Chapter 9: “Each Color Represents an Emotion”: Navigating Literature By Remixing Maps

The first known map of the world was created by the Babylonians, circa 600 BCE (Christianson, 2012). It depicts the world quite literally as the Babylonians would have seen it, including their own region at the center with its all-important river, neighboring sea, and outlying populated areas depicted as triangles (since they would have appeared with vanishing perspective when approached from a distance). Though certainly not a comprehensive map of the world, it did encompass their world and the landmarks they needed for survival, commerce, and navigation; it makes clear, not unimportantly, the Babylonians’ place within their world.

A map is a graphic representation of information, referencing the inter-relatedness of elements of varied significance, in respect to the user’s perspective. Just as it has aided humanity in making sense of our world, mapping can help students find their place of understanding within a complex topic, make tangible and memorable connections between concepts, and document their learning experiences. To remix a map is to take cartographic norms (legend, topographic lines, scale, boundary lines, plotted points, and landmarks) and use them in a creative way to represent learning. A remixed map can also serve as a form of infographic or diagram.