Dialectical Notebook: Wysocki

Before You Read:

When I first saw this ad, my immediate reaction was a negative one. The word death stcuk out at me and so did the noose. However, the ad is for a healthy drink that can help promote a healthy heart. 

Summary:

In the article "The Sticky Embrace of Beauty", Anne Wysocki talks about how important visual representation is in writing. Wysocki gives examples by presenting ideas of different authors and their views on visual layouts. She analyzes the ways texts are presented. Wysocki suggests that this should be taught and practiced in classrooms and that it is a vital part of writing. Wysocki argues that the woman viewed in the Kinsey article was viewed in a sexual manner, rather than a "motherly" point of view, like the other authors suggested.

Synthesis:

The first author that came to mind when reading this article was Berger. Wysocki and Berger both have simliar standpoints on women and how they are viewed in pictures. Another author that came in mind was McCloud. Both authors present the ideas of how important the use of images are and the significance of images and their impact on the audience it's intended for. Bernhardt is also very comparable in this situation. Both authors explain how important textual style and placement are.

Response	Quotation
I like this quote because it shows how people can react differently to advertisements and images. Often times, people can have a mixed reaction about an ad.	“I think this advertisement is a lovely piece of work, but it also angers me” (Wysocki 79).
This quote is significant because Wysocki shows how important graphic design became in the 20th century. I thought of the uncle sam posters when she mentioned this. Graphic design became a large influence on people, in order to persuade them to do something.	“Johanna Drucker, for example, while describing how the field of graphic design took professional shape in the years and industrialization following World War I in the west, has argued that the values of organization and the consistency inherent in most modern design are inseparable from ongoing pushes toward rationalization and standardization in industry, and thus inseparable from shaping the standardized workforce necessary for industry to flourish (Wysocki 81).
Wysocki says this to argue against Williams’ views. Wysocki explains how ads can be perceived in different ways and that the “as is” thinking does not always apply.	“I do believe that teaching Williams’ principles “as is” can quietly encourage us to forget—they certainly do not ask us to see—that there is someone’s body in this layout (Wysocki 82).
Wysocki uses this to show how images can cause many different emotions within the people viewing the article or advertisement.	“Even so, I do not think the woman in the Peek layout is being presented as an archetypal Mom, which is the only category offered in Bang that at all addresses the use of a gendered body in visual composition (Wysocki 85).
This quote explains how important form is when trying to convey ideas. The idea has to be presented in a clever way in order for the audience to accept that idea.	“In this telling, form comes from one’s egocentric experiences and one takes pleasure in seeing those experiences comfortably inscribed in other objects” (Wysocki 86).

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

I feel that artwork is up for interpretation because beauty is within the eyes of the beholder. I feel that everyone views a piece of artwork differently. People usually connect the image with some sort of personal experience that no one else has probably ever had.

Thoughts:

I thought this article was too long and somewhat difficult to read. I found myself rereading over sections constantly to try and connect with what the author was trying to say. It was very uninteresting and discussed a topic that I could not care less about. Probably my least favorite article so far.