questions

At the beginning of this week I began to write out some ideas for the types of questions I may want to try and answer through my project. I have an idea that the questions would almost form a family tree with one overall parent question with sub questions which enable me to answer the parent question. Examples of this are shown below.

Parent question :  What are the main elements that contribute towards a successful picture book?

Art

Style, what do I like, what is my style, how are the fundamentals approached, line, colour, tone?

Story

types, fantasy, real, undertones, metaphors, words/image ratio, how words and image work together, boundaries within picture books?

These are just the first two sub topics I began to think about with several others as shown in the diagram below. After listening to Simone during our first lecture I realise that my research question is too broad in context looking deeper into one area within the topic would be more likely to become a good research project. How are metaphors used to deal with serious issues within picture books? would seem a more defined question that could lead my project. I think my first step will be to look at picture books I like and try to figure out what it is that I like about them as this may then lead my research or at least give me a starting point.