Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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“Unless we teach our children to forage for information
and that words and wisdom are inside a book, unless they
become literate, they cannot become the thinkers and
dreamers that we are going to require to be a young and
splendid nation.”
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Statement of Intent
Through multimodal narrative-poetry, I intend to explore the creation and consumption of literature
as a fundamental contributor to the human experience. The narrative follows a mother's passing
status as readers, and will naturally identify themselves into the characters of the narrative. My
research surrounding concept development, manipulation of form, and audience considerations
Life, Death and Writing” (The Silver Moon), Angelina Joshua’s multimodal “My Grandmother’s Lingo”, and
‘The Silver Moon’ - I have realised an uprising neglect for the creative fantastical in substitute for
laborious exertion. It is the purpose of my major work to remind current generations growing out of
touch from literature, that reality is perceived through the lens of fiction. Simultaneously, this will
inspire younger generations to fantasise the infinite possibilities fiction has on their own future reality.
Although Courtenay focalises the craft of writing, it relevantly opens a discourse regarding the
regenerative power of literature, especially throughout childhood and adolescence. Courtenay
emphasises the impact reading has had on his own life, which has influenced my work to relay such
reflections about the impact that reading has on children. Courtenay communicates this through a
timeline of his experiences with literature, from youth to his elder years, which I plan to emulate in my
own work within the bedtime storytelling element. Ultimately, this will serve both child and parent
audience’s uniquely to align with my major’s purpose. Moreover, unlike ‘The Silver Moon’, which
purely explores the rewarding influences of literature on humanity, I hope to extend Courtenay’ s
narrative by reimagining the decay of life and creation in a society absent of literature through
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symbolic written and visual elements. Through a juxtaposition between life and decay, the audience
will hopefully reflect and gain an appreciation for the versatility of language shaping our lived and
assist its marketing in achieving maximum spread. Therefore, I have decided to experiment with the
multimodal form due to its increasing popularity across all generations, especially within the child
(6-9) demographic.1
Joshua’ s ‘My Grandmother’s Lingo’ sustains Indigenous Australian language by dynamically
integrating appropriate music, and cinematic elements for each chapter, providing a multisensory
approach to her storytelling. This meaningful use of form will be strategically emulated to align with
my own major’s purpose in using literary form to heighten our sensory perceptions of fiction and
reality.
To assist my majors thesis, the visual component of my major work will symbolically emulate
childish to complex, demonstrating that fiction effortlessly replicates the complexities of human life
and as we grow, so does the complexity of the literature we consume. Similar to art's influence in
guiding the narrative, music is the only element which physically reaches the audience, lulling their
interaction with literature. Of equal importance, Joshua strategically manages silence and pastoral
when the protagonist abandons literature, symbolically establishing the mood as eerie, blank, and
1
Anon, (2018). Beyond Millennials: The Next Generation of Learners. [online] Available at:
https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/news/news-annoucements/
2018/The-Next-Generation-of-Learners_final.pdf
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lacklustre. In this way, Courtenay’ s narrative will be expanded to showcase the consequence of
literary abandonment.
instigate further investigation surrounding audience to assist with the cohesion and communication
of my major work. Namely, the child audience (06-09) will be inspired by the powers of creative
fiction, while the parental audience (25-55) will reflect whether their experience with literature has
and college.2 Through textual deconstruction, it’s theorised that the narrative’s universality is filtered
through its meticulous construction which simultaneously lends itself to both audiences.
Strategically, Dr Seuss’ anapestic tetrameter creates a seemingly effortless reception of the story,
which accommodates itself to children developing a competence with language. Simultaneously,
this metre rhythmically engages the older audiences, drawing them into the narrative. I hope to
extend this effect through the multimodal form by pairing it with music - effectively immersing both
audience’s into the world of fiction, totalling the narrative as difficult to adjourn. Additionally, the
visuals of the book, although childish, pertains a complexity through its abstract illustrations and
flashy colour gradient.3 Originally, I had designed a darker colour gradient for my work, but after
2
Jacqueline Blais; Carol Memmott; Bob Minzesheimer (2007). "Book buzz: Dave Barry really rocks". USA
Today. USA Today.
3
Wills, S. (2015). The Importance of Colour in Children’s Books. [online] Happy Designer. Available at:
https://www.happydesigner.co.uk/the-importance-of-colour-in-childrens-books/.
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This way, the written and visual component of the book aesthetically engages children, using the
subtle complexities within the metre and illustrations to agitate musings for its older audience.
Concluding Statement
Ultimately, after a series of introspective considerations regarding literature’s symbiotic relationship
with the human experience, it became necessary to imbue and centralise such idea’s into my Major
audience garnered from my study of Bryce Courtenay’ s “The Silver Moon: Reflections on Life, Death
and Writing”), Angelina Joshua’ s “My Grandmother’s Lingo”, and Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”
has assisted the foundations for my multimodal narrative. Through these careful considerations, I
hope to steer away from the simplicity of traditional children's storytelling by integrating complexities
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