If you had connected to MSNBC.com in early July, you might have come across the following image and caption:

"Col. James Wu, who heads a U.S. forward surgical team, examines a young Afghan boy Tuesday at a Kandahar hospital. Dozens of civilians were apparently killed in an attack in the village of Kakarak. Afghan officials have blamed the United States for the strike."

This picture and text provided the link to a longer story on civilian casualties in Kakarak. Think about the ways in which this particular image and caption work together to create a persuasive context for the article's argument. Imagine all the different images that might have been used to head this article: men with guns; dead bodies; a map of Afghanistan; a woman in mourning. How does this rhetorical choice predispose the reader to approach the article in a certain way? It is precisely this interaction between visual and written text that "Visual Rhetoric" examines.

In this course, you will be asked to think about the rhetorical functions of the visual - both as an independent rhetorical act and in conjunction with written discourse. First, you will become proficient readers of visual rhetoric: we will analyze a variety of texts, some solely visual and some "hybrid" in form (texts that incorporate both image and word). We will consider movie posters, magazine covers, political cartoons, advertisements, public architecture, websites, newspaper articles, and also more traditional academic writing. Toward the second half of the quarter, our focus will shift from exploration and analysis of visual rhetoric to implementation. You will spend the last six weeks engaged in a source-based research paper that interrogates and/or integrates visual rhetoric in its argument. At the end of this project, you will take the final step and create your own piece of visual rhetoric based on the argument from your research paper. We will spend the final days of the course discussing the class's creations and arriving at some final conclusions about the principles and uses of visual rhetoric in Stanford and the world beyond.

DESCRIPTION OF PWR 3 (from the PWR homepage):

[T]he goals of your PWR courses are simple: to engage you immediately in crafting substantive research-based argument, using rhetorical principles to gain increasing control over the intellectual and stylistic force of your ideas and to improve your ability to analyze the ideas of others.

Toward these ends, [. . . ] [s]tudents enrolled in Writing and Rhetoric 3, an accelerated course, focus most attention on carrying out significant research and using it as the basis for a polished and persuasive research-based essay.

As a general rule, you can expect to carry out a minimum of four major writing assignments in each term, varying from 5 to 15 pages in length, and to work intensively on revising each piece of writing. These assignments will involve analyzing a range of texts as well as identifying, evaluating, and using multiple sources in support of academic and research-based arguments. In-class discussions on the nature of intellectual property and plagiarism, on how to read with an increasingly critical eye, and on how to evaluate, integrate, and cite sources will provide some of the most important academic learning experiences during your first year of work at Stanford.

Class attendance & participation

Our class attendance and participation policies are fairly straightforward: I expect you to be on time and attend all our course meetings, conferences, and peer reviews. If you do miss a class, you must make it up and you still must also turn in any work due that day on time. Please keep the lines of communication open: if you know in advance that you'll miss class, let me know; conversely, if you unexpectedly need to be absent (because of illness, family emergency, etc.) let me know as soon as possible so we can determine a make-up plan for the work that you miss.

 

Since we have a small class, class discussion is an important facet of the learning experience, and I have no doubts that you all will contribute actively to our conversations. Remember, however, to be respectful of your classmates; negative or demeaning remarks - even if you mean them in a "good-spirited" way - don't have a place in our classroom.

Wallenberg & Computing Requirements

We are fortunate to have been assigned to a state of the art computer classroom. During the quarter, we will have the opportunity to work with laptops, plasma screens, a smart panel, and two large interactive Webster computers, controlled by a stylus. However, with great technology comes great responsibility. Please take and boot up a laptop at the beginning of each class, unless otherwise directed; at the end of the class session, you should shut down the computer - not just close it up - and stow it again in the laptop cart, hooking it up to the appropriate power cable for the shelf you chose. Remember: you should be gentle with these computers, and under no circumstances are you to take them from the room.

 

In terms of computer room etiquette, you must not surf the web (unless directed to do so) or check your e-mail during class; anyone who does so may be demoted to pen and paper for the rest of the class session. In addition, when we start working with the collaborative software on the computers, you should be respectful in sharing the computer screens and should not "seize control" of a screen, unless you have been directed by me to do so.

 

Finally, this is a WRITING class, not a COMPUTER class. Accordingly, I will not be teaching "how-to" lessons on using technology, beyond the most limited and necessary skills. You should make friends with your RCCs and familiarize yourself with the Meyer Help Desk and the Acomp website for help on technology related issues. I also will make myself available outside of class on an individual or group basis for some tech-help.

PanFora

One of my goals for this class is to move toward having a paperless classroom. You will receive very few handouts in class; all of the course materials will be available through this website. To facilitate your own "paperlessness", I have set up a PanFora forum for my two visrhet sections. PanFora is a Stanford-designed and hosted on-line bulletin board environment that allows students to store documents and post/reply to messages through a designated class web-space. We will be using our Panfora space as a forum for conversation and peer review, and as an archive for student work. The PanFora button, located along the left margin of webpages for this class, will connect you to our forum. You are responsible for posting all of your assignments on PanFora as you complete them. Please note: Apple users should access PanFora through Netscape; PC users should use Explorer. Also, Apple users should save attachments to PanFora as .rtf documents (rich text format) to allow viewing across different computer platforms.

Writing & Rhetoric Assignments

For this class, you will complete a series of both informal and formal assignments. All assignments must be completed and turned in on time - whether that be by posting them or physically turning in a paper copy. In addition, you are responsible for making additional copies of your papers at various times during the quarter for peer reviewers and for ensuring that the reviewers receive those copies. All paper submissions should be machine-generated and stapled: all written assignments, whether posted or on paper, should contain text that is 1 ½ or double-spaced, in 12 point font, with one inch margins. Papers longer than 2 pages should have a title page and page numbers. Posted submissions should contain a relevant subject title and should also be completed on time.

Assignments (& % of grade):
Participation - 5%

(in-class & on Panfora)

Informal assignments - 15%

("How I Write" assignment; proposal; library topic sheet; peer review forms; preliminary bibliography; group presentation; abstract & annotated bibliography; research photoessay; first paragraph & outline; paper drafts, etc.)

Rhetorical Analysis - 10%
Multiple Sides paper - 20%
Individual Presentation - 5%
Research revision - 40%
Visual Rhetoric Project - 5%

Below are brief descriptions of the writing assignments. More detailed assignment sheets will be distributed at appropriate times during the quarter through our website. It is important that you follow all directions on the assignment sheets; papers will be marked down if they do not complete the assignment correctly - or if they are late.

• Informal Writing Assignments: These may include in-class exercises, free-writes, paragraphs, paper evaluations, a "How I Write" report, and peer review forms. Many of the assignments culminating in the research paper fall under this category and are intended to facilitate the student's progress through the research process. Note: these are informal, not optional assignments: you will receive credit (though not a letter grade) for completing these assignments.
• Rhetorical Analysis: You will write a 3-5 page paper analyzing the visual rhetoric of the text of your choice.
• Group Presentation: Each student will participate in a group presentation.
• Individual Presentation: Each student also will give a work-in-progress research presentation.
• Multiple Sides Paper: Each student will create 3 popular articles that articulate multiple sides on his/her research topic. Each "side" will be 1-2 academic pages in length.
• The Research Project: Over the course of the quarter, you will work on a research project that both engages and utilizes visual rhetoric effectively. We will go through the process of writing a research paper step by step, from writing a proposal, to using the library, performing fieldwork, collecting data, outlining, drafting, and revising. At the end of the quarter, you will produce a piece of original visual rhetoric focused on the topic of your research project.