Bernhardt Responses

Summary
In his article "Seeing the Text", Stephen Bernhardt attempts to tell the reader about how different formats of writing affect how the reader takes in the information being presented. He argues that both writing and visual communication have to work together in order to get a point across to a mass audience because sometimes the way a piece of writing is presented can have an effect on how the reader interprets it.

Synthesis
This piece relates to other articles we have read because it once again talks about the presentation of an argument and how that affects the reader's interpretation of the piece.

Pre-Reading
3. At this point none of my other classes here have really asked me to do lab reports like that, but when I was in high school I had to do projects where I had to use images along with text. When I did these projects, I thought that the images helped my audience to better visualize what I was trying to say in the text of my paper.

QD
2. The advantages of using partitions and section headings is that for the writer, it helps to organize their ideas. For the reader, it breaks down the points so they can better understand the writing and keep it organized themselves.

AE
1. If I change the font of this to something crazy like swirly letters or something, it would make this seem more laid back and not so much like an assignment. So, while the words themselves stay the same, the attitude behind it would seem to change, simply because of the way it looks.

After Reading
McCloud would have presented Bernhardt's argument in a comic format using the images themselves, rather than just talking about the concept like Bernhardt did. So, in other words, McCloud would be showing the argument to the reader instead of telling about it.

Meta Moment
I think visually thinking about texts is most appropriate in contexts such as comics or advertisements, where text and image have to work together to present a point. Out of the formal writing assignments for this class, the one that calls for the most visual thinking about presenting text would be project two because we can use more than just words on paper for that project.

My thoughts
I thought this reading was okay, I mean, it wasn't the most interesting thing in the world. However, it did present many good points on how the way something is written or organized can affect the readers interpretation, which can be very helpful to think about when writing in the future.