The Role of Illustrations in Following Along with the Events in Fiction

Abstract

The study explores the effect of using illustrations with written narratives in short stories on the readers who are following along with the events and linking these events together. The study also explores the impact of applying critical thinking skills in using illustrations with the written narrative on readers who are following along with the events of the short story and linking them together. A mixed method was used to answer the questions and obtain the results. The quantitative method was used, where a study sample consisting of 35 students who were asked to submit an exam twice. The first time the exam contained only the written text. However, the second exam contained both the written text and the illustrations from a book. The qualitative method was applied on the same sample of students, where they were interviewed and asked whether the illustrations helped them in answering the questions on the written narrative. Next, they were asked specifically about the six questions which were based on the students’ use of their critical thinking skills in linking the provided illustrations with the written narrative. The study concluded by presenting how illustrations have a great effect on the students’ following along with the events and understating the main ideas in the narrative story. The results also show that the written text cannot always stand alone, and especially when it comes to young readers because they still lack the experience and the ability to be able to understand things on their own.

Received: 30 November 2021 / Accepted: 3 February 2022 / Published: 5 March 2022