Record the object
Image, character, color, technique, condition, and position.
Try thisWrite a description with no meaning words.
Interactive utility
The Meaning Mapper
A disciplined sequence for interpreting one symbol without turning possibility into fact.
Name the game function
Use the authority for the specific rules tradition.
Try thisKeep function separate from cultural association.
Verify language
Credit the reader or reference and preserve alternate readings.
Try thisMark stylized or uncertain characters.
Find relevant context
Place, period, community, maker, and source quality.
Try thisReject context too broad for the claim.
Label the story
Documented, participant account, family memory, folklore, or invention.
Try thisSay which label applies.
State confidence
What is known, supported, possible, and unresolved?
Try thisName what evidence could change the conclusion.
A narrow meaning can be a rich answer.
The map succeeds when another reader can see both the interpretation and the path used to reach it.