Grade by Grade
B. Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing · Responding to Art: Critical Analysis, Context and Responsible Practice

The Critical Analysis Process and Initial Reactions

B1.1 C1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can name and explain the five parts of the critical analysis process.
  • I can write a specific initial reaction: what I notice, feel, connect to and wonder.
  • I can tell the difference between an initial reaction and an informed point of view.
  • I can react honestly but respectfully to art from cultures other than my own.

Words to know

critical analysis process
A set of steps for looking at and thinking about art: initial reaction, description, analysis and interpretation, informed point of view, and cultural context.
initial reaction
Your first thoughts, feelings, connections and questions about an art work.
informed point of view
A judgement about an art work supported by evidence from the work and its context.
cultural context
The time, place, culture, beliefs and events surrounding the making of an art work.
reflection
Thinking back on your ideas and noticing how and why they changed.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you used the critical analysis process: first reaction, description, analysis and interpretation, an informed point of view, and cultural context. In Grade 7 and 8 you used it to read symbols, style and issues in art. In Grade 9 you will use the full process the way artists, critics and curators do: with precise vocabulary, evidence from the work, and reflection on how your own thinking changes.

Hook: the three-second test

Scroll through photos on a phone and you decide in about three seconds whether to stop. Your brain is already reacting: Do I like this? Is it weird? Does it remind me of something?

That quick reaction is not wrong. It is data. In visual arts you learn to notice your reaction, put it into words, and then test it by looking more closely. Sometimes your first reaction holds up. Sometimes it flips completely. Both are good outcomes.

What is the critical analysis process?

The critical analysis process is a set of steps for looking at art carefully and thinking about it fairly. The Ontario arts curriculum describes five parts:

  1. Initial reaction: your first thoughts, feelings, connections and questions.
  2. Description: what you can actually see, without judging. Subject, materials, colours, lines, shapes, size.
  3. Analysis and interpretation: how the elements and principles of design are used, and what the work might mean.
  4. Expression of an informed point of view: your judgement, now backed by evidence.
  5. Consideration of cultural context: who made the work, when, where, why, and for whom.

The steps are not a strict ladder. You can jump back. Learning about the artist (step 5) might change your interpretation (step 3). That is why reflection runs through the whole process.

1. Initialreaction2. Description3. Analysis andinterpretation4. Informedpoint of view5. Consideration of cultural contextWho made it, when, where and why? Use this at every step, not only at the end.Reflection runs through the whole process: How has my thinking changed?
The five parts of the critical analysis process. Cultural context (yellow box) connects to every step, and reflection runs through the whole process.

Step 1: the initial reaction

Your initial reaction is honest and personal. It answers four questions:

  • I notice... What grabs your eye first?
  • I feel... What mood or emotion do you get? Use precise words: not just "happy" or "sad", but calm, tense, lonely, playful, eerie, hopeful, overwhelmed.
  • It reminds me of... What memory, place, story, song or other art work does it connect to?
  • I wonder... What questions do you have?

A strong initial reaction is specific. "It's cool" tells us almost nothing. "The tree looks like it is being shoved by the wind, and that makes me feel cold" tells us what you saw and how it affected you.

Practice painting: “Last Light on the Lake” (made up for this unit)
A practice painting made up for this unit. Before reading on, give it a three-second reaction: what do you notice first?

Reaction is not the same as judgement

Your first reaction is a starting point, not a final verdict. Later in the process you will form an informed point of view, which is a judgement supported by evidence. Compare the two below. Notice how the informed point of view uses art vocabulary (horizon, scale) and gives reasons.

Initial reactionInformed point of view(the start)(after looking closely)“I notice the bent tree first.”“It feels lonely and windy.”“It reminds me of a cottage trip.”“I wonder who is in the canoe.”“The low horizon and huge skymake the canoe feel tiny,so the work feels peaceful butlonely. I think it is effective.”
The left box shows initial reactions: honest, quick, personal. The right box shows an informed point of view: it uses evidence and art vocabulary.

Words for feelings in art

Calm, peaceful, still, lonely, isolated, nostalgic, eerie, tense, anxious, chaotic, energetic, joyful, playful, proud, solemn, hopeful, mysterious, overwhelming, cozy, cold, harsh, gentle. Keep a list in the back of your sketchbook and add words all year.

Worked example

Let's react to a real Canadian painting together

Tom Thomson, The West Wind, 1916–17, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. It shows a pine tree on a rocky shore, bent by the wind, with a lake and hills behind it. (Look it up with a grown-up on the gallery's website to see it in colour.) Let's write an initial reaction.

