A Multimodal Framework for Computer Mediated Learning: The Reshaping of Curriculum Knowledge and Learning

When a photograph is selected with the mouse, a written caption appears with the
name of the actor, and the year and venue of the production. In some dossiers two or
more photographs are displayed. This visually highlights the relationship between the
characters and the actors who have played them, and asserts the potential for a
character to be re-presented in different ways. The images provide the viewer with
alternatives to

their potential visualisation of the character, and opens up new potentials for
contrasting, and thinking of character beyond one realisation.

The objects that are included in each of the dossier files contribute to the construction
of the characters and serve to emphasise key themes, and connections. In the dossier
file of the character Curly’s Wife, for example, the images of envelopes addressed to
her (see figure 4.6) means that the character is literate, and that she is in contact with,
and cared for by someone (as I suggest later, perhaps the character George). The
theatre ticket visually references the character’s social desires and links the actor
Clair Luce and the character she plays and the author Stienbeck - who the letter in
her file is from.

The character Crooks is visually repositioned via the Dossier. A photograph in the
character dossier shows the character Crooks cleanly dressed, standing in a tidy room,
looking out at the viewer with an intense gaze. The image shows his possessions
neatly organised, including a collection of books and a light - visual symbols of
intelligence. The visual presentation of Crooks within the same frame as the other
characters in the Dossier serves to equalise him and the others characters.

Voice

All of the characters are represented visually in photographs and in the mode of
writing within the dossier files. They are also represented by the narrator’s reading of
the written description of the character in the files. The voice of the narrator is male,
deep and even toned. The fullness and deep tone of the narrator’s voice is intensified,

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