Dialectical Notebook: Bernhardt

Before You Read:

I'm looking at an ad for the iPhone 5. My eyes are drawn to the biggest formatted text that says, "iPhone 5". I feel that the image emphasizes the text, mainly because it makes the phone look thinner than the one before and emphasizes how sleek it looks from a side view. Personally, I'm instantly drawn to the image. The text is just added information.

Summary:

In Bernhardt's article, "Seeing the Text", he emphasizes how the the format, location, shape, etc, of the text it very important in conveying messages to people. He also explains how it is a more effective way for students to learn and comprehend what they are reading. Bernhardt brings up the Gestalt rules to backup his argument. Bernhardt basically explains that there is an alternative to learning, teaching, and comprehending information and that images and design of text is a perfect way to go about doing so.

Synthesis:

The first author that came to my mind when reading this was obviously McCloud. McCloud and Bernhardt would probably both agree that using images and different styling of text, can have a better, more significant way of presenting text. Another author that came to mind was Berger. Berger used images in his article to show how women were depicted. This is using the concept that Bernhardt was discussing, and how images can be very effective when writing, sometimes more than words.

Response	Quotation
I feel that schools should not just teach kids how to essay after essay, but that they should teach kids at a young age, how to format a paper and arrange texts and sentences so that they can have effective pieces of writing.	“If we were to encourage students to experiment with visible features of written text, we would increase their ability to understand and use hierarchical and classifactory arrangements” (Bernhardt 35).
Bernhardt makes a very good point with this quote, she mentions how students often times will just read the text without even comprehending what they’re reading. Doing activities, (such as our blogging), helps students actually understand what they are seeing on the page.	“One must actually read what is written to get any sense of how one point is relate to the next” (Bernhardt 36).
Many times, students and writers are forced to write a certain way because they are told that it should be directed toward a certain audience. This does not allow writers to properly express their thoughts and ideas in an effective way because they have to constantly check and make sure what they are writing is appropriate for the audiences’ style.	“These multiple considerations of audience and purpose functionality constrain the text, influencing its shape and structure” (Bernhardt 39).
This is probably the most important part of Bernhardt’s argument. If writers followed this style of format more often, I feel that students would be more interested in reading and writing, rather than having to read some boring text.	“Texts with visually organized, localized development, and features such as heading, expanded sentences, meaningful white space, or question-and-answer strategies are typically neglected” (Bernhardt 42).
This statement is a piece of evidence of how effective this style of writing is. Student’s comprehend the reading better and are able to develop their own writing by learning from this. Bernhardt’s article shows how significant arranging the shape and structure of text can improve student’s attitudes and grades.	“At the same time, we can learn from such studies how successful texts are composed and what part schools can play in encouraging students to become able, creative composers” (Bernhardt 44).

After You Read:

I feel that McCloud would have backed up Bernhardt's argument 100%. They both have similar views on the subject of using images and placement and format of text. McCloud being the comic artist uses the ideas that Bernhardt discusses everyday.

Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this article mainly because I completely agree with what Bernhardt talks about. I feel that teachers should let students use images or different text font styles, etc to further express themselves and their ideas. It would be easier for the students to get their message across and for the reader to connect with the writer.