1. What sort of document is it? 

You have to introduce the document.      

Always start with the nature of the document:

The document is ....      

• a cartoon                    •  a photo              •   a poster                 •  a painting            • a piece of art
• an advertisement         •  a poster             •  a front page             • a sculpture
• a newspaper article     •  a leaflet              •  an extract from a book, from a magazine…

You can also speak about its author, a date mentionned.

It was written / drawn / painted / sculpted by + name ...   in + date.

Is there a slogan, a caption, a logo or a brand associated with the document?

A slogan is a promotional phrase, a motto.

A caption is words underneath a document to explain what it is.

A logo is the symbol of a company.

A brand is a make, a trademark, the name of a company.   

2.  What are the elements composing the document? 

Give the main elements.

Can you see people? objects? animals?

This document is a painting on which we can only see two big crabs on a green background.   

3.  What does the document show?

Be precise and situate the different elements using the following expressions: 

In the foreground, middleground and background parlent du 1er, 2ème et arrière plan, donc la profondeur de l'image.

Sur l'axe vertical, on parle de top, middle et bottom.

Sur l'axe horizontal, de left, center, et right.

Listen to your vocabulary  

As-tu remarqué que les prépositions ne sont jamais les mêmes et qu'elles sont différentes du français : il faut donc bien apprendre le complément en entier !!

Si l'on veut  donner plusieurs informations à la fois, on peut les séparer par une virgule :

In the background, at the top, I can see ....

Attention à l'expression :"In the top left-hand corner", "In the bottom right-hand corner" à bien utiliser dans cet ordre là.

4.  What is the goal / the aim of the document? What is the author's intention?

• to give information about something                 
• to inform people
• to criticize something

5.  What do you think about the document? 

What is your personal reaction when seeing it?

How do you feel about it? Do you agree with it? disagree with it?

Let's present this document! 

The document is a coloured photograph / picture which was taken in a street, at a crossroads.

In the foreground, on the right, we can see people standing on the pavement but they are not facing the camera.

It seems to be summer because everybody is wearing T-shirts, shorts and summer shoes.

In the middleground, in the centre, we can see two women, crossing the road and eating an ice-cream. A man has just walked past them and is heading to the opposite pavement. Another woman is walking from the left to the right, she also seems to be eating something.

In the background, we can see two shops with a street between them. On the right, it's a clothes shop called The Cotton Gin and on the left, it seems to be a Spa.

In the top left-hand corner, we can make out the rainbow flag, which seems to hang from electric wires across the street. It is a symbol of sexual orientation tolerance and is very common in San Fransisco. That's why we can imagine this photo was taken in California.