“
We need to be able to communicate not only in spoken and written form; we also
need to understand what it means to “write” in a visual culture
and through visual rhetoric as a medium” (Envision 9).
Course Overview:
Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948) once said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Therefore, change must begin within us, first. In conjunction with service-learning projects, students taking this course will use a variety of texts to develop the skills to critically analyze, inquire, and be creative in efforts to compose textual and visual rhetoric as a means of engendering hope, community, and democratic social action. Service-learning can be used as an effective tool in showing the interconnectedness of academic research, multiple discourse communities, and reflective critical analysis. By showing students the realities of the world through service-learning, and enhancing their critical thinking skills through visual rhetoric, it is possible for students to realize their connection to a larger community as both learners and advocates of social change.
Definitions:
Visual Rhetoric – Envision defines visual rhetoric as a form of communication that uses images to create meaning or construct an argument.
Service-Learning - UNCG defines service-learning as a way to link “community action and academic study so that each strengthens the other. Students, faculty, and community partners collaborate to enable students to address community needs, foster initiative, build effective relationships, enhance academic skills, and develop civic literacy. Service-learning encourages critical consideration of the ethical dimensions of community engagement.”
Public Writing – “The composition course has emerged as both a microcosm of the public sphere – a point of contact with the “real” world out there somewhere – as well as a place for students to prepare for immersion into public life – a point of departure into social and political spheres in society.” Public writing enables students to focus on the world as a text to be interpreted, evaluated, and written about to produce work that has the potential to change their lives, the lives of their families and loved ones, and the lives of others that they care about (Christian Weisser – Moving Beyond Academic Discourse - 116-117).
Course Goals:
• To write clearly and fluently, organize coherently and logically,
and edit writing for standard usage.
•
To read texts with careful attention
•
To write in multiple genres for targeted audiences, employing various rhetorical
strategies.
•
To understand how visual design is used for purposes of identification, information,
and persuasion. We will look at many modes of visual communication (rhetoric),
such as signs, product packaging, billboards, ads, films, television, and web
sites.
•
To experience service-learning. Everyone in the class will choose a community
partner to work with for 2 hours each week during a 6 week period (totaling
12 hours). Service-learning is designed to break down some of the institutional
barriers erected between the “university” and the “real world,” allowing
us to interrogate the space (through writing) between theory and practice.
•
To combine academic inquiry with community outreach. This class structures
opportunities for “citizen-writers not only to step back and reflect
on public matters but also to step up and participate in them” (Deans
xii-xiii).
•
To understand and use basic research tools, incorporate research into writing,
develop oral presentation skills, and produce persuasive visual texts and design.
Required texts:
Alfano, Christine L. and Alyssa J. Obrien. Envision: Persuasive Writing in a Visual World. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Loeb, Paul Rogat, ed. The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear. New York: Basic Books, 2004.
Additional requirements:
1. Attend a service-learning orientation session during the first week of
class
2. Attend peer group practice session at The Speaking Center
3. Download e-reserve materials from Blackboard
4. Post reading responses on Blackboard throughout the semester
5. Purchase (or borrow) a camera – 24 film exposures (35mm; disposable,
digital; Polaroid)
6. $10 - $15 for professional portfolio binding
7. Keep an online (Blackboard) service-learning journal. Each visit you make
to your organization will have a corresponding journal entry. These entries
should both: 1) record what you observed/experience during your time on-sight
and 2) reflect on the meaning, significance, implications, etc. of what you
observed/experienced.
8. Complete other writing assignments throughout the semester, personal narrative,
research paper, focused reflections, peer reviews, final project, and final
portfolio.
Group-lead class discussion:
Each group is responsible for leading two consecutive class discussions on
four readings from The Impossible Will Take a Little While. Each group must
be prepared to meet with me at least two days prior to leading the class
discussion. All materials used should be directly related to the readings.
Please adhere
to the following criteria:
1. Provide a handout (background info on subject, author, major concepts,
etc.)
2. Include an audio/visual component (music, film, video, photography, PowerPoint,
etc.)
3. Prepare a group/class activity
4. Prepare two discussion questions for each reading
Final Group Presentation:
Each group is responsible for presenting a 15-20 minute final presentation
about their service learning project. Each presentation can be as creative
as you like, so think about how you might best present your subject to the
class. I will be happy to assist with any audio/visual needs, but please
let me know in advance.
