Visual Literacy: Assessing the Effectiveness of Various Book Covers The Catcher in the Rye Visual Literacy: Assessing the Effectiveness of Various Book Covers

A Little Background This was the original cover for The Catcher in the Rye. It captures a scene toward the end of the novel. It isn’t very distinctive or particularly effective.

The Second Cover This was the first cover for the paper- back version of the novel. Nothing too outstanding here (though again it focuses on a scene at the end of the story).

The Book Cover Over the Years As you’ll see in the next slide, the most common book covers over the years have been intentionally plain and basic, even boring as per Salinger’s wishes.

So Let’s Make it a Little More Interesting! The Catcher in the Rye has a devoted army of loyal fans. They have created their own book covers for the story. Let’s look at these. For each, write a brief reaction to the book cover: Deconstruct the visuals: Describe what you are seeing. What do you notice about the visuals? Note the color choices, the arrangement of the elements on the cover, etc.. Make evaluations: What do you like about it? What did you dislike? Is it an effective cover? Explain yourself well.

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Which is the best cover? The worse? Explain why.