Readers' affective reactions and responses when engaged in the literary reading of sequential art

Brian Christopher Kelley, Fordham University

Abstract

When reading the graphic novel, Refresh, Refresh, eight participants annotated for emotion, photosnapped emotionally evocative images, engaged in think-aloud, and close read three participant-identified emotionally salient moments. Data analysis showed that participants experienced negative emotions, suggesting alignment with the tragic structure of the narrative. Data also indicated that participants read in alignment with the characters, often feeling empathetic towards and protective of characters. Further, readers’ statements demonstrated connections between cognition and emotion; data suggested that participants used emotions to guide their interpretations or analyses of text. Comparative conversational analysis showed that participants were affectively and cognitively flexible, contextually adjusting emotions.

Subject Area

Literature|Educational psychology|Cognitive psychology

Recommended Citation

Kelley, Brian Christopher, "Readers' affective reactions and responses when engaged in the literary reading of sequential art" (2015). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3722207.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3722207

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