Reserve Readings:
Complete assigned readings before class, take notes, and prepare
for discussion. Sources not included in the text book are on e-reserve (Blackboard).
Print
out the texts so that you can underline/highlight/write on them as you read,
and so you can bring them to class on the day we discuss them. Please note
that these texts are under copyright and treat them accordingly.
A Note on Written Work:
Except for your journal entries—which may be handwritten if and only
if they are written neatly or posted on Blackboard—your written work
must adhere to the following format, ensuring that both assignment length & assignment
format are standard throughout the class:
•
The top of the first page must have your name, the course number, the date,
and, below this, a title. (Do this in lieu of a cover page.)
•
Use Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, and 1” margins. Please note that, although
1” margins are standard in the humanities, they are not standard in MSWord.
To change them in MSWord, click on “Page Setup” under “File,” then
adjust the margin size accordingly.
•
All pages must have page numbers and be stapled.
•
Revise, proofread, spell check, grammar check, and revise again any written
work before handing it in. (The Writing Center: http://www.uncg.edu/eng/writingcenter/
is a terrific resource.)
Evaluation and Grading:
Final grades will be assessed based upon a progression scale, which includes
the completion of assignments throughout the semester and quality of work
within the final portfolio.
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance is crucial since we are covering a lot of material, but just showing up is only half the battle. To get the most out of the course, you need to come to each class prepared (i.e., do the reading ahead of class) and take an active role in class discussion. Since one of the primary objectives in this course is to hear a variety of voices, we will all benefit from everyone’s participation. Even if you are shy, make a point to speak up regularly, and always be respectful when listening to what others have to say, whether lecturers, speakers, or classmates. Turn off cell phones and pagers and put away non-class reading materials. As much as you may disagree with something someone says, listen to what that person is saying and then explain why you disagree (i.e., without insults or mockery).
Notes:
1. Please save all of your assignments to include in your final portfolio
at the end of the semester. To prevent the loss of documents, I strongly recommend
that you save files on a floppy disk or CD ROM and also on a backup source.
2. When writing and posting journal entries on Blackboard, please do not simply
summarize the readings, but critically engage with the text. Relate to the
material by sharing personal stories, raise questions, discuss ways in which
the material is related to our class, critically interrogate the text; elaborate
on why you found a particular passage important. Basically, have an informal
dialogue on paper.
3. In efforts to meet the overall objectives of this class and to achieve the
desired learning experience, the semester calendar is tentative and can be
altered throughout the semester based upon your needs.
4. Also, please make necessary arrangements to provide your own transportation
while working with the community partner.
Opportunities for Visual Writing:
* Photo essay – print or electronic * Op-ad (opinion advertisement)
* Newsletter/coloring book/comic book * Logo design
* Brochure/flyer/poster/fact sheet * Collage/mural/scrapbook
* Web site/multimedia presentation * Ethnography of a cultural artifact
* Tactile composition – book with original binding/pillow/blanket/quilt/tapestry
* Demonstrating knowledge through visual composition – performance
* Other suggestions
List of visual rhetoric concepts:
Cartoons, comic strips, editorial cartoons, advertisements, photographs, propaganda posters, magazines, journals, websites, film and movie trailers, op-ads, monuments, tee-shirts, billboards, image from public transportation, mural, brochure, poster, community structures, etc.
Service-Learning Resources:
• UNCG Office of Leadership & Service-learning - http://olsl.uncg.edu/
•
National Service-learning Clearinghouse - http://www.servicelearning.org
•
Campus Compact-http://www.compact.org
•
North Carolina - http://www.elon.edu/nccc
UNCG Resources:
University Writing Center - English Department
Web address: http://www.uncg.edu:80/eng/writingcenter/
Phone: 336-334-3282
The writing center can help you stay on track with a writing project by working
with you at any stage in the process.
University Speaking Center – 22 Underground McIver
Web address: http://www.uncg.edu/cst/speakingcenter/main.html
Phone: 336.256.1346
Services are designed to empower clients with communication confidence and
competence. Assistance is offered in the preparation and delivery of speeches,
development of knowledge and skills in interpersonal communication, and overall
success in group or team communication situations.
Office of Disability Services - Suite 208 EUC
Web address: http://ods.dept.uncg.edu/
Phone: 336-334-5440
If you have a disability of any kind, please see me privately to discuss appropriate
accommodations.
