Assignments

Longer assignment descriptions will be made available on the website or via handouts, but this synopsis will give you a clear picture of the work you will do in the course. 

Information Graphics Unit: 200 pts total. 

You will draft three different information graphics (25 points for each draft each = 75 points pts), and then choose one of those documents to revise, develop, polish for a grade out of 100 points.  You will also write an "artists statement" in order to explain the design decision you made for your revised information graphic (25 points).  

The goals for this unit are to introduce you to the concepts of visual culture and language and introduce you to the tools and methods of producing good visual communication in the medium of print and paper. 

Test #1:  Definitions and analysis.  50 points. 

In class, I will ask you to define the key concepts from the course so far (visual culture, visual language, closure, word-image relations, etc.), and apply your knowledge of visual communication to the analysis of an image-text. 

PowerPoint Photo essay: 150 points.

For the information graphic unit, the word-image-shape ratios have likely been well balanced.  As we move into explore communication on screens, you will notice that the image comes to the font, and the words and shapes begin to take on more of a supporting role.  For this assignment, I would like you to take an aspect of visual communication as a subject for photographs (your own photographs, but also images you collect from other sources), and select, touch up, draw on, write on, and assemble those images within PowerPoint, to form a PowerPoint photo essay. 

The goal of this assignment is to give you practice working with images other than clip art and drawing tools (the focus of the Information Graphics unit), and to give you practice with presentation software like Power Point.  As Horn tells us, over 2 million people regularly make presentations in the United States each year, so to communicate in a visual culture will require facility with presentation software. 

Video essay : 150 points. 

Even though English departments value words, we have to admit that the dominant communicative power in a visual culture is not only the image, but the moving image:  television, film, and video games dominate the collective cultural attention span in North America.  For this assignment, I would like you to work in groups and try out a video genre of your choice—anything from a commercial (or parody of a commercial) to a rock video to a short documentary.  The final product can be as short as one minute and as long as three minutes; the subject matter of the video essay can continue to be aspects of visual culture, or you can take a break and explore a different subject here.  You should have a clear sense of audience and purpose in mind for this project, however.  

Test #2: More definitions and analysis.  50 points.

In class, I will ask you to define key concepts from Horn's Visual Language and apply his ideas to an analysis of visual communication. 

Self-directed project =  300 points total.   

After having been introduced to visual communication principles and practices for print and screen, you will design a final project that will allow you to create a product that is relevant to your personal, academic, or professional goals.  You may work individually or in small groups.  This unit will consist of:

A proposal: 50 points.  

The project itself (200 points)

Artists' statement = 50 points. 

The possibilities are wide-open here:  design your own line of greeting cards, write/illustrate a children's story, write an illustrated essay about greeting cards or children's literature, design a killer powerpoint presentation or powerpoint movie, make a video or short digital film, etc., etc.

Class participation: 100 pts.

You will write a one-to-two page memo at the end of the semester, scoring yourself on these four components of class participation.  This memo will be an opportunity to make an argument that will really make a difference in your life!

Attendance = 25.  Subtract 3 points for every day you miss. Perfect attendance = perfect score.  If extenuating circumstances (health problems, family priorities, etc.) kept you away from classes, you can explain those situations here, but they will only be convincing if you have been talking with me throughout the semester about why you are missing class. 

Weblogging  = 25. One of the best places to find information about visual culture is the web, and of course the web itself is a driving force in the move towards communication that integrates words, images, and shapes (not to mention sound).  In order to help each other find valuable and interesting websites and web projects, I would like you to contribute to our class weblog.  Each contribution will be worth 2 points, so if you make even one entry a week, you will max out the 25 available points—and you can make an argument about your great work ethic (see below!). 

In class participation = 25 (contributions to class discussion, to small group discussions, to peer reviews, etc.)  If you are uncomfortable speaking out in full-class discussion, make sure you contribute to small-group discussion, give good peer feedback, etc.  Make an argument for an appropriate score out of 25.

Work ethic = 25.  Students can work hard in this course in ways other than the three just listed.  If you draft extensively, seek additional help from the Technology Learning Center, come to my office hours for additional help or just conversation, make an argument for a high score in "work ethic."  If you didn't do these "extra things," make an argument for an appropriate score out of 25.

Grade Scale: 1000-900 = A; 800-899 = B; 700-799 = C; 600-699 = D; less than 600 = F.