cannot be seen by anyone else until the artwork is completed. The conceptual artist's subject is not 'out there'; and the whole labour of the artist is to give tangible form to something which has never previously had any kind of tangible existence. However. like any other artist. any other human being, the conceptual artist wants to ·say". express. things that they The kaahu !hawk) is taken from the title of Te Atairangikaahu 'The Haw!< that flies at Dawn', who was otheri.•Jise known as Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. On the wing of the KAAHU are koru. each koru denoting the years of Te Atairangikaahu's reign. The stars are the group known as Matariki or the Pleiades, and the circle represents te raa. the sun

Introduction

consider important enough to be worth the effort involved in the commun ication. Artists are a little like antennae. They receive information before the rest of the population. John Perry, collector and curator of New Zealand domesti c art. Radio New Zealand i nterview. March 2007

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We have said that artists use the ir preferred medium to meet the ir compu lsion to create a lasting record of the things t hat are important to them. There is another characteristic of the making of art that artists mention over and over again. Whatever the ir medium, the artist is passionate about their ar t-making; they feel compelled to keep workin g at it, al most regardless of how their work is received by oth er peo ple. In one way or another, artists say tha t they feel most al ive whe n they are working.

Q: What are some of the

feelings you experience as you create art? Trusttum: It's a similar feeling to cooking a meal - without food you die. Caught in the Act: The Art of Philip Trusttum. edi ted by Helen Pearson. 2004, Interactive Education Ltd, Whangaparoa. p. 13

Jade koru. courtesy of The Bone Art Place. www. boneart.co.nz

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Introduction

Kelcy Taratoa. EPISODE 0010. 2005, acrylic on canvas. 2134 x 1679 mm. collection of Tony Balfour and Sarah Bullitude, Australia

I believe that the talents I've been given combine in such a way that being an artist seems the only career choice that would bring me peace. Kelcy Taratoa INgaiterangi. Ngati Raukawal. painter. in Pulp magazine, issue 54. page 54

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The way I work. and the way I believe most artists work. is akin to a journey. If you have an idea, it grows and expands as you sketch, think and develop it . You get so much artistic leverage/fuel from that one initial idea. and this has a snowball effect on the way you view life. When you 're a practising artist your whole way of thinking changes and consequently you approach the world differently. Paul Darragh. art director. in Pulp magazine. issue 54, p. 104

Introduction

Creating art is my freedom. Darcy Nicholas. art educator. painter and sculptor

J Darcy Nicholas. Ancestral Reflect1ons. 2005. acrylic on paper. 762x610mm

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t Cf ""> of hJ.er a meeting and everyone tnere is bored, say so with a picture. Look fo'r the composition, quality of light and moment that convey the sense of boredom. In so doing, you'll probably have to juxtapose elements and see the whole of the frame - so you've broken the oval/one plane conundrum already. The opposite would be a situation in which there is chaos, joy, love, hate, jubilation, sadness. Each of these requires a different way of thinking about how to fill the frame, to see through the camera moments and qualities of light and compositions and even seeing aspects of situations that you would not if you were there simply to make pictures of verbs. It's a lot more fun to try to make pictures of adjectives. Every situation will be different because you are trying to convey something new every time. Even in small communities where assignments tend to repeat themselves, the world is forever new if your eye is tuned precisely to the nuance. the essence 'of

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Sherman's reputation was established on the basis of her Untitled Film Stilts, a series of black-and-white photographs from the late 1970s in which the artist depicted herself dressed in the guises of cliched B-movie heroines. In photograph after photograph, Sherman was ever present, and yet never really there-her ready adaptation of a range of personae highlighting the mas uerade of identity. Her appropriation of the space on th sides of the lens pe.t >0.olit ,1 destabilized the traditionally gendered opposition between artist ~ and model. object and subject-one that had been theorized by >tcr cotype. film critics in terms of spectatorship and its gendered codes of looking.