*Download materials from Blackboard. Post one-page online response before midnight the night before class, unless otherwise specified.
DATE DISCUSSION TOPIC READINGS to be completed before class
August 15 Course overview; discussion of syllabus Purchase textbooks
August 17 Journal entry #1 - civic engagement and community
* “Writing as Social Action”; * Excerpt: Paulo Freire, “The
Banking Concept of Education”
August 19 Journal entry #2 – life metaphor Assignment: take a photograph
of yourself over the weekend * “Writing Your Life”; * bell hooks “Writing
Autobiography”
August 22 Assignment due: Personal essay (see handout for criteria); SERVICE-LEARNING
ORIENTATION SESSION @ 4-5 PM * “Peer Grouping”; * “What is
Community? A Roundtable” (no journal response required)
August 23 SERVICE-LEARNING ORIENTATION SESSION @ 4-5 PM
August 24 Assignment due: Complete the Writing to Discover exercise (in the
reading) and bring the results to class; form and name peer groups; exchange
contact info; introduction to service-learning; SERVICE-LEARNING ORIENTATION
SESSION @ 1-2 PM * “Preparing for Outreach: Respect and Reciprocity”
August 25 VOLUNTEER FAIR @ 10-2 PM; SERVICE-LEARNING ORIENTATION SESSION @
1-2PM
August 26
Assignment due: Submit a minimum 1-page response to what you are most interested
in finding out about your social interest (e.g. homelessness and poverty);
discussion about poverty; peer group work – discuss project proposal
Assignment: take a photograph of 3 of your favorite things (material items)
over the weekend *Barbara Ehrenreich from Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting
By in America
August 29 Assignment due: all groups submit name of community organization
for service-learning; discussion of text Envision – Chapter 1 (no journal
response required)
August 31 LIBRARY INSTRUCTION Meet in library computer lab for instruction.
Sept. 2
Discussion of text
Assignment due: 1) Bring to class a visual image (see list of visual rhetoric
concepts on page 5 of course syllabus) related to your social interest (e.g.
poverty/homeless issues) 2) write a one-page visual and rhetorical analysis
of the image using the pre-writing checklist in Envision (refer to pages 25-26
and 52-54); continue discussion of text
Assignment: take a photograph of 3 of your favorite people (friends, family,
pets (non-material items) over the weekend Envision - Chapter 2 (no journal
response required)
Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday. Class dismissed.
Sept. 7
Assignments due: 1) personal letter to community partner (see handout) 2) Revision
of personal essay for peer review (submit anonymously)
Sept. 9
Assignments due: 1) Peer groups submit service-learning work schedule 2) return
peer review of personal essay; service-learning and writing workshop: - Principles
of Good Practice for Combining Service and Learning; what to expect during
the first week of service-learning; keeping a service-learning journal.
Assignments: 1) revise personal essay over the weekend 2) take 3 photographs
related to your social interest over the weekend (not within the organization
e.g. Greensboro Urban Ministry)
Sept. 12
Service-Learning Week 1; peer groups select chapters to lead discussion; discussion
of text
(Loeb) The Impossible Will Take a Little While -Introduction (1-14); Part I:
Seeds of the Possible (18-21); “A Slender Thread” by Diane Ackerman
Sept. 14
Assignment due: revision of personal essay; Discussion of text (Loeb) “Ordinary
Resurrections” by Jonathan Kozol; “Standing Up for Children” by
Marian Wright Edelman; “The Dark Years” by Nelson Mandela (Respond
to either today’s readings or the next readings)
Sept. 16
Assignment due: 1) Submit 2 research paper ideas regarding poverty and homelessness,
with a paragraph describing each idea; S-L discussion
Assignment: take a photograph with your group members (Loeb) “The Sukkah
of Shalom” by Arthur Waskow; “Fragile and Hidden” by Henri
Nouwen: “There Is a Season” by Parker Palmer
Sept. 19
Service-Learning Week 2; Student/Teacher Conference Meet with peer groups – draft
S-L project proposal and chapter discussion
Sept. 20 Student/Teacher Conference
Sept. 21 Student/Teacher Conference Meet with peer groups - draft S-L project
proposal and chapter discussion
Sept. 22 Student/Teacher Conference
Sept. 23