  1. I notice: the dark pine tree in front of everything, and its branches all leaning one way.
  2. I feel: windy and a little wild. The water and sky look rough, not calm.
  3. It reminds me of: standing on a rock at a lake in the fall when the wind is so strong you have to lean into it.
  4. I wonder: Did the artist paint this outdoors? Why is the tree so dark against the bright sky?
  5. Check: Each sentence is specific and personal. None of them is a final judgement like "this is the best painting". We save judgement for step 4.

A good initial reaction names what you notice, how you feel, a connection, and a question, using precise words.

Worked example

Let's react to a print by an Inuit artist

Kenojuak Ashevak, an Inuk artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, made the print The Enchanted Owl in 1960. It shows an owl with its feathers spread out in a large, bold, patterned fan.

  1. I notice: the owl's feathers spreading out in big curving shapes, much bigger than a real owl's tail.
  2. I feel: surprised and impressed; the owl looks proud and almost magical.
  3. It reminds me of: a peacock showing off, or fireworks.
  4. I wonder: Why did the artist make the feathers so large? How was the print made?
  5. Respectful note: our questions are a beginning. To learn what the image means, we would read what the artist and the Kinngait studio have said about it, rather than guessing.

Initial reactions to art from another culture should be honest but humble: our questions lead us to learn from the community's own voices.

Just for fun

Teacher: "What was your initial reaction?"

Student: "Initially, I reacted."

Teacher: "Great. Now try being specific."

Hands-on activity

Gallery walk at home

You need: a sketchbook or paper, a pencil, a timer, and 4 images of art works (art in your home, a calendar, a library art book, or museum websites with a grown-up's help).

  1. Set each image in a different spot, like a mini gallery.
  2. Spend 30 seconds at each. Write one I notice, one I feel, one It reminds me of and one I wonder sentence.
  3. Circle your most precise feeling word for each image. If you wrote "good" or "nice", replace it with a word from the tip box.
  4. Pick the image you reacted to most strongly. Spend 3 more minutes with it and write anything new you notice.
  5. Did your feeling change after a longer look? Write one sentence about why.

Your turn

1

Name the five parts of the critical analysis process in order.

2

What four sentence starters can help you write an initial reaction?

3

Improve this initial reaction: "It's nice."

4

Is "This is the best painting in the gallery because of its brilliant composition" an initial reaction or an informed point of view? Explain.

5

Look at the practice painting. Write one I wonder question about it.

6

Why can cultural context change your interpretation of a work?

7

Your friend says, "My first reaction was wrong, so I failed." What would you tell them?

More practice: warm-up

1

True or false: you should judge whether a work is good or bad in step 1.

2

Give two precise feeling words that are more specific than "sad".

3

Who painted The West Wind (1916–17)?

4

Which part of the process asks "Who made it, when, where and why?"

5

What does "It reminds me of..." add to a reaction?

More practice: on your own

1

Rewrite as a specific reaction: "The colours are cool."

2

Explain why the critical analysis process is described as not being a strict ladder.

3

A classmate's reaction to an art work is the opposite of yours. Can you both be right? Explain.

4

Write an initial reaction (all four parts) to a photo or art work in your home.

5

Why is it respectful to say "I wonder..." instead of "This means..." when you first meet art from a culture you do not belong to?

Challenge

1

Some people say a first reaction is "just opinion" and should be skipped. Argue for keeping it.

2

Describe a time your opinion of something (a song, movie or art work) changed after you learned its context. Connect it to step 5.

3

Two students react to The West Wind. One feels "free"; the other feels "threatened". Suggest visual evidence each might point to.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is the first part of the critical analysis process?

2.

Which sentence is the most specific initial reaction?

3.

In which step do you give a judgement supported by evidence?

4.

Cultural context asks...

5.

Kenojuak Ashevak, who made The Enchanted Owl (1960), was...

6.

Your first reaction changes after you learn more. This means...

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Ontario's AVI1O expectation B1.1 asks students to identify and describe their initial reactions to a variety of art works, and C1.3 (part of the Terminology expectations) is about using correct visual arts terms; here, the terms of the critical analysis process. This lesson builds the habit of responding with precise, specific language.

How to help: Look at any image together (a calendar picture, a book cover, a mural on your street) and take turns saying "I notice... I feel... It reminds me of... I wonder...". Accept any honest reaction; gently push for specific words instead of "nice" or "weird".

Common difficulties:

  • Jumping straight to judgement ("It's bad"). Ask: "What did you see that made you think that?"
  • Vague feelings. Offer the word list in the lesson.
  • Over-confident readings of other cultures' art. Encourage "I wonder" questions and looking for the community's own explanations.