Visual Literacy - The Rabbits

The text, The Rabbits is co-created by the author and illustrator respectively;

• Shaun Ten and John Mandon

• John Marden and Shaun Tan

• Shaun Tan and John Marsden

• John Marsden and Shaun Tan

The text, The Rabbits has been described as an "allegory for all ages and cultures". What is an allegory?

• a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

• a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a an obvious and literal meaning.

• A picture that can be interpreted to reveal a contrasting meaning, using juxtaposition.

• A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a salient point for the reader.

The part of an images that your eyes are first drawn to is generally the most important or powerful element of the image. This is known as...

• Point of view

• gaze

• salience

• colour

Composers deliberately direct our reading path through...

• Gaze

• Salience

• Vectors

• Text

What is the name of the visual literacy technique that means to 'represents an object, action, idea or concept'?

• vectors

• text

• salience

• symbolism

How the shot is framed in reference to the viewer or a character. Does the shot take the character’s point of view or is the audience placed level with, above or below the characters/objects/action? This definition describes...

• positioning and salience

• positioning and point of view

• point of view and colour

• colour and salience

The colour GOLD can represent...

• protection, love, reverence, purity, simplicity

• anger, passion, rage, desire, excitement, energy, speed

• preciousness, extravagance, warmth, wealth, prosperity, grandeur

• materialism, sensation, earth, home, outdoors, reliability

The following ideas; materialism, sensation, earth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, stability, simplicity, age can be represented by the colour...

• white and cream

• red and pink

• blue and green

• brown and sepia

Shaun Tan depicted the Rabbits in black uniforms to...

• show that the Rabbits were boring and to symbolise a fresh start for European people in a new land.

• show that the Rabbits are to be feared as they symbolise dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal.

• show that the Rabbits are to be feared as they symbolise danger, evil and formality.

• show that the Rabbits were a symbol of reverence, purity, simplicity and cleanliness.

In this image from "The Rabbits", Marsden uses the highly emotive word of "stole". What is the effect of this word on the reader?

• To show that the European people could not be trusted as they were all convicts

• To show that the Indigenous people were coerced into giving up their children.

• To develop understanding in the reader and highlight that the indigenous people had their children taken to improve their lives.

• To develop empathy towards the indigenous people and highlight how a cruel and unjust government policy, designed to weaken the culture of the indigenous people, caused ongoing pain, grief and suffering.