Graphic Information
You check your syllabus and notice that you have a massive reading assignment due at the beginning of next week, so you haul out your textbook, take a deep breath, and open the cover. As you scan through the pages, you let out a sigh of relief. The assigned pages are covered in pictures, maps, charts, graphics, and diagrams. 'Whew!' you think. 'This is going to be easy!'
Not so fast! All those graphic elements of your reading assignment provide important information to help you understand whatever it is you're reading about. You should not skim over them or ignore them completely because you might miss something very important. In this lesson, we will learn about some types of graphics and practice analyzing them in order to draw out as much data as possible from the text.
Types of Graphic Information
As you read, you will encounter many different types of graphic information. Let's learn about a few of them.
- Pictures :Have you heard the old saying 'A picture is worth a thousand words'? It really is! Pictures reveal details about a topic that written text can never capture.
- Maps : allow us to form a mental picture of places and physical movements across a landscape. Readers often encounter political, physical, climate, topographic (the shape of the land), road, and economic or resource maps as well as thematic maps that show everything from battles to population growth.
- Graphs : Graphs offer a visual portrait of data and its relationships. Texts feature line graphs that show changes in data over time; bar graphs that make comparisons over time and between groups; pictographs that represent data through pictures; and pie graphs (often called pie charts) that show parts of a whole.
- Charts : Charts show organizational relationships (like a family tree) or processes (like a flow chart).
- Diagrams : Diagrams often provide a visual portrait of how something works or is put together (like a schematic) or of how sets of data overlap (like a Venn diagram).
How to Analyze Graphic Information
We readers must never, ever skim, skip, or ignore graphic information in a text. In fact, we must carefully analyze each graphic, examining it closely to draw out as much information as possible. To do so, follow this five-step process
:
1. Take an initial look at the graphic and to determine what kind it is. What strikes you right away as interesting or important?
2. Determine the topic of the graphic. What is it about? What kind of information is it sharing?
3. Read all the accompanying text. Read the titles, captions, map keys, labels, and any other text surrounding the graphic. Don't skip anything; it is all important to your understanding of the graphic.
4. Look closely at the graphic itself. Notice its details, read its information, and jot down interesting points and questions you might have. Spend the time to really get to know the graphic. Ask and try to answer some important questions for each type of graphic.
- For a picture, for instance, think about who or what is pictured and try to figure out how the photographer or artist portrays the person, object, or event.
- For a map, identify the type of map used, the area it covers, and its theme.
- For a graph, figure out its type, the kinds of data it presents, and the relationships it shows.
- For a chart, determine whether it shows a relationship or a process.
- For a diagram, think about whether it presents how something works or is constructed, or whether it shows overlapping data.
5. Pay attention to how the graphic adds to or complements the text. A text and its graphic elements always work together. Spend some time determining what the graphic tells you that the text doesn't say or how the graphic presents the text's information in a different way.