Student/Teacher Conference Assignment due: (Email by class hour or bring to
conference) Submit a research paper proposal, with an annotated bibliography
(see Blackboard for annotated bibliography example and assignment sheet);
Assignment: take 2 photographs related to your service-learning experience
during the week Meet with peer groups - draft S-L project proposal and chapter
discussion
Sept. 26
Service-Learning Week 3; Assignment due: peer groups project proposal; Peer
group class discussion (Loeb) Chapter 4: The Impossible Will Take a Little
While (select readings TBA)
Sept. 28
Continue chapter 4 discussion; Research paper workshop
Sept. 30
Assignment due: Research paper (follow MLA format – see Blackboard for
examples); S-L discussion; writing workshop; Assignment: take 2 photographs
related to your service-learning experience during the week
October 3
Service-Learning Week 4; Peer group class discussion (Loeb) Chapter 5: The
Impossible Will Take a Little While (select readings TBA)
October 5 Continue chapter 5 discussion
October 7 S-L discussion; revise research papers over the break
Assignment: take 2 photographs related to your service-learning experience
during the week
October 10 Fall Break. Classes dismissed. Service-Learning Week 5
October 12
Peer group class discussion
(Loeb) Chapter 6: The Impossible Will Take a Little While (select readings
TBA)
October 14
Assignment due: Research paper revision; continue chapter 6 discussion; S-L
discussion
Assignment: take 2 photographs related to your service-learning experience
during the week
October 17
Service-Learning Week 6; GROUP Assignment due: Submit an original visual argument
design about social issue, along with a one-page visual/rhetorical analysis
(Loeb) Chapter 7: The Impossible Will Take a Little While (select readings
TBA)
October 19
Continue chapter 7 discussion; A. VAN JORDAN’S READING – 3:30pm
(place – TBA)
October 21
IN-CLASS SPEAKING CENTER ORIENTATION AND ANXIETY MONSTER WORKSHOP; visual rhetoric
peer group work
Assignment: take 2 photographs related to your service-learning experience
during the week
October 24
Service-Learning (alternate week); Peer group class discussion (Loeb) Chapter
8: The Impossible Will Take a Little While (select readings TBA)
October 26 Continue chapter 8 discussion
October 27 PAUL LOEB’S CAMPUS VISIT (time and place – TBA)
October 28
SPEAKING CENTER TRAINING SESSION; GROUP Assignment due: revision of visual
rhetoric design.
All S-L projects should be completed and all S-L journals should be posted.
Assignment: take 2 photographs of your living space over the weekend (bedroom,
living room, bathroom, kitchen, etc.) Meet in 22 Underground McIver for Speaking
Center workshop
October 31
Peer group class discussion (Loeb) Chapter 9: The Impossible Will Take a Little
While (select readings TBA)
Nov. 2 Continue chapter 9 discussion
Nov. 4
Assignments: 1) take a photograph of your favorite place 2) you should have
completed 24 exposures; get film developed and use images in final portfolio
3) Read and take notes on chapters 7, 8, and 9 in Envision to help you consider
strategies of design for your final project
Nov. 7 Student/teacher conference
Meet with peer group members
Nov. 9 Service-Learning Group Presentations
Revise all assignments for final portfolio; visit the Writing Center
Nov. 11
Service-Learning Group Presentations Revise all assignments for final portfolio;
visit the Writing Center
Nov. 14
Service-Learning Group Presentations Revise all assignments for final portfolio;
visit the Writing Center
Nov. 16
Service-Learning Group Presentations Revise all assignments for final portfolio;
visit the Writing Center
Nov. 18
Service-Learning Group Presentations Revise all assignments for final portfolio;
visit the Writing Center
Nov. 21 Final portfolio workshop
Nov. 23 Thanksgiving holiday. Classes dismissed.
Nov. 24 Thanksgiving holiday. Classes dismissed.
Nov. 28 Class dismissed. Finalize portfolio.
Nov. 30 FINAL PORTFOLIOS DUE; Poetry – Macnolia by A. Van Jordan “Macnolia’s
Obituary”; “in·cho·ate”; “from” (no
response required)
Dec. 2 Poetry – Macnolia by A. Van Jordan “Infidelity” and “When
Macnolia Greases My Hair” (no response required)
Dec. 5 Last day of class; Poetry – Macnolia by A. Van Jordan; receive
final portfolios “to” and “Asa Philip Randolph” (no
response required)