Unit(s) of Assessment	Weighting Towards Module Mark( %)
Essay of 2000 words	50%
Production of a short visual narrative	30%
Critical analysis of a multimodal text	20%

This module will deal with the various contexts (social, political, institutional and cross-cultural) which may impact upon text production and reception; and will raise awareness of the possibilities and limitations of different modes and media and their creative and critical potential. Specifically, it will focus on the ways in which the visual and verbal interact in contemporary design and production contexts and seek to translate this awareness into enhanced textual production.

It is assumed that students doing the CW Pathway will have successfully completed the relevant module at HE levels 1.

Building on the concepts and resources introduced at level 1, the module aims to introduce students to:

• meaning-making practices and text design in relation to the societal, cultural and technological forces shaping their production

   

• the various modes of interaction between visual and verbal modes

   

• the grammar of visual design

   

• the affordances and constraints of different modes and media

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the forces shaping textual production

   

• Evaluate the effectiveness with which particular modes and media are employed in specific contexts

   

• Evidence understanding of the possibilities and limitations of the verbal and visual modes and the dynamics of their interaction

   

• Show evidence of further development of critical reading skills

Week 1

Lecture

Introduction to Module: Language and Society

This lecture gives an overview of the module, its rationale and the themes and aspects to be covered in the course of the semester. It hen focuses specifically on the question of the relationship between language and society.

Week 2

Lecture

The New Literacies

Drawing on the work of Gunther Kress and others, we discuss the ways in which literacy practices have changed/are changing and what the consequences of this might be for text design. In particular we consider how some contemporary writers avail themselves of different modes in their work and how they achieve specific effects through the choice of particular modes.

Week 3

Lecture

Communicating across Cultures

This session considers the impact of culture on communicative practices, including the construction of dialogue and cultural representations in written text and film. We look at some contemporary examples before going on to discuss the implications for creative practice.

Week 4

Lecture

Multimodality

This lecture explores what is meant by multimodality and how it is made manifest in a range of creative and performative texts.

Week 5

Lecture

Multimodal Discourse Analysis

This lecture examines the need for methodologies appropriate to the analysis of multimodal texts and discusses some models and instruments for doing this.

Week 6

Lecture

The Grammar of Visual Design

This session examines ways of reading images drawing on the visual semiotics of Kress and van Leeuwen (1996/2006) as well as the work of Scollon and Scollon (2003).

Week 7

Lecture

Visual Narratives I

In this lecture we discuss the consequences for storytelling of some of the differences between the visual and the verbal. We also think about their interaction with respect to narrative.

Week 8

Lecture

Visual Narratives II

This lecture examines the extent to which ways of ‘reading’ and ‘viewing’ may hold across the arts with particular emphasis on the visual and the verbal.

Week 9

Lecture

Electronic Media and Film

In the previous few sessions we have talked about storytelling in the visual and verbal modes. Today we continue this theme but in relation to their realization in different media. We look at the consequences of telling a story through film (the big screen) and online.

Week 10

Lecture

Print Media

This lecture examines debates around the facilities of different types of media with a focus on print-based media and the consequences of the move from page to screen.

Week 11

Lecture

Narrative Media

This lecture focuses on the possible impact of storytelling across different media.

Christmas Vacation

Week 12

Revision

Weeks 13

Exams/Assessment

Weeks 14

Exams/Assessment

Week 15

Reading week preparing materials for semester 2 modules

Assessment Deadline;

Critical Analysis: 12pm Wednesday 10^th November 2010

Visual Narrative: 12pm Wednesday 1^st December 2010

Essay: 12pm Wednesday 12^th January 2011

As well as a 1-hour lecture, this module has a scheduled 2-hour weekly seminar/workshop. Students will be assigned to a group and should attend the seminar/workshop to which they are assigned at the same time every week. The first hour of the seminar/workshop will be facilitated by the module tutor and is compulsory; the second hour is optional and is intended to provide space for peer critique and input and to allow for drafting and re-drafting of work done in class. All pieces of work, both formative -- that is work not done for a grade but on which some constructive feedback is given -- and summative -- work which is part of the formal assessment regime and receives a mark – can provide material for student portfolios

Recommended Reading

Bal, M. (1997), “Visual Stories”. In Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative (Second Edition). Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, pp. 161-174.

Barthes, R. (1981), Camera Lucida. New York : Noonday Press

Chatman, S. (1981), “What Novels Can Do That Films Can’t (and Vice Versa). In W.J.T. Mitchell (ed.) (1981), On Narrative. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, pp. 117-136.

Doloughan, Fiona J. (2010), “Multimodal Storytelling: Performance and Inscription in the Narration of Art History”. In R. Page (ed.) (2010), New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality. New York and London : Routledge, pp. 14-30.

Fairclough, N. (1989), Language and Power. London : Longman

Harrison, B. (2002), “Photographic Visions and Narrative Enquiry”. In M. Andrews (ed.) special issue on ‘Counter Narratives’, Narrative Inquiry 2002

Hutcheon, L. (2006), A Theory of Adaptation. New York and London : Routledge

Jewitt, C., T. van Leeuwen, and T. Triggs (eds.), Visual Communication. London : Sage

http://vcj.sagepub.com

Kress, G. (2001), Multimodal Discourse. London: Arnold

Kress, G. and T. van Leeuwen (2006), Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London and New York : Routledge

Levine, P. and R. Scollon (eds.) (2004), Discourse and Technology: Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press

O’Halloran, K.L. (2004), Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives. London : Continuum Linguistics

Ryan, M-L. (2003), “On Defining Narrative Media”. In Image and Narrative, Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative, Issue 6.

http://www.imageandnarrative.br/medium/marielaureryan.htm

Shi-xu, (2005), A Cultural Approach to Discourse. Basingstoke and New York : Palgrave MacMillan

Sontag, S. (1978), On Photography. London : Penguin

Synder, I. (1998), Page to Screen: Taking Literacy into the Electronic Era. London

5 July 2010 JG