English 680V: Visual Rhetoric in a Technological Age (Purdue)

http://www.istockphoto.com/my_lightbox_contents.php?id=1924827

The following is a list of the keywords I used when answering different parts of these exploratory questions:

Accessibility
Design
Digital library
Digital Library
Information Design
Online Writing Lab
Participatory Design
Usability (testing)
User-centered theory
Visual Design

On August 26, 2005, the Writing Lab launched its redesigned Online Writing Lab (OWL). During the spring semester of that academic year, Dr. Salvo administered a pilot test to his English 515 course that would test the usability of Purdue’s OWL and the usability of the testing materials themselves. My involvement with the OWL began as a student in the course, recording during the usability tests and refining the testing materials that would be used to conduct the subsequent usability testing. Beginning on February 27 and concluding on March 3, 2006, the OWL Usability Research Team conducted its first round of usability testing. After analyzing our first generation (G1) data, we immediately began planning for our next round of testing, which we conducted between July 10 and July 17, 2006. The testing materials we used for G2 were largely those we used during G1; however, based on initial data findings, we added into the test a user-centered prototype, which we tested in addition to our initial testing materials. Since completing G2, we have presented our findings at CCCC, CCCC Computer Connection, and Purdue’s TLT Conference, and we are in the planning stages of G3 and G4.

In Randall Collins’ chapter “The Mutual Focus/Emotional-Entrainment Model,” he asserts that television is a combination of picture and sound, claiming that “the stronger sense of involvement, of being pulled into the action, is from the sound” (55). A burst of cheering will bring us back into the room to discover that the game is in its final minutes, runners are about to score, the team is making a drive, etc.

Several discussion threads have been exploring the place of digital and electronic mediums in the composing process and composition classroom. David and Richards make some interesting points about the interconnectedness of cultural influences with the discourse of our students, namely in the form of visual communication. And while I acknowledge the importance of understanding cultural influences, I am also wondering about the rationale for our push to do so.

I will frequently ask my students to analyze/critique advertisements. I think they provide a good backdrop for discussions about topics like the proofs, or rhetorical situation. Issues of audience or tone or style or subject or ethos or pathos really become visible in ways that, I think, other texts cannot provide. As George notes, this generation of students is very media-literate. They are targets of media in ways and through channels that our brains cannot even comprehend. So, my rationale for using ads is to provide a familiar frame through they can begin thinking about and discussing new concepts. Plus, they like the pretty pictures. Also, students’ varying degrees of textual literacy warrants consideration. Some people learn best through visuals, and others prefer to learn through visuals.

Last Sunday, MTV's show True Life did a special on living with autism. You can check it out at this link http://www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/features/true_life/autism/.

In the spirit of the upcoming baseball season, I felt compelled to throw the following curveball into the conversation. Some of the best hitters in history were blessed with better-than-perfect eyesight. In other words, they were able to detect the baseball leaving a pitcher’s hand earlier than most other hitters, allowing them to see the ball for longer amounts of time, and therefore have more chance of making contact with it.

At the turn of the last century, the notion of the “informed citizen” emerged in response to rising literacy rates, cheaper newspaper prices, and the expansion of the right to vote (225). With even more access to information coupled with the legitimizing of contributions to that information, what obligations do we have to be informed, participatory citizens? Jenkins comments on the role the Internet plays in the democratization of information (power).

After reading posts by Lars, Morgan and others, I am thinking about a definition of visual rhetoric as one being mindful of the limitations that apply to any visual/rhetorical knowledge making process. In Chapter 6 of Convergence Culture, Jenkins discusses the individual as being unable to count on the presentation or accessibility of any absolute truth (217). But I think the mindfulness of these limitations add a dimension to the definition of visual that is worth considering.

[This post draws from Amy's post entitled “And now, to reenact tragedy”]

This discussion has gotten me thinking about the stipulations of visual rhetoric in terms of knowledge production. How much do we/should we rely upon our eyes seeing the actual event of [fill in the blank] to feel like we know something about it? Why is it rarely enough to hear about it or read about it? Why are the eyes the medium that guarantees immediacy, or somehow realer knowledge?