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

Tuesday, February 20

• Read The Economics of Attention by Richard Lanham, pp. 130-190. Suggested Prompt: In Chapter 4, Lanham outlines some of the challenges and issues facing e-books, from pre-existing cultural biases, unfamiliarity, delivery systems, copyright, and more. What e-books have you seen? Read? What is an e-book, anyway? And how might an e-book figure into the economics of attention?

Thursday, February 22

• Explore some of these e-books to see a range of what's out there. All of them are free. Each employs a visual rhetoric in a unique way.
  • Digital Publishing F5 | Refreshed (TK3)
  • Looking for a Fight: Is There a Republican War on Science? edited by John Holbo
  • Peers, Pirates, and Persuasion: Rhetoric in the Peer-to-Peer Debates by John Logie
  • Operation Iraqi Quagmire (Institute for the Future of the Book)

In class, make an Adobe ebook in one hour. See Make a Book in One Hour Activity for all of the directions.