Text deconstruction of The City by Armin Greder, first published by Allen & Unwin, Australia in 2010. Downloadable information about the visual and written grammar of The City, which can be used to lead teacher discussion or be explored with students in small groups. Double Visuals Written Pages 1st The sequence of multiple The woman is referred to as ‘the of the woman, with the and subsequently as the images woman’ child, framed by white spaces, pronoun The son is ‘she’. directs the to the referred to as the and then viewer’s focus ‘son’ actions of the woman and her as The ‘he’. absorption with the care for the Adverbial of place (in a distant son. The gaze on the country, where the sky was woman’s child supports this point. always grey and winter would sometimes last three years), provides a sense of bleakness, intensifying the warmth between the woman and the child. 2nd The body is salient, as The use of complex sentences, woman’s she embraces her son, which can be broken down at suggesting protection over him. the clause level provides information about the past, the present and the plans woman’s for the future. 3rd The shadows act as vectors, Sentence themes (what is guiding the eye across placed first in a sentence) focus viewer’s the page, signifying the the on the woman’s reader’s attention journey. woman or struggle of her journey (Artic winds, Snowdrifts, Sleet). Isolation is demonstrated through adjectives (ruined barns, deserted stables) and through a noun triptych (no fields, no roads, no bridges). 4th As with the first page, the The conjunction is used ‘and’ sequence of multiple images of multiple times, suggesting a list, the woman, with the child, and supporting the idea that the framed by white spaces, focus is always on the woman’s care of her son. directs the to the viewer’s focus actions of the woman and her absorption with the care for her growing son, and suggests the
Text deconstruction of The City by Armin Greder, first published by Allen & Unwin, Australia in 2010. Downloadable information about the visual and written grammar of The City, which can be used to lead teacher discussion or be explored with students in small groups. Double Pages Visuals Written 1st The sequence of multiple images of the woman, with the child, framed by white spaces, directs the viewer’s focus to the actions of the woman and her absorption with the care for the son. The woman’s gaze on the child supports this point. The woman is referred to as ‘the woman’ and subsequently as the pronoun ‘she’. The son is referred to as the ‘son’ and then as ‘he’. The Adverbial of place (in a distant country, where the sky was always grey and winter would sometimes last three years), provides a sense of bleakness, intensifying the warmth between the woman and the child. 2nd The woman’s body is salient, as she embraces her son, suggesting protection over him. The use of complex sentences, which can be broken down at the clause level provides information about the past, the present and the woman’s plans for the future. 3rd The shadows act as vectors, guiding the viewer’s eye across the page, signifying the woman’s journey. Sentence themes (what is placed first in a sentence) focus the reader’s attention on the woman or struggle of her journey (Artic winds, Snowdrifts, Sleet). Isolation is demonstrated through adjectives (ruined barns, deserted stables) and through a noun triptych (no fields, no roads, no bridges). 4th As with the first page, the sequence of multiple images of the woman, with the child, framed by white spaces, directs the viewer’s focus to the actions of the woman and her absorption with the care for her growing son, and suggests the The conjunction ‘and’ is used multiple times, suggesting a list, and supporting the idea that the woman’s focus is always on the care of her son.