Reflection Essay: Which Came First? The Word or the Image?

To begin my reflection, I went back to my very beginnings of my project- the “idea proposal” post.  Doing this made me realize my project has changed so much over the last few weeks.  My original idea, was to 3D print sculptures of poems, and I ended up creating a digital publication on the origins of storytelling.  These aren’t related at all, but I am really glad that my Hybrid Project followed such an indirect path.  I would still like to pursue my Textual Re-representations idea, but I think my final Hybrid Project idea was much better suited for this class.

My final idea originated from two sources: a great class discussion on defining “words” and “images” and a NY Times article by artist and illustrator Edward Carey.  I am really glad we had such a passionate discussion about the differences between words and images because it inspired me to seek out this article and pursue such a challenging question for my hybrid project.

I found it really difficult to start researching my project.  Originally, I was not focused on picture books, just images in general.  I thought I would try to do my case study on cave paintings, but I could not find any resources to help support my claim.  Everything was about the locations and cultures that created the paintings, but very little investigated the story they were trying to tell.  Luckily, I happen to find one scholarly article about picture books, and I knew this was the best way to approach my question.  Rather than investigating the origin of stories from a historical perspective, I could investigate the origins of story from a developmental and psychological perspective; how each of us as individuals applies meaning to the story rather than the history of the development of storytelling.

After deciding to focus on picture books, researching for my project was so easier! There are tons of educational and psychological articles about the development of reading skills and picture books.  There was almost too much research to read through, so I had to be pretty selective on what I chose to include in my final project.  When I look back over my hybrid project a few days after submission, I realize there are so many other sources I could have incorporated.  Justice conducted a great experiment, and he cited many great articles in the introduction of his paper. I used some of these sources, but I wish I had the time to seek out their papers and read about their experiments more thoroughly. It would have only widened by environmental scan, and it may have made the scientific aspects of my argument stronger.

I am really glad this project gave me the opportunity to combine my interests in psychology and English.  I love reading popular science articles, and I have always wanted to try it out for myself.  Unfortunately, there are very few opportunities to pursue this type of writing at Davidson.  It was harder than expected to merge these two disciplines successfully.  Science is strongest when it is explaining experiments and data, but this cannot be done as easily in an English assignment because the readers understanding of the description of these things is questionable.  Translating the experiment into salient results that stay true to the science while also demonstrating the larger implications to the rest of the world is very difficult.  I am glad this project gave me the chance to practice this skill, and I look forward to doing it again.

Several of the comments made on my post questioned the validity of the claims that I make, and I would like to address this now.  I realize that I make several strong claims in the project- disagreeing with several prominent educators and taking an unpopular position in arguing that the image is the basis of storytelling. However, that does not mean I am incorrect.  I have reread my project 10 time since Monday to make sure that none of the claims I make are unsupported, and here is my conclusion.  Current scientific research supports every single claim I have made in my project. The educators (ex. Jalongo) that I have disagreed with so strongly in the project have no real evidence supporting their claims. Their work is simply stating their understanding of how picture books work, but they provide us with no data or experimental methods to support their claims. I realize they are not scientists, but if there is no supported explanation of “why” they believe what they believe, then it is difficult to defend them- especially when countered with hard scientific research proving the opposite.

Another popular concern among my commenters was the general “Western-ness” of my argument.  I will admit that the tradition of the modern picture book is “western”, but it is no more western than abstract expressionism or ekphrasis, but yes, western. None of these projects limit their claims exclusively to the western world, and I am wondering why I should be told to consider this while others have not.  Scientifically speaking, I am confused as to why my global claims should be an issue at all.  I alluded to the global appeal of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in my project, explaining that the popularity of the book was based in the universal appeal of the images not the words.  Since that wasn’t perceived in this way, I will offer a greater explanation now.  There is no significant difference between children born around the world. We all learn language in a similar way, no matter what language we are a part of.  Yes, there are some unique characteristics of language that will influence how we talk. For example, western languages tend to be noun heavy languages while Asian languages tend to be more verb heavy; this difference is reflected in the picture books produced in each country.  However, this has no impact on the claims I have made in my project. No matter what language children are exposed to in picture books, they still focus on the images over the words.  There is no cultural influence that will draw certain children’s eye to the print earlier because all children, no matter where they come from, will not recognize that print has meaning until later in life.  Therefore, while I respect the suggestion to not make such broad claims in my project, I cannot understand how I could do anything less. The evidence simply does not support it.  My original idea was to argue for both sides, the word and the image, but after looking at all of the evidence, I do not understand how that would be possible.

Finally, I really appreciate Ryan’s comment about not directly disagreeing with researchers.  I think his suggestion about offering counters to her opinions would make it easier for the ideas in the project to be received.  If I could go back, I would try to make this change in tone.  However, I am also a little concerned that the emergence of digital academic publications may have an adverse effect on how we interact with one another as scholars.  Having a supportive community is important, but this should not limit how much we are allowed to disagree with one another.  There shouldn’t be any negativity around a direct disagreement with someone.  Just because someone doesn’t think your method is correct doesn’t mean they are trying to tear you down or attack you; you just think differently or your evidence supports different conclusions.  Our class has shown a similar tendency to reject disagreement in our discussions. Everyone loves to step in when they agree with the comments said before, but very few students seem comfortable disagreeing with the general beliefs held by the class. I know I am sometimes guilty of this, but I try to speak up if I disagree because that is the whole point of discussion. However, it seems that we do not encourage this type of discussion at Davidson, which is sad because ideas are challenged and refined more through disagreement than agreement.

Sorry this was longer than the expressed word length.  I wanted to make sure I personally reflected on the project and addressed the issues raised in my comments.  That would have bene difficult to do in less than 500 words.

Thank you Dr. Churchill for arranging this assignment. It was both frustrating and fun, which means it is the best type of academic work. Thanks for a great semester.