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 |
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
It is over October 5, 2007
This module was very fun and interesting. I learned a lot about the internet and all the possibilities. And even though I was very unsure about the whole blogging thing, I enjoyed it while it lasted. Im gonna miss getting to be on the computer during class! Hopefully now I can use all the different aspects of the Internet to my advantage as I continue my education!
Zotero October 5, 2007
Class Wednesday was really informative for me. It reminded me of a discussion we had in class in the beginning of this module where Dr. Wolff was asking us what we did with our information so we could always refer to it later. How would you be able to access a page you referenced possibly years after you used it for a paper? Back then, no one really had an answer. Wednesday, however, we took a look at Zotero, which is a site that allows us to save documents we find online through databases or other forms of research, bookmark them, and even tag them with key words that will allow us to find the specific information later. After doing that, the site would forever remain on your computer and at the click of the mouse, you could find that article whenever you wanted without having to go through all the hassle of trying to remember where you got it from. This, to me, is amazing because I, for one, do not like doing research. Even more so, I do not like having to take extensive notes while doing research. With this tool, and other ones like it, the time it takes to find information later on is greatly reduced, making our projects less stressful and annoying. I’m sure, beyond this class, I will put this tool to good use J
I am very technology illiterate, so learning about all these new things is pretty exciting for me. Yeaa… I’m a complete dork. hahaha
-Amanda
Presentations October 4, 2007
I thought that the presentations on Wednesday were extremely interesting. Getting introduced to those different tool including goodreads and zotera made me think about why I wasn’t aware of them before. Zotera is an amazing tool that many students would surely take advantage of if they were actually aware of what it was. It allows you to take credible information and save it instead of having to take notes for a research project. I for one hate taking notes and was very glad that I now know how to take advantage of Zotera and the other sites and programs that are available on the Internet. Doing these presentation it made me think a lot about what else the Internet may offer us that we are totally unaware of. There are so many possibilities on the Internet and it is unfortunate that many people do not take the time to search for them and essentially make their lives a lot easier. Hopefully our presentations will get the word out and some of us can tell our friends how cool the Internet really is.
Website Presentations October 4, 2007
What did you guys think about the three sites we looked at today? I really liked them. Especially Goodreads for a personal space to join others who like to read the same types of books that I enjoy. It’s the perfect place for me because I love to read. I’ve been wanting to join a book but just couldn’t find the time to do it. But this is even better because it will allow greater flexibility. The site that my group did was Zotero. An excellent one for your research projects. It’s a time saver when it comes to organizing your materials and connecting to Amazon books and the library databases. Too bad it’s only used with Fox Fire. I ‘ll definitely be checking out these sites in more dept. -Petisa
Response to group 4 October 3, 2007
| Group 4 expressed some good points about identity. Here is a good example of how communication and blogging allows you to talk more openly about issues you would not talk about to others face to face.At 11:27a.m. Emily Sophia proceeds to tell the group about an 8th grade relationship that didn’t work out. “…I was a dumb little naive girl who thought everyone told the truth…” she goes on to say “… I don’t really tell many people that story.” Alias replies: “…you have told the entire class.” Another point to bring out is that their group seemed to bond. They were making plans about an upcoming concert. They started off as strangers in an assigned group and managed to make connections with each other. In the real world of blogging we’ve seen where this has led to girls running away from home, and men being arrested for attempting to have sex with minors.
Another topic that was discussed was the legality of downloading music. I believe that if the music is free and the artists agree with it then it’s not stealing. But if your’s supposed to pay for it then pay for it and enjoy it. There are other ways to listen to your favorite songs. You can borrow the CD from a friend. Some of the libraries have a wide selection of CD’s that include a lot of new music.
This also brings up another point for me. We pay all kinds of fees and taxes to have access to the internet. Most of those fees make absolutely no sense to me, but every month we faithfully send in a check to these companies for a service. Where does all this money go? Maybe the companies should have a special allotment included for downloading rights. I personally can’t see myself paying to download any music. Not even my favorite artists. I’d rather have the concrete product in my hand. This is from Devoss and Porters’ Why Napster matters to writing: Filesharing as a new ethic of digital delivery: “…the feel of the CD case and the opening of a Brand New Product….the artwork and inserts that come with a purchased CD. petisa |
The “Collective Unconscious of Mankind” October 2, 2007
The chat log that was most interesting to me was the Reality and Identity Group 3. They brought up a lot of points in their conversation that were very intriguing and worth mentioning. One of the statements that really grabbed me was Be Smith’s reference to the internet as the “collective unconscious of mankind”. This could not be more true. From my own interpretation, he is basically saying that when we post things online we do it almost unconsciously, without a thought or care that other people may be reading them. We use the internet (mostly blogging) as a digital diary where we can let our opinions, beliefs, fears, and even deepest secrets seep into another world; a dangerous world where everything is at stake, up front, and ultimately, permanent. This is similar to papers we hand in to professors expressing our beliefs on a particular topic. However, it is very very different in the sense that only the professors will be reading that paper, whereas online their will be more people perusing through our thoughts.
The group goes on to discuss how people tend to share things on the internet that they wouldn’t usually say. They feel safer because they aren’t in direct contact with the people they are communicating with. With the internet, we are communicating with the whole world; anyone and everyone. That, to us, sounds OK because “everyone” is doing it and that is where the “collective” part of Be Smith’s comment fits in. The internet is basically everyone’s diary. So, having said this, when we look at things like authorship a question arises of who is the true author. In some sense, we are all authors, publishing stories that are stocked in a global, digital library where not even a library card needs to be swiped or a dime needs to be spent in order to review someone else’s work. Ultimately, considering the openness off the internet, it is important that we become more conscious of what we are posting on certain cites, considering it is impossible for it to be completely erased. It isn’t like a written diary where you can write your entry, lock it with a key, and keep that key safe; in reality, the diaries we contribute to on the internet are forever and indefinitely open. -Amanda
Our Identities October 2, 2007
Watching the video on identity with Dick Clarence Hart was enlightening. He defines idendy as “Who you are.” I never thought about it the way he describes the many aspects of who we are. Most of the time when we think about identity we think in terms of – Name, date of birth, place of birth, address, sex, Social security number, and drivers’ license. In this video, he proves that identity is much more. It involves our likes, dislikes, relationships and activities. In our class discussions there’s a lot to be said about people hiding their true identities. We watched as lonelygirl deceived the world about her true identity. In the MUDs people lie about who they are using all types of character names. In class people even felt secure about talking about or saying things that they ordinarily wouldn’t say in person.Hart’s Identity 2.0 is just another step into the future of technology. It sounds as if it could be beneficial for security purposes. At the same time it could also take away from the fun of just being free to express oneself. People have to use common sense when they are corresponding with strangers or conducting business. Who knows, maybe one day there will be sites that collect your DNA or uses, retina/voice recognition or even …… …collects fingerprints? petisa
