Prior to this week's readings and activity, I had never realized the extent to which "pictorial space and verbal space are... opposites" (Bolter, 2001, p.63). I also found that because I'm so accustomed to using phonetic writing, it was hard to step out of my comfort zone of using words in a set order, to convey a message, to "image representation... founded on depictions" (Kress, 2005, p.15). I'm not an artist, nor have I ever been comfortable or proficient in art or communicating anything via symbols and imagery. As opposed to using "speech and writing [to] tell the world" (Kress, 2005, p.16) and having explicit control over audience understanding, this task forced me to let go and accept that with imagery and picture writing, the fact is that "the world is yet to be designed... by the viewer" (Kress, 2005, p.16).

1. • Did you rely more on syllables, words, ideas or a combination of all of them?

I started off by phonetically writing what I wanted to say prior to attempting to describe it through picture writing, making a conscious effort to keep the summary simply and straightforward. Next, I started pulling out the main words and ideas to begin looking for appropriate symbols to represent that word (I actually googled, symbols for _____ to get ideas- is that cheating?).

When I was choosing my symbols/ emoji's, I was relying on my viewers following the same 'reading' practices they would if they were reading phonetic writing, "start[ing] at the top left corner, mov[ing] across the page, start[ing] at the left of the next line, and so on" (Kress, 2005, p.7).

I also relied heavily on my viewers having a common understanding of certain nuances, slang, and nicknames related to some of the visualizations I chose. For example:

• Using the symbols hog and town to represent Toronto by its nickname, Hogtown... (although I just realized I should have probably put a + sign in between the two words to show they are connected).

• Using the symbols bullseye and man to represent hit man or assassin.

• Using the symbol of a reverse arrow to show the meaning from (being that the forward arrow represents towards).

• Using the symbols of a hitting self in face and exclamation/ question mark to represent a mistake.

• Using the symbol of a racing flag to represent finish.

1. • Did you start with the title? Why? Why not?

I did choose to start with the title, simply out of pure habit- it comes first and is traditionally read first, so I translated it first. This was one of many examples throughout this task, where I found myself adhering to the elements of "proper reading" (Kress, 2005, p.7)- requiring my viewers to 'read' the symbols in a strict order, adhering to the traditional conventions of writing (i.e. starting at the top left).

I also decided early on that verbatim word for word translation posed too many challenges, so I chose, as my colleague Sam Charles did, to insert "additional imagery" to help the viewer make sense of my picture writing.

1. • Did you choose the work based on how easy would it be to visualize?

I unfortunately did not have the foresight to choose my work based on how easy it would be to visualize; I instead went with the last movie I watched. Looking back I wish I would have thought about the topic or content of my movie prior to selecting it, as it involved an uncommon profession and a complicated situation- which were hard to represent using symbols and images. After visiting my classmates' sites, who for the most part all ended up selectively choosing their works, I realized I made life much harder for myself. Mark, for example, went through the various episodes of Seinfeld and chose one to visualize that wouldn't be to difficult- that was a smart move (one I feel could have saved me quite a bit of time and effort). I mistakenly assumed I would be able to visualize any written phrase, without taking into consideration that "picture writing lack[s] narrative power... [and] extend[s] over a broad range of verbal meanings" (Bolter, 2001, p.59), making it harder than it looks to communicate simple messages.

1. • Challenge & Takeaway

The difficulty of this assignment, I felt, was amplified by the fact that the emoji's available for use in this task are "designed to identify objects... and situations... rather than to tell a story in time" (Bolter, 2001, p.61). Coming from someone who only uses emoji's in combination with phonetic writing, I had never realized the limitations using images can bring about when trying to communicate a message.

Because "we are living in a visual culture" (Bolter, 2001, p.47), I embrace this shift and change and want to learn more about how to teach imagery more effectively in my classroom. I think for me as an educator, a key to successfully integrating this type of communication comes down to using "digital media... [to] achieve greater immediacy and authenticity by integrating images... with prose" (Bolter, 2001, p.47). With this in mind, I can help students come to terms with the "revolution... from the centrality of writing to the increasing significance of image" (Kress, 2005, p.6) by connecting the two modes, combining them in writing activities often, and by allowing students to "choose the mode according to what [they]... imagine is the preferred mode of the audience" (Kress, 2005, p.19) for assignments and stories.