9/3/2014
Course Description and Learning Goals - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Course Description
English 740 focuses on rhetorical theory and technical and professional communication research in graphics,
document design, and related visual communication principles. Students in this class will study strategies for
analyzing, designing, and revising texts, data displays, illustrations, and other products used by technical and
professional communicators in the workplace.
Course Learning Goals
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
Evaluate various theories and principles of visual communication and design as they relate to technical
and professional communication products across genre, format, and medium;;
Assess the rhetorical function of visual characteristics in established and emerging document models
and genres;;
Analyze texts, data displays, illustrations, and other products used by technical and professional
communicators, ethically applying visual strategies relevant to technical communicators;;
Critique the cultural and social contexts of document production and use;; and
Discuss course topics constructively with many different types of people.
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15443667/View
1/2
9/3/2014
How This Course is Graded - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Components of the Grade
Your course grade will be made up of the following components. The percentage that each contributes to
your final grade is indicated.
50% Discussion Board Posts and Responses
30% Project 1: Textbook mini-­chapter (2500-­4000 words)
20% Project 2: Analysis/redesign project (1500-­2000 words)
Detailed information of the class activities, including rubrics for evaluation, will be provided.
Revision
As indicated in Course Policies, revision of Projects 1 and 2 will be allowed, with the final revisions to each
due by 11:59pm on Monday, December 15.
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15459796/View
1/2
9/3/2014
Required Materials and Technologies - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Required texts
These are available through Instructional Resources. If you have not received your texts by the time readings
are due, please contact IRS.
Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. 2nd ed.
New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Tufte, Edward. Beautiful Evidence. New York, NY: Graphics Press, 2006. Print.
Required technologies
As with all courses in the MSTPC program, this one will make extensive use of technology. Your enrollment in
classes is conditioned on your acceptance of the Online Learning Agreement that you have already or will
shortly have signed, which specifies technologies used in our courses. For the purposes of this class in
particular, you must have the following:
Reliable, consistent, and high-­speed Internet access
The ability to access and use the Learn@UW-­Stout learning management system, as well as your
Stout-­issued email address (this is the only email address to which official course correspondence will
be sent)
Adobe Acrobat, Reader, Apple Preview, or other PDF display software for reading course materials
outside of Learn@UW-­Stout
Access to Skype for online meetings with me, if desired.
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15444323/View
1/2
9/3/2014
Course Policies - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Online Course Guidelines
While usually more convenient than face-­to-­face classes, online courses require that students be more
assertive and take much more responsibility for staying on top of course requirements and deadlines. This
course requires a significant amount of weekly online discussion, and it is not a course that you can simply
check in on every week or two.
This is not a self-­paced course. While you are free to read ahead, our discussions will track the Reading
Schedule established for the course.
Time is of the Essence
Late discussion board posts will not be graded, and will be recorded as missing. The two major projects must
be turned in on time in order to be eligible for revision. As revision can add considerably to your score (see
below), not being able to revise can be a serious hit to your grade.
Revision
Both of the major projects for the course may be revised as often as you wish up until the final deadline for
the course, which is Monday, December 15, at 11:59pm. The revision will be graded using the same rubric as
the original draft, and the original score will be thrown out (i.e., the revised grade will replace the original
grade, rather than averaged with it). Revision can, thus, significantly improve your grade in the course.
I am happy to consult with you at any time about your revisions. Please make an appointment to talk with me.
I won't respond to draft revisions by email unless you append specific questions for me to respond to. That is,
please don't email me a new draft and ask "Is this better?"
Academic Dishonesty
You are responsible for every word in every piece of writing that you turn in with your name on it. You will
draw on the work of others, and will be responsible for attributing both their words and their concepts
appropriately. You will also benefit from the input of your writing workshop group members, but although you
may use their suggestions to improve your work, you may not allow others to rewrite your work for you.
Students who are discovered to have turned in the work of others as their own will fail the assignment or the
class.
Please reference the English and Philosophy departmental policy on plagiarism, and the University of
Wisconsin-­Stout statutory policy, which establishes the procedure that will be used to deal with charges of
academic dishonesty.
Program Ethics Statement
The MSTPC program advocates the Society for Technical Communication’s “Ethical Principles for Technical
Communicators” and works to incorporate these principles into coursework discussions and practice
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15459731/View
1/2
9/3/2014
Reading Schedule - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Below is the reading schedule for the semester, including both required and optional reading. For each
week's discussion, you will find an overview and prompt in the "Weekly Discussion Guide