Abstract

56 Patel
Writing Screens
What do children take from their reading of multimedia texts, and what evidence
can be found of influences in constructing their own multimedia texts? Barrs and
Cork (2001) look at the threads woven into young children’s writing taken from
their reading repertoire. This can extend to an examination of multimedia texts. The
children in this case study were given A1 card outlined with six screens. The screen
format was used as a way to evaluate the children’s understanding of concepts underlying
on-screen visual communication without being inhibited by the variation
in technical skills like typing and drawing with a mouse (with which this group had
less school-based experience). Where was this particular group of children located
in the shift from the page to the screen (Jewitt, 2003; Kress, 2003)? They were
asked to write a story to be told with their storytelling machine. Prior to writing, we
had a group discussion about the different kinds of stories we read and see, and the
various places in which we read and see stories, like books, television, and so forth
They were reminded about some previous experience they had with a British Film
Institute storyboarding unit, and prompted to talk about the different kinds of media
through which stories are presented. They were told that they could do anything they
wanted to with their stories, they did not have to fill the space with writing only, but
they could if they wanted to, and that they could draw if they wished.
The children’s stories were analyzed in terms of characterization, use of picture as
related to story, text cohesion, language and style, sense of reader, and focus of story.
Caroline’s first text, despite its exactingly detailed drawings, could be read as lacking
in coherence (Figure 3). Analyzed in the traditional sense using the Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority’s literacy assessment focuses, Caroline’s performance
would be rated lower than her peers. Given a second reading of the assessment
focuses, one that widens its scope to analyzing texts as multimodal compositions,
Caroline would excel (United Kingdom Literacy Association, 2004). For example,
her second drawing works like a text-cohesive device tying the action of the previous
page to the action of the following page, and the wavy seawaters spanning across
the page margins function like a filmic fade. The text is a storyboard, with a clear
beginning, middle, and end!
Caroline’s second text, The Kitten and Cat Family, confirms this reading as she
excels in the screen-shaped paper narrative (Figure 4). Again, the drawing is incredibly
detailed. The first picture sets the scene. Rising action is depicted as families
board an airplane, leaving their cats behind and alone. The tail of the plane is either
vibrating or the propeller is whirling around, signaling motion. The written word
cleverly and explicitly characterizes Ebony, the pet kitten, by her indelible black
fur. This characterization drives the story’s events. In screen two, all the action is
contained in the visual: Ebony swings from the ceiling, shouts “go away” in frustration,
climbs the stairs, takes a bath, sleeps in bed. All the different rooms of the
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