« Women and Men | Main | Fromkin Chapter 3, Writing Exercise #2 »
October 04, 2005
Words and Pictures Reading
I was taken back a few times reading the "Words and Pictures" packet. On several occassions, I felt myself saying "ah ha!" or "I never thought of that!" Coming from a family that is more science and math oriented, more in tune with logic and reason, I never questioned many of the aspects of words and pictures that I am continuously forced to question in class everyday and in the reading passages. On page 24, in the packet, there is a picture of a church, only represented by black lines. I see the church vividly because of the cross on the top and the shape of a house depicted on the white background. The reading tells us that this image is only composed of ten black straight lines, and yet "it is largely by convention that we identify a roof, two walls, a tower and a cross." This image is more of a symbol on the symbol-icon scale. We can see the cross and we know that it represents Christianity (the cross of Jesus). We see the almost hexagonal shape, and we know that it represents a house, a building, or in this case, a church. We see the taller structure next to the house, and we know that it is a tower. The resemblence of these placed lines to an actual church is a stretch, but this image, in particular, directed my mind in a different path, to not always look so literal into pictures, but to analyze them. To think that this picture is only composed of ten lines, but still holds such meaning and power is absolutely intriguing. I will not be able to look at another symbol or icon without truly analyzing the image being presented to me. --Christina
Posted by lcisgancarz at October 4, 2005 09:57 PM
Comments
Having such things pointed out to you like that makes you realize just how quickly our brains are functioning. Before we can even see the ten lines, our brains are already telling us that we see a church. I agree that now whenever I see a picture and think of a semantic meaning, I will stop, go back, and figure out why exactly I am making meaning out of the image. Good post!
Posted by: Brenna S. at October 5, 2005 04:07 PM