If the Untitled Film Stills 11licited debate concerning the construction of woman-as-image, the photographs Sherman made throughout the mid· 1980s served to..perpetuate this discourse. Her Centerfolds ( 1981) and Fashion (1983-84) series elaborated the codes of what film theorist Laura Mulye)! termed the "to-be-lookedat-ness" of female representation. Emulating the signifiers of the centerfold, the closely cropped photographs reveal a body that is available to the camera and bathed in a vivid light. Sherman's choice of gendered genres compounds the yo)!eyristic impression established in the works. Feeling pjgeonholed by the feminist discourse that surrounded her work, Sherman gradually dispensed with representations of the female, often removing herself from the picture and moving toward more fantastic and lurid imagery, as in her Fairy Talesand Disasters series from the mid-to-late 1980s. The ever-increasing

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Working with images and ideas

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market for her photographs also prompted this turn, challenging her to att m t rk that was "unsaleable" due to its visceral depictions of vomit, body parts, and grotesque fairy tales. Simultaneous y, s e inst1 led the works with a heightened sense of artifice created by garish colors and gaps that reveal the fiction behind the illusion. :>ible. >y"'boli.:;"' of v•7 other dctc.il. ~\lhe11 [pre po.re cc.ch chor()cfer [ h()ve tocon>idcr ••he. t I 'mworki~ C.join.:;t ; the. people t hc.t orcjoi~ to loo/ .for thc.t co"'•"•" denomi11() tor, the .-e.c~••>e ble. I ·., t r7i~ t omo.Ke ot he.r people re.~•i O"'e.thi~ of thon:,e.l\/e:, r thcr thc.11 me. - Arr 01"1-Phot~rc.ph7 J:>c.v•d Co"'pv"'i- Ci.,Jy5 her"'V"

Critique of Cindy Sherman biography, by s tudent Joanne Michelson. Original article available at http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_ bio_146F.html -

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Section 2 What's covered Working on an assignment " ~\/•rJ:. h,,., tout;•!.., t '"- tl:i.J< .. d:.;'Ji':J iJc.>:. ioto >e•tcoc 42

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I Annotations are notes which explain or help clarify the ideas in the main written or visual text.

Critical analysis

Critical analysis Is the process of 'pulling apart' an Image or a written text and ft8urlng out what Is successful about it and why, and what Is not successful about It and w/\)'.

Annotations around works in progress really come into their own as evidence of critical analysis of one's own works. They allow you to explain why you have chosen one particular course of action over another, and th ey can give someone insight into the ideas behind a parti cular work. It ca n be use ful to think about these notes as if th ey are part of a conversation with

Specific writing and speaking situations

someone about your work. Write down the kinds of things that would help them make sense of your work. You may find that the process of writing down your ideas will help you to make more sense of what you are thinking. It must be said, again, that if we cou ld fully explain our art works with words we probably wouldn't bother to make them . When used to complement the images that one is developing, note s in a visual diary are very useful, but th ey are there to assist in the making of im ages, not to stand in for the images them selves.

As noted in the introduction, talking about visual art is an exercise in translation. First you have to translate the image into your own terms. make sense of it for yourself, then offer this understanding to others. Talking about what you see is every bit as scary and as productive an activity as any other part of the critical process. Have you ever noticed how rarely you hear people at a gallery actually discussing the work? Partly this is because everyone talks in the hushed to nes which that environment often seems to encourage, and partly because we are afraid to be heard making a poor judgement, or demonstrating an ignorant response. Or perhaps it is because sometimes we just don't like the work. and feel there is not much to say. However, an open discussion about an art work can be not only helpful but enjoyable and exhilarating, and there is no excuse for not trying to say what you see if you are moved !positively or negatively) by it. The artist has made a statement. has said something; you are invited to respo nd in some way. Often this response will liberat e you from the fru stration we all feel when presented with something we don't understand and don't like the look of, or like the l ook of but don't immediately know why. At th e outset, discussion can be an alienating exercise. Wh ether you are sitting in a class talking about a text !visual or wri tten), or discussing an exh ibition in the car-park. it quickly becomes apparent that people interpret texts very differently. What was obvious to you may not have been at all apparent to the next viewer. For this reason all discussion requires constant clari fication of terms : not only must you be clear about your own position, you need to make this clear to the group. What is the cri terion, the justification for every claim you make about the work? An important concept here is subjectivity, the

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Seclion 3

~ Inclination for or I ~;;;;s~·o~e thin& Idea or person.

Con.senaua Is general atireement.

influence of your personal feelings. opinions and tastes. Your judgement will always be biased by these factors. wh ich is why it's important to identify and state them as clearly as possible. We are all biased to some extent simply because of who we are and how we grew up. This does not mean. however, that we can't be open-minded; and open-mindedness is essential to productive discussion. Where people are not willing to alter th eir ideas in any way there is l itt le poin t in discussion. In this sense all discussion is productive argument. korero; those participating argue for a particular position. with the view to establishing either a reasonable consensus. or a useful division of meaning.

