Lubna Yasin Task #6 – Emoji Story

My approach to the emoji story was much the same as Lubna’s my initial start was quite literal. Using the latest book I read, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, I ended up giving up quickly because of the difficulty I had locating an emoji to represent “tomorrow.” I tried several titles until finally settling on a book that I was using as a read-aloud to my grade eight honour students. After my first few attempts, I understood that I would need to focus on the concepts and big ideas of the plot, so like Lubna, there was no consideration given to syllables of words not even for the title. It became evident that this task was more complicated than I originally thought. 

I began by identifying the key ideas and themes in the text and then tried to represent them using a combination of emojis that best capture their meaning. I found it was also important to consider the context and tone of the text when selecting emojis, as well as the intended audience and their familiarity with different emoji symbols. I agree with Lubna that emojis are not entirely ‘universal’ and can easily be misinterpreted. And just like Lubna, I don’t think anyone familiar or unfamiliar with the book and it’s plot could guess it based on my emojis alone. Although it is a book that has become a significant part of pop culture, particularly in the United States. 

Overall, emojis have become an important part of the new semiotic landscape, providing a rich and expressive visual language that reflects the evolving ways in which we communicate and interact in the digital age.