viz.

By Tim Turner (Contact)
See also Propaganda and Visual Rhetoric

What is the relationship between rhetoric and violence? Are they mutually exclusive?
Is violence only conceivable as a failure of rhetoric? Can rhetoric itself be violent?
Isn't violence often employed as a means of persuasion?

By Tim Turner (Contact)
See also Visual Rhetoric and Violence

Those of you who subscribe to XM satellite radio may have come across Bob Dylan's weekly radio show Theme Time Radio. Recently comic artist Jamie Hernandez created an imaginative promotional poster for the show.

Boing Boing reader Simon Nielsen took Hernandez's poster one step futher and made a short movie tribute using Hernandez's artwork and the audio from Ellen Barkin's evocative voiceovers that open each episode of Theme Time Radio Hour. Nielsen writes:

When I teach writing, I like to occasionally give my students imitation exercises to point out the features of a particular text. Robot Chicken, Seth Green’s stop-motion-animation show, has provided a pretty funny video example of this practice (my favorite touch is when they bleep out the bad language). It would be interesting to assign this type of video exercise for students to familiarize them with video conventions.

See the video here.

Proposal Argument

Notes to the Instructor: This unit-long assignment asks the students to write a short paper (300–500 words), in which they make an argument about the effects of persistent exposure to certain imagery in general (an exercise known in classical Greek rhetoric as thesis), then revise and incorporate that paper into a longer essay (4-5 pages), in which they propose a more specific, evidence-backed policy or defend a proposed course of action pertaining to visual entertainment. The long essay requires research into the relevant visual entertainment industry.

Notes for the Instructor: This version of the proposal argument focuses on a realistic choice of topic that demonstrates the "think globally, act locally" principle. The goal is to encourage students to write their proposals as if their audience is made up of people with the power to solve the problem. Some student samples are included below. Instead of writing a traditional essay to make their proposals, students will create websites to explain and argue their claims. To implement this assignment, the instructor will need to relate this prompt to the content of the course (by specifying what type of prompt is appropriate) and determine exactly what format the website should take (that is, how many pages it should include, what type of layout is to be preferred, and what sort of content is appropriate).

Assignment Description: Creating a website that makes a proposal argument

Category: Individual project

Goals: For this project, you will construct a proposal argument on a controversial issue of your choice. Your central claim must make a proposal, and it must be arguable. Additionally, you are to make your argument as though you are writing for an audience with the power to solve the problem. A proposal argument answers the question, "What should we do?," although you might argue against a proposed course of action instead. The final product will be a website designed and written to make this argument.

Building a Proposal Argument:

• Does something at UT or in your hometown need to change?
• Does a group that you belong to need to figure out how to get more members?
• Has someone proposed a solution that you think won't solve a problem?

After you've identified a problem, you'll want to think about a solution. Is it something we can live with? Or do we need to address it immediately? You'll need to consider a variety of solutions, including steps that might already have been taken.

Notes for the Instructor: This proposal assignment offers visually-oriented alternatives to the traditional essay and gives students the opportunity to create a web site, a short film, or a PowerPoint presentation. Attached are two examples of PowerPoint presentations, a rough draft and a final draft that has been revised for aesthetic and persuasive appeal. To implement this assignment, the instructor will need to specify a more exact prompt and the specific guidelines necessary to complete the project (for example, the length of a short film [recommended: 5–10 minutes] or PowerPoint presentation [recommended: 20 minutes]), the number and type of sources to be used (the assignment currently requires a minimum of five), the grading specifications, and the due dates.