Introducing the main theme (See also the section on 'The introduction', in Section 2.1 Start by outlining the main theme of the discussion. If you are leading the talk. give a general outline of the subject. For example:

Colonisa tion Is the process of one group (particularly a nation) using their power to Influence the way of life of another group.

T 0pe.ol:>~ btle. ~ho~c.:. in t one

A monologue ls a single voice talklng, w!lh no dlscusslon.

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Section 3 the first of these, and open the discussion out for others to contribute. This simply means that you keep your eyes open for others who look as though they may have something to add, and do not worry about being in terrupted. Allow the ta lk to take its natural course, bearing in mind the points you wish everyone to have clear at its conclusion, and bringing them into the discussion yourself if no one else has done so.

Concluding usefully (See also the section on 'The conclusion', in Section 2.) The significance of the discussion's conclusion is often underestimated. Too frequently the bell rings or the tutorial hour fin ishes, and we race to a hurried or abrupt conclusion to the sound of rustling papers and scraping chairs. More sensibly, we should take the time to round off the discussion with a summary that draws what has been said together into something useful that the other participants can take away with them. This summary can be as basic as asking four members of the group to give one sentence each on a main idea that was talked about. It's not important that people go away with the same ideas in their heads. just that there is clarity about whot was discussed. The worst outcome of any meeting is confusion. Unlike disagreement. confusion halts any further processing of information, whereas disagreement develops it.

A critique ls a detaUed

examlnatlon and evaluation; to critique Is to subject something to a detailed examination.

Interrogate means to ask questions of, especially closely or formally. Resolution in thls sense is analysing and solving a problem or question.

The critique is a foundation of many visual arts courses. Boiled down, a critique is simply a discussion centred around one student's work, where that work is interrogated for its presentation. consideration and resolution of an idea (or ideas). It can be a hard thing to get used to. sitting in a group where the focus is directed very closely at your own work. It's not unlike a l ife- drawing class, with you as the model: there's a feeling not unlike physical nakedness in baring your work for the eyes of others. Ta king part in a critique is an adrenalinecharged experience from any perspective; even if it's not your work under examination you are required to process visual information quickly. to provide useful. and sensitive, feedback for the artist. The critique is the meeting place of all the types of information processing we've been considering. If we can't helpfully address work we encounter, in a critical way, and articulate this feedback, we aren't really applying the

Specific writing and speaking situations

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information processing tools we've developed. Talking about art involves talking about it in all stages of development, not just completed work in galleries. or in art book pictures.

Establishing criteria for the critique A critique has ce r tain objectives, and these will vary according to the assignment, and the situation. For example, in a secondary-school senior art class the criteria may relate to the specific Achievement or Unit Standard students are working on. as well as to basic elements and formal properties required for the making of good visual images. Defining the criteria very clearly helps form a basis for the structure of the discussion. Really, that's all a critique is: a discussion structured around analysis of the work, according to specific forma l, technical and conceptual criteria.

Formal properties relate to the way the artwork is arranged v1sually.

Technical aspects refer to the way the artwork has been made physically. Conceptual aspects are the ways the ideas have been presented or developed.

A note from an NCEA Level 2 Design teacher:

A sample design task asked Level 2 students to ' ... create an image based on an animal. You can't use the whole image, but select ke.y aspects - eyes, teeth, textures etc. Your work must convey not only the anima l's visual appearance but also your response towards it and its reputed character (e.g. aggressive, carnivore, light, delicate, slimy, etc). Words relating to the chosen animal, and your response to it, will be used to communicate this response.' In a critique of this work I asked students to consider: a) Does the i1nage presented commun icate aspects of the animal's reputed character? [Conceptual criteria] b) Does the image work visually- is it balanced, well con1posed, appropriately coloured etc, and how could these aspects be improved? [Formal criteria) c) Does the work show understanding of the design models that have been studied? ... [The] critique criteria are about providing a student with somewhere to start thinking about the work from - something to 1neasure its success against. I guess you can think about it as saying 'a successful work will do a, band c. Does the work we are looking at do those th ings? If not, how can it be made to do them?'

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Section 3

Generic means general, belonging to a group, not specific.

