Anne Frances Wysocki; The Multiple Media of Texts

Wysocki, A. F. (2004); "The Multiple Media of Texts: How Onscreen and Paper Texts Incorporate Words, Images, and Other Media"
in What Writing Does and How It Does It; An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual
Practices, Ed. by Bazerman, C. and Prior, P.; New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

In Chapter Six, Wysocki asks readers to think about the relations of visuals/material presentations within our texts and the values placed upon them. Whereas words are seen as "serious" are visuals/material presentations meant to be "non-serious"? Wysocki notes, "All page and screen based-texts are (therefore) visual and their visual elements and arrangements can be analyzed" (124). Because there are associations between genres of writing and the way such genres are visually arranged, the visual arrangements do some of the work for the genre. These arrangements do "persuasive work" (124), too, but "Attitudes toward the visual aspects of texts change over time" (125). Modern readers expect quick and efficient reading experiences and the layouts help readers get to what they want, faster (125).

Wysocki is asking for new arguments about visual representations and what these arguments will look like if allowed to academic pages. Noting that "The visual aspects of text are (therefore) to be understood not simply in terms of physiology but also in terms of social context" (126)

Further, Wysocki writes, "Composing a visual text (thus) involves choosing strategies for shaping what is on a page or screen to direct a reader/viewer/browser's attentions, within the context of other texts" (126). One who uses visuals must make choices about the visuals they use to attract desired audiences and to deliver to them.

She goes on to discuss shapes, colors, photographs, drawings and paintings, charts and graphs, animations, visual transitions, video and sound and asks to explain:

1. the visual elements in a text
2. the design relationships among those elements
3. how the elements and relations connect with different audiences, contexts, and arguments. (137).

Readers must, then, learn "to observe well" (159).