There is something about opening a book, computer, link, folder, etc. that can be intimidating. Looking at page after page of writing just to not necessarily know where to start. When thinking about myself, (somebody with tools that equip me to tackle complex texts) I even at times can feel overwhelmed. Thinking about new readers diving into more difficult texts for the first time and not knowing what specific things to write about or pick apart can be super intimidating.
This brings me to my reasoning for why I chose to do this infographic on "Literary Analysis". Being brief and concise in my steps with added visuals that can explain what exactly the text means, can be seen as way less intimidating than having to read a supplemental reading of sorts. This idea brings me back to a Kelly Gallagher text that I have read entitled, Readicide- How Schools are Killing Reading and What We Can Do About It (2009). Gallagher defines "readicide" as "the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools" (2009). Some of the supplemental readings can kill a student's inquiries and feel defeating. This is why the visualization approach can be so helpful.
The process of matching texts to print was super interesting to me. I wanted to look for images that would pull the reader in and at the same time, add to the understanding of texts.
One thing that really stood out to me was the process of looking for an example of annotation that was still going to engage students with the idea of annotating. I picked an example with lots of color and interesting comments. Shows that annotation doesn't just have to be about certain "literary devices" but also could be key summarization points. Choosing graphics such as examples of effective thesis statements paired with colorful images next to them would make me a bit unintimidated.
I thought the idea of numbering the text in boxes was helpful so it looks like the information can come across in a concise manner and not go on in on excessively. This was all in the name of Gallagher's "readicide".
This project was about literary analysis for a groupf of students, in the Abilock & Williams "Recipe for Infographic", they reference some answers that students must answer when they create their infographic.
"1. Who is an audience that cares about the problem?
2. What is the problem or issue that they care about?
3. What choices, options, or trade-offs will they need to consider in order to make the decision?
4. What types of thinking will you have to do to organize the information you gather?
5. What content have you learned that you can draw on?" (2014).
I will definitely be using infographics as projects in my classroom as I think these questions are very helpful for students to access information and present it in a productive and effective way!
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