It is extremely important for you and everyone involved in an oral critique session to know that you as the maker of the art work are not being judged, and nor is your work in terms of right/wrong , good/bad. Rather. the work is being considered for its ability to communicate to the viewer. Your classmates and others involved in the critique are representative of a generic audience: see their feedback as the kind of response any viewer might have when coming to your work for the first time. So instead of asking if the work is ·good' or not. or expecting a consensus on that to be the outcome of the discussion, focus instead on questions rela ting to the critique criteria.

Preparing for critique

Autonomous means self· sufficient, or Independent.

Because you know the criteria around which the critique will be structured, you can prepare yourself and your work for this. The worst thing to do is to focus on the critique as a kind of "doomsilay" at which your work will be condemned. It's better to see it as a poi nt of formative assessment. a chance for you to stand back and exercise your critical eye, while receiving feedback from an audience who will be sensitive because they know what it is li ke to have their own work critiqued. They too know the process of critique. and as it is a group exercise the best way is to engage energetically both in the discussion itself. and in preparation for it beforehand. Start by mentally preparing yourself. There are a number of aspects to this, and in one respect the adrenaline that comes with the thought of your work being viewed by all those eyes is an essentially invigorating experience in itse lf. Being mentally ready for the experience of critique involves distancing yourself from the work. It is something like a parent watching a child go off to school alone for the first time. You as your work's ·parent' will not always be the re to hol d i ts hand, to explain or trans late it to its audience. If you were, it could even be argued that the work was unsuccessful, was not doing its given job of communicating to viewers. Ultimately the work needs to be autonomous. to exist in its own right, and on its own. When you are making the work you are intimately engaged with it; you could see it as a part of yourself which is gradually (sometimes painfully] taking its own shape, separating from its source. A second-year photography student summed it up as: "Even though the work is you, it somehow has an identity of its own too."

Specific writing and speaking situations

Being able to finally step back from the work and see it as distinct from yourself is the closest you will get to an objective assessment of your work, or being able to see it as others do. There needs be a time when you look at the work as an object or image that does not need an extra line here, or cropping there - but as a finished piece, something that stands alone. Having fami liarised yourself with the criteria for the critique, you know more or less what is expected. Choose work that best responds to these criteria. This does not mean 'giving the teacher what they want' but. rather. making best use of the information you are provided with to guide you in your own selection processes. It makes no sense to present work for critique which doesn "t relate to the criteria, or which is not sufficiently developed for assessment. or which doesn "t really represent the larger body of your ideas. Try to choose work that shows you performing best. that you think most clearly or successfully shows your response to the requirements of the brief. It may help for you to write a l ist of the ways in which you think th e work responds to th e critique criteria. This will also likely be useful to you as a starting point for responding to people's comments. Knowing where you stand. and where you think the work stands in relation to the brief. will give you confidence and clarity when questions are raised. It's not about putting up a defence for the work; but. as with any argument. you should be providing the best case you possibly can, until the point where you see the idea could be articulated better. That's what the critique is for: to challenge your presentation, and indicate where and how your work could speak to its audience more clearly. Before the critique. think also about how you want to physically present your work. Obviously this will vary according to the type of work. but if it is a sculpture or installation, how is it best placed so everyone has a good view of it? How is it best lit? You are not trying to sell your work. but you do want to make it accessible to the others. make its job of communication as successful as possible. You may also like to think about a few words you'll say to introduce the work, whether sharing the title is important, or whether you want to talk briefly about the process or materials as a lead-in to people's appraisal of the work. You might do just as well to let the work make its own introduction.

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Objectivity Is Impartial or neutral judgement..

The larger body or your Ideas Is the main part, what your work Is mainly about.

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Section 3

Articulating your comments Being a member of a critique group is a position of responsibility. It can also be nearly as intimidating as having your work out for critique. because expressing your responses is always challenging. The teacher or tutor will lead the way here, and will probably introduce the discussion by going over the critique criteria with you . Use this as a starting point. with your own understanding or the brier. It is often valuable to ask questions or the work, and of the arti st, rather than make statements which may sound disparaging or negative. Imagine yourself in the position of the artist, and be honest, while also remaining sensitive to the vulnerability of their position. II you are the artist, much of your work is done for the meantime. II you can. enjoy the experience. Asked about the critique experience, a photography student wrote this:

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You· re not in the witness box. and the cri tique is in no way some kind of interrogation or cross-examination that you need be afraid of. Don't worry if the i nitial response seems slow. or unenthusiastic. An artwork's messages take time to sink in. and groups take time to focus and engage with the work. Remember that, unlike you, your audience hasn't been breathin g and dreaming through the work for days, weeks or months. Allow th e disc ussion to take its own course, and respond to questions where you can. Answering 'That's an interestin g point, I'll think about what you've said' or something like that is valid, too. You' re not expected to take on board everything everyone says, and certainly not instantaneously. Don't be afraid to ask questions of your group. Ask people to clarify or expand on things you are unsure of. The feedback is for you, so make sure you gain the most possible from it. Taking notes for later reference is a very good idea.

