Reflection:
It was fun completing this week’s task! I asked my husband and my daughter to guess the storyline from the emoji pictures and I was surprised that they did get some parts of the story correct. They both found it fun reading my emoji story. As my husband knows which shows I watch, he was more on track with the plot. It would be interesting to try a similar assignment at school with my English Language Learners, as they are more avid with technology than I am. Furthermore, I could ask my daughter to make her own story. Later I could guess the story, and we could work on practicing her writing by scripting out the story. The possibilities of how you could extend this assignment are endless.
To create my story, I used my iPhone and used the emojis available from the text message section. I found the website did not have enough variety of emojis. I mostly searched for the relevant emojis, so I didn’t have to scroll through all the available options. I started my story with a title. I did find completing this assignment in the text message section limiting, as there was only a certain amount of emojis I could capture in a full screenshot. Perhaps completing it on my phone in the notes section or using a tablet would have allowed me more space to include all the details I wanted to share.
Final Thoughts:
I realized from completing this assignment, that pictures, for instance, these emojis (especially when linked as a group) are open to many different interpretations. Although I thought I clearly explained my story using emojis, it was evident that the interpretation was up to the reader, as the images are not like static words. Also, within a small amount of space, emojis hold great power as they could be used to convey a story. I wonder if writers in many cultures in the past used pictures to write stories on papyrus rolls (if they used this innovation to write on), as the space on these rolls was limited. The Mayan civilization had hieroglyphic writing, and the Egyptians used hieroglyphs when writing on papyrus or stones.
