Notes on Visual Rhetoric is a somewhat complicated article on the war between the visual and the textual. The authors of the article believe that there is should be no separation of the two The larger problem, perhaps, is that we have isolated textuality, turned it into something that requires its own model, which we then apply indiscriminately to other media. If, as Mitchell claims, all media are actually” mixed media,” we should bring textuality and visuality together, really together, before wepull them apart. What would be the point of separating the two? Text will always be an important source of communication. Although technology is opening up various ways to manipulate text and the visual aspects of reality. There are st6ill standards that have to be met. For instrance interviews, resumes, technical terminology etc. all have specifics that can’t be deviated from. Actually I believe that the visual aspects have created a better environment for those who don’t like to read. In Diane Penrods’ Blogs As A New Writing Genre,she sees blogging as a way for kids to learn. Through these wireless and wired means, blogs show that students- regardless of age- have a deep interest in the written word. Students want to write, to share information, to research and read. But they want to do so on their own terms, not necessarily those that schools and colleges outline for them.” (P. 46)I agree. My daughter hates to read but she will blog on My Space for hours at time. Her typing skills have improved and I’m sure all the reading helps to keep her mind sharp. The two cannot be separated.Rhetoric: the art of effectively using language including the use of figures of speech.Visual: Of or pertaining to seeing or sight. Visuals- Photographs, films, charts, picture elements etc…I looked up the term Visual Rhetoric in the dictionary: It wasn’t there. At least not in the Webster’s college DictionaryThis article sheds light on our reading of the Vocabulary of Comics. I enjoy reading comics. Many of them use pragmatics, metaphors idioms and other types of linguistic aspects to capture details . Visuals help clear up the meaning of what’s going on in the comics. The two work together to relay a message. The authors bring up some strong questions in paragraph 6, that will plague our thinking as we advance further into cyberspace. “How does the visual communicate meaning?…how do we interpret the visual world?. Do we interpret words an differently that we do visual images? If so, what’s the difference? And what’s rhetorical about this process?” How do we answer these questions? -Petisa
TAGGING PROBLEMS October 7, 2007
| TAGS! TAGS! TAGS!!!!!!!!Tags can be confusing. I don’t know about anyone else but tags and categories seem like the same thing to me. There were a lot of questions in class on Wednesday about them. After reading Folksonamies-Cooperative Classification and communication Through Shared Meta data, by Adam Mathes, I got more of an understanding of them. The article starts off confusing my confusion. After reading it a second time it started to make more sense.
On pag 6 he defines categorization- “Categorization is generally less rigorous and boundaries are less clear.” On page 3, he gives specific instructions on using tags in Del.icio.us. “Del.icio.us is not unique or pioneering in its role as bookmarks manager. What seems to be relatively new and different is the emphasis on user added keywords as a fundamental organizational construct. These keywords, which are referred to as “tags” on the site, allow users to describe and organize content with any vocabulary they choose. He goes on the compare Flickr and Del.icio.us to each other based on what users are able to do on each site. Pretty soon campuses around the world will be offering courses titled TAG 101. The following is a set of terms that will be of great importance. Tag-aholic- needs no explanation. Tag-itis- inflamation of your metadata. For me, it’s going to take some practice, so here goes. I’m going to (attempt) to add some tags.- Petisa |
MOVING ON October 7, 2007
Well that was a quick four weeks. It’s hard to believe we are moving on to the next module. At this rate the semester will be over before you know it. I can’t wait to take the writin and Tewchnology course since it’s an extension of this course. We have a lot to finish over the weekend- at least I do. The next assignment is already posted and waiting. OMG, I’m feeling overwhelmed. I’ve been up since 3a.m. trying to figure out some of this material. I’m ready for a nap. -Petisa
TAG CLOUDS October 7, 2007
The tag cloud is a great tool for users to get a quick visual of what a particular blog is about. It could really save the user time by allowing one to decide if it’s something we want to continue reading. The clouds give the words a highlighted pictureof what to expect. I went to the web site http://www.tagcrowd.com to create a tag cloud — the only thing is I can’t figure out how to incorporate it into the wordpress blogs page.If anyone else was able to do so, maybe you can post the directions for me.-Petisa