Specific wri1ing and speaking silualions

Responding to critique: going forward After critique people often say ·1 didn't even know that [idea/ theme/message] was in the work!' The comments your work receives could surpri se you. or be totally out or line with your interpretation of the work. Relax. There is plenty of time to chew over the cri ti cism. and to decide what is relevan t, and to spit out wha t's not. Start by leaving the work alone for a whi le. Go home and forget about it; give your brain and your feelings a break from it. If it's practicable. put the work aside for a couple of days. a week even, while you wor k on other projects, and give the feedback time to sink in. On your return to the work, pick up the notes you took and sit down with the work to read t hem through. Give credit to your own gut response here. Even during the critique you will have heard some comments and imm ediately thought of their significance in terms of where your work was goin g next, how it was developing. Other observations will have sounded flim sy, or will have raised thing s you already knew were in the work. Think about the co mm ents; if the work were to be adjusted as the co mments i11dicate, would you feel that the intent of th e work was compromised? The value of the cr itique exercise lies partly in affirming your own interpretation of the work, partly in expanding your understanding of other responses. and partly in provoking your imagination further. If it has done all these things, it is a success. Probably you sat in the critique just itching to get back to the work , to make the thousand minute changes that would for you resolve the issues raised, and complete the work as an expressive enti ty. Deliberately approaching thi s after at least a couple of days allows your reaction time to ma ture, and your re spon se to be less ·raw'. At this point go ahead. go on wi th the work; and, rather than letting the group's voices ring through your head. take on one aspect at a time. If someone raised a technical issue that you know could be improved, work closely on process. If someone talked about narrative, and you feel what they said adds to your own conception of the story in the work, spend time thinking about how th is can be acknowledged or made more visible. If someone made a throwaway comment about not liking t he colours, and you feel they are significant to the work's character and meaning. by all means ignore ii. (Scribbling such things out of your notes can be strangely energising!)

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Section 3

Your response to critique is about as personal as it gets: ultimately, no one can te ll you how to make work which communicates what you want it to. That is your problem to be alone with, as all artists are. What other people can tell you is how it looks and feels and ·speaks· to them; this is what you cannot ignore. It's like having written work well-edited by someone with a red pen: you can start again, but every one of those red -pen queries needs to be addressed - even if you simply [and correctly] dismiss some queries as irre levant or wrong if you are ever to feel as satisfied with it as you were before.

A seminar is an effective way of presenting informa tio n to a group of people. It allows a number of people to receive the same information at the same time, and can provide a good platform for further discussion, often in the form of a questionand- answer time following the initial presentation. One of the key benefits of a seminar is that you are able to present information to your audience in a selection of ways - through talking, written information, still images, and short moving image clips. You are also involved in face-to-face interac tion with the audience, allowing you to do some think ing on your fee t in response to your audience's questions and other nonverbal feedback you receive.

Using PowerPoint® Seminars commonly use a combination of verbal presentation and digital slideshow - in most cases using Microsoft's PowerPoint® software or similar - and we will focus on this type of presentation here. When presented w ith an assignment that requires you to present a seminar, your initial approach should be similar to that for an assignment to be presen ted as an essay. You will begin by making sense of what is required of you [see Section 2, 'What do I have to do, and why? Analysing the question'). and then gather as much relevant information as you can. Once you have decided how much of that information you want to use, arrange it into ·chapters· based on the key points that you want to answer or discuss during your seminar. These points may be the answers to t he questions that are posed in your assignment task sheet, or they may be based on a logical

Specific wr i ting and speaking situations

groupin g of the information you have found throug h your research and furthe r reading. From these groupings of information select the important information and examples (i mages. movie clips. quotes. diagrams. etc.I that you will present. This could consist of a key idea with bullet points below indicati ng the main ideas. and examples linked to each bullet point. Once you have done this each chapter can be turned into a PowerPoi nt® slide or series of related slides.

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