WR 227 Graphic Format Directions
Due Thursday, 11/12: Submit by 11 pm in Canvas (75 Points) for 1 Visual
Which types of visuals will work best for your Website? Which color theme will you choose for
your visuals? Which shading or justification works best for the placement, left, right, or center?
Just how much white space will you use around the visuals or the objects in the visuals to make
them easier to read? You’re very familiar with how magazines, newspapers, and webpages
include graphics, but we’ll set up our graphics a bit more academically. MLA, copyright laws,
and reader-ese for users prescribe 5 formats used for visuals:
1. Assign a label and number to visuals to designate the order they appear in a document
or website: Table 1, Table 2, and so on, while beginning the numbering over for
figures—Figure 1, Figure 2, and so on—if you use both tables and figures.
2. In the text before the visual, introduce the topic of the visual and lead up to it with a
paragraph’s last sentence that refers to the label and number: for example, “Find an
overview of the steps in Figure 1:”
3. Next, place the label and number at the top or bottom of the visual (Table 1 or
Figure 1).
4. Use a descriptive title centered at the top of the visual in larger font, or keep the title
already on the visual you borrow.
5. Below the visual, create a caption as a complete sentence and present the full MLA
Works Cited entry if any of the material in the visual comes from a source to absolutely
avoid copyright and plagiarism issues. (If you were to develop everything for the visual,
including any data or numbers, you would not need a citation, but we will be using
existing visuals from sources that require citations.) Then, the paragraph resumes or a
new one begins.
Using MLA as needed for any quotes/paraphrases/summaries from sources, a paragraph leads
discussion up to the visual, and the paragraph’s last sentence points out the visual like this.
Figure 1 shows the easiest way to fix a robot:
Figure 1
Almost there!
A cartoon shows a robot fixing itself.
Source: “Robot Hobbies.” Android Antics,
20 Jan. 2016, www.androidantics.com/
robot/dreams/ Accessed 17 Apr. 2017
The paragraph continues discussion about the visual’s topic, or a new paragraph begins, but
uses at least the first sentence to sum up what’s in the visual and/or point out anything more
readers need to know about the visual’s topic, before moving on to another topic, and using
MLA as needed.
*Note: Unlike our robot friend above, the graphic visual you choose will develop a key
message fitting the context of your Website topic. It will serve an informational purpose and
NOT be a photo, cartoon, illustration, etc. like this robot that are usually less about
information and more about entertainment or decoration. Instead, choose a table, chart,
graph, infographic, etc. that shares information central to the argument you’re making.
Graphic Format Example
Opting to use biofuel instead of fossil fuels is a great way to cut down on carbon emissions and
reduce the effects of climate change. Scientists are constantly searching for a biofuel that can
compete with fossil fuels in both price and efficiency. There are many different sources
available from which biofuel can be made, but some are less efficient in oil production than
others. Algae has the potential to produce up to 10-300 times more oil than traditional biofuel
crops, making it a promising alternative fuel source (Center for Sustainable Systems). Figure 2
compares the gallons of biofuel that can be produced by a variety of crops:
Figure 2
This chart shows how biofuel crops compare in the gallons of biofuel they produce per acre. Source:
Center for Sustainable Systems. “Biofuels Factsheet.” Center for Sustainable Systems, University of
Michigan, 2019, css.umich.edu/factsheets/biofuels-factsheet
It is apparent from Figure 2 that the amount of biofuel produced by each crop varies quite a lot.
While most of the crops are within a close range of one another, algae yields significantly more
biofuel than even the next most efficient crop, Cellulosic Switchgrass. This image helps to
visualize the potential algae has as an alternative fuel source. Since algae is able to produce so
much more biofuel than any other traditional biofuel crop, it is one of the best options to
combat the use of fossil fuels. This is why scientists must continue to research algae biofuel and
continue to attempt to reduce its production costs.
Graphic Format Assignment Summed Up
For the Website project, you will make a clear, logical, thoughtful, and convincing argument
that articulates and analyzes the complexities of the issue with the purpose of making progress
on the issue. The graphic you choose, will be a centerpiece for either the Home page, the Cause
& Effects page, and less often, the Solutions page of your project. It will depend on the content
of the graphic you choose—which of those sections does it fit?
[Scroll for More]
Biofuel Yields by Feedstock
Reminder: your graphic will NOT be a photo, cartoon, illustration, etc. this time. Choose a
table, chart, graph, infographic, etc. instead.
Follow these instructions to set up the graphic you’ll present in your Website:
1. Write one well-developed paragraph (at least 5-7 sentences) that introduces the
graphic, explains its significance, and refers to its label in the last sentence: Table 1 or
Figure 1. (Figures are visuals that are not tables.) *Caution: in this paragraph, do not
repeat what the viewer can find out on the graphic instead.
2. Place the screenshot of the graphic on the page and complete all 5 formats of the
visual as seen on the 1st page of this handout.
3. Write one well-developed paragraph (at least 5-7 sentences) that leads away from the
graphic, explains its significance, and lets readers know anything they may also need to
know about the message in the graphic. The paragraph after the graphic is a huge
opportunity to sum up a key message readers found in your cool graphic and/or to
move on to make a key persuasive point about your topic.
4. Make sure you include a copy and paste of the source’s entire web address. No Works
Cited is needed since you will have either a Works Cited entry below the visual.
An example of an entire web address looks like this:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/162760/fluffypancakes/?internalSource=previously%20viewed&referringContentType=home%20page
&clickId=cardslot%208, and NOT this: http://allrecipes.com/.
*Note: the source of the graphic may be helpful in helping describe the context for the
graphic, and if so, complete the MLA process for any quotes/paraphrases/summaries it
contributes to your paragraphs. The sources/articles that contain the visual are often good
about sharing the studies or data that make up the content. For examples, a source may let
you know over 3000 people were surveyed over 5 years to make up the percentages in a pie
chart, or that the numbers came from a reputable government institution or credible expert
in the field. What the source says about its own graphic can contribute to why you find it
credible, and that can be passed on to your readers in the paragraphs as a
quote/paraphrase/summary using MLA. This may work especially well in the first paragraph
leading up to the graphic.
Also, you should know if you need to label your visual a Table or a Figure. A table looks like the
following, and for technical writing, everything else is considered a figure (photos, cartoons,
illustrations, charts, graphs, infographics, etc.). A table is characterized by rows and columns
with labels and may or may not use color. Table 1 is your visual example of a table:
Clean Power Alliance Plan Discounts
Table 1
This table shows a comparison between selecting one of Clean Power Alliance’s two
discount rate options. Source: U.S. City of West Hollywood. “Clean Power Alliance Plan
Discounts.” City of West Hollywood. www.weho.org/city-government/city-departments/
planning-and-development-services/clean-power-alliance
Just because tables appear simpler than figures, don’t take them for granted. They are simply
used to gather lists of data rather than make a comparison between a few data sets like figures
do, so they have a different purpose only. Additionally, they are the most widely used type of
visual in the business world because they are so effective at gathering information together
visually—so tables—figures—the choice is up to you and your needs for information.