The Ivory Trail Analysis

The Ivory Trail Relates to the idea of journeys on both a literal and metaphoric level. This book cover allows the brief preview of the novel. Verbal/Written Text * The name of the writer and the title of the text are placed centre on the front of the cover * The Word 'Trail' suggests a physical journey - it suggests a route path or an unpaved road across a wild region (relates to the context established by the images) * The word 'Ivory' relates to elephants and suggests and African/Indian journey. The fact that there is a world -wide ban on the trade of Ivory suggests that this journey may involve an element of danger. Visual Cues * There are three images is cover in a montage of shots. * (1)The first image we notice is the pyramid and sphinx (salient point) because of its central location and its brightness in comparison to the rest of the image. * The luminosity of those historical structures suggests power and mystery * These images support the already assumed location of the story and suggest mystery and a journey into the unknown. * (2) Islamic architecture also supports the idea of a physical journey, perhaps across continents. These structures again suggest mystery. * (3) the extreme close up shot of the young male (who we can assume is the main character) captures him gazing t from under the drift of the desert sands. * He looks bewildered- perhaps due to an experience. On this physical journey-ties in with the idea mystery already established. Vectors * The dominant vector is the line of sight created by the boy's eyes. This causes the viewer to also look up which takes you to the image of the sphinx. The vectors created by the sides of the pyramid then lead the eyes of the viewer to the minarets. (Islamic architecture) The reading path * From the extreme close up of the male the viewer's eyes then travel to the shot of the sphinx-finally the long shot of the minarets silhouetted