Creating a visual text (internal)
Internal 3 credits Visual language Verbal language Design Purpose & audience IntegrationAS 91477, 3 credits. A visual text that develops, sustains and structures ideas using verbal AND visual language — the standard names both, so a piece carried entirely by its images, or entirely by its words, has not met it.
1 Reading the notation
Shared by all three creating standards, plus the verbal-and-visual and stand-alone clauses unique to 91477.| Grade | The wording | What it actually asks |
|---|---|---|
| Achieved | Fluent and coherent; develops, sustains, structures ideas | Ideas linked throughout; conventions accurate to at most minor errors |
| Merit | …and is CONVINCING: discerning understanding of purpose and audience | Every choice is defensible as serving this purpose for this audience |
| Excellence | …and COMMANDS ATTENTION: sophisticated understanding, insightful selection and integration, to create A STRIKING WHOLE | The parts work together so the piece could not be rearranged without loss |
“Selection AND INTEGRATION of ideas, language features, and structure” is the phrase in all three. Integration is the word that separates Excellence: not good ideas plus good technique, but technique that could only belong to these ideas.
What makes a text eligible for THIS standard
- It develops ideas using BOTH verbal and visual language.
- It is STAND ALONE — not a component within an oral presentation.
- It is primarily the student's own work, and primarily in English.
2 Visual language
Composition, colour, framing, and the reading path — the design vocabulary this standard names.The standard's own examples
- Images, sequence, costumes, movement, camera shots.
3 Verbal language, and text types
Words that earn their place against the image — dialogue, quotations, hyperlinks, music.The standard's own named text types
- Digital or multi-media presentations.
- Graphic or illustrated texts.
- Live or recorded dramatic performances.
4 Integration: the test that separates the grades
Does the image mean something different because of the words, and vice versa?The integration test, element by element
- Name the purpose and audience in one sentence each.
- For every visual element: what idea does it carry? Remove it — what is lost?
- For every word: could an image do this better? If yes, use the image.
- Does the image mean something different because of the words? That is integration.
- Trace the reading path — first, second, last — and check it matches the argument.
Practice
Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.
Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.
Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.
Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.