Writing through Visual Acts of Reading: Incorporating Visual Aesthetics in Integrated Writing and Reading Tasks

The English curriculum tends to be framed in relation to two unconscious boundaries based on the dichotomies between writing and reading as well as print and image. This paper reenvisions the curriculum as comprising a hybrid space where students are involved in composing texts that integrate writing and reading practices while also considering the aesthetic composition of multimodal texts. Beginning with an examination of the writing and reading schism, the paper argues for a consideration of semiotic theory in writing instruction with particular attention to concepts of aesthetic design and representation. Using examples from electronic hypertexts and other forms of visual literature, the paper then proposes two strategies on how writing can be taught through reading in relation to semiotic theories. Essentially, such a space equips students for new ways of writing according to the demands of the 21st century.