The most common descriptors for Elvira were her clothing and her hands. Students identified these with evil characters out of movies like Cruella Deville (using background knowledge).

Hands/Body Language: Her hands are in a position that evil people in movies have their hands when come up with an 'evil plan'.

Clothes: What she is wearing seems to be a cliche of what most evil people in fiction wear.

Body Language: Her hands were pressed together in the 'cunning pose'. This would mean that she is Elvira because her body language points out that she is planning/scheming something that is up to no good.

Most students gave detailed colourful descriptions and interpretations of Elvira. Particularly of her clothes, exploring colour symbolism in linking the black and red of her clothing to evil and power, and her white cuffs to coldness.

Clothes: Her clothing kinda shows what her personality is like, her dark clothes made me interpret her as evil and strange.

Clothes: The colours were very dark & powerful. Much to powerful for someone dim.

Clothes: Her dress is dark and she has a pointy handbag, and I think dark and sharp make people look evil (kind of like a bat).

One Student used their personal principles to validate their interpretation of Elvira as cruel.

Fur on clothes: She does not care much about where the fur came from & how the animals are cruelly treated.

Students also gave powerful descriptions and interpretations of Elvira's posture.

Body Language: What I think makes her seem evil or wicked was her body language, she is sort of hunched, her eyes are squinted cunningly towards Cinderella, and she tents her fingers as if she is planning something.

Facial Features: Her eyes are very sharp. Her nose is very long, sharp and pointed, it is red on the tip, which suggests that it is cold (or she's cold). Her chin is pointed & her hair black & very slick.

Facial Features: her eyes are dark rimmed and look like their scheming something. Her nose and chin are pointy, representing a mean, menacing nature. Ermintrude ('The dim one' standing to the left)

The most common descriptors used by students to describe how they identified Ermintrude were her accessories, posture, clothes and facial features.

As with Elvira, the most valid interpretations gave detailed descriptions which linked the visual descriptors given, to the character portrayed in the text (though students found it easier to give three detailed interpretations for Elvira).

Clothes: They are light and flowy, but also look like they are falling off, for example the belt. This makes her look dim because she can't even put on her own clothes properly.

Facial features: her big round eyes. Her dazed expression on her face shows that she doesn't usually get what is going on.

Students also:

• Explored the representation of descriptors.

Has a long flowing dress (clothes) could represent that she is carefree and untroubled by most things.

• Used comparisons to illustrate their interpretations.

Clothing; Ermintrude is dressed in entirely opposite colours to Elvira she has blues and golds (pale) and it is covering less of her making it seem like she has less to hide.

Accessories/Posture: She is holding up her necklace and admiring it, like a little kid plays with a toy.

One student interpreted Ermintrude's behaviour as dim through the absence of intelligence.

Body Posture: She is admiring herself, being vain, which does not reflect wisdom.

Task c) The most basic response students gave was to explain where each of the characters were placed in the image, but did explain how this helped the viewer identify each character. Students who gave valid explanations:

• Explored the emotional nature of spatial relationships.

The two others are standing close to each other, showing some kind of closeness/kinship. Cinderella is further away kind of on the outside, looking back at them, showing that shes not quite in with the group.

You know that the blonde one walking away is Cinderella because she is walking away from the girls and it is obvious that there is tension between Cinderella and the step sisters. Also Cinderella is holding coats & beads etc so it looks like her step sisters have given her all the work.

• Used background knowledge.

I think Cinderella is the girl that's walking away because the two step sisters are standing quite close together as sisters would, and Cinderella is picking up after the two sisters like she usally does in the story.

• Interpreted the social significance of the spatial relationship of the characters.

She is the person walking away in the background of the image, she is not as socially high as the other two, she is not as important and does not need to be at the front. She is also walking away with all of their clothing, like she is a maid, again not as socially important.

Cinderella is standing further back away from them. She is smaller because she is further back, making her look more vulnerable. She is to the side, so she isn't the centre of attention. She looks like she has come from Ermintrudes left, taken their belongings and is putting them in their rooms.

• Interpreted facial emotions in relation to the spatial relationship of the characters.

We know that the blonde one is Cinderella because of the glance she gives the two sisters and at the space they have between them shows that the sisters, and the blonde girl aren't very close. Also, she's carrying a heap of clothes. But the glance is the reason we know the blonde girl is Cinderella. The glance shows how much Cinderella wants to be rich wearing nice clothes rather than poor with a modest brown dress.

She looks back longingly to the other wishing she was in their shoes because she thinks she deserves more than them & what she has.