ES1501B

ES1501B - From Kodak to Instagram: How Images Tell Lies

How do pictures and videos wear the mask of truth? How are they used in newspapers, films, and websites to magnify credibility and persuasiveness? We will look at how images are arrayed with words in news sources to create a truth-effect. Unearthing the norms of objectivity that readers accept, we will ask how particular blogs and feeds become more credible than others. We will examine what happens to the truth-effect when images are digitized and manipulable. Lastly, we will analyze how they form persuasive arguments in documentaries that question the boundary between fact and faction.

It is a 48-hour module taught over 12 weeks with 2 two-hour tutorials per week.

Objectives

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • pose critical questions about the verbal and visual arguments being presented in a text;
  • identify the supporting claims and binary oppositions that undergird these arguments;
  • interrogate the norms of objectivity that shape the reception of a text;
  • analyze how words and images are arranged in a text to construct credible and persuasive arguments;
  • uncover the contradictions in logic and evidence that threaten the validity of these arguments;
  • produce complex arguments of their own;
  • write a clear, sophisticated thesis statement;
  • develop and organize their ideas into a coherent essay;
  • evaluate the validity and usefulness of ideas from different sources;
  • revise the argumentation, language, and organization of an essay; and
  • edit the grammar, spelling, and punctuation of a text.

Assessment

ES1501B is a 100% Continuous Assessment module.

Prerequisites

  • If students are required to take ES1000, Basic English, and/or ES1102, English for Academic Purposes, they must complete those modules before taking this course.
  • FOE students should have obtained an A grade in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE ‘A’ level General Paper in order to be eligible for this module.

Preclusions

U-Town Writing Programme modules IEM1201A-L, WP2201, ES1201L and all other ES1501 modules
Note:

  • FOE students will be exempted from ES1531 and ES2331 if they have successfully completed an ES1501 module. 
  • However, ES1531 and ES2331 are optional for FOE students who have successfully completed an ES1501 module.

Modular Credits

Four

Workload

0-4-0-0-6