ENGL 120E -- Connor Eberhard

In this week's blog entry, I will go into "Lucinda" by Elyse Marsh and its use of multimodal elements. To truly grasp these multimodal components, it is essential to initially analyze the narrative tone, which revolves around a directionless journey accompanied by the car and companionship. With this context established, we can look to examine the intriguing use cases of multimodal elements within the narrative. The first element that warrants attention is the strategic use of music throughout the storyline. This musical backdrop assumes a significant yet supportive role within the narrative's progression. While occasional lyrics may catch the reader's attention, they generally remain subdued. However, a notable shift occurs towards the conclusion, where the lyrics emerge. Remarkably, the song that has been subtly woven into her journey reveals that itself to be an ode to the very journey it accompanies. Titled "The Right Place," this song provocatively ...

     In an interactive story map, the storytelling experience is transformed into a multimedia experience that the readers experience. Through these multimedia, links, and interactive elements, readers can delve into various aspects of the narrative however they like and get the information that they want. This different approach to storytelling though of course requires different skills utilized to a greater degree than some might be used to.      These skills in question are theme and layout. A strong theme, despite the open nature of the map, the story's core must be strong enough to withstand exploration. We can achieve this by identifying a central theme or a guiding thread that ties our literacy journey together. This underlying narrative will allow readers to navigate without losing sight of the main storyline.      Next, we can cover the layout and how having consistency is key in this project. After all, similarly to what I previousl...

       For this week's blog, we are looking at story maps and analyzing them. Specifically, I'll be looking at the " Southern Literary Trail Story Map " and talking about their general process and storyboarding for making this story map. In fact, that story map in general paints a road over a map showcasing 1900 writers throughout the Southern side. To do this they lay out a rustic map that shows where the authors lived at a glance but upon clicking revealed much more about their life or upbringing. To shed even more light on these know not known authors, they have pictures of their houses which show that while some would go on to create masterpieces, their upbringing was not similar.     Now with a general depiction of this story map out of the way, we can look at their design process and how while simple, boasts a surprising amount of detail. The first thing we can look at is the map in question which is by H.C. Tunison who at the time was the leader in A...

     For this week's assignment, I'll be examining "Visualising mental illness" and its utilization of imagery to convey key points in the study on mental health. Particularly, I'll be focusing on their use of shape and colors to effectively communicate with their audience and show comprehension of a complex subject like mental illness, which can be challenging to grasp without prior knowledge of the topic.      Starting with the shape, the diagram features a simplistic representation of a brain, which serves not only to introduce the casual reader to the content but also to the researcher's work. The imagery visually portrays the interconnected issues the researcher faces, presenting a comprehensive view of the broader illness. By employing larger circles to highlight recurring problems, readers are guided from point to point, enabling them to grasp the collective impact of the illness on the brain and helping them delve into the subject matter.  ...

     When I glanced at the books on my shelf, I thought I would find a variety of different types. But as I looked at the neatly arranged rows, nothing really caught my attention, except for the large number of romance novels. Honestly, I didn't think I had collected so many of them. But overall, I wasn't surprised because I tend to stick to the same genres and even sub-genres when it comes to my reading preferences. As I delved deeper into the data, I realized that I had a lot of fantasy novels in my general fiction section. From grand fantasy to urban fantasy, my bookshelf showed how much I loved magical worlds and mystical creatures. It was intriguing to observe how my interest in fantastical realms shaped the stories I chose to read. Also going back to what I mentioned earlier, I was surprised by the sheer number of romance novels. In fact, I could probably label some of my other series with romance but that wasn’t the main focus of their content unlike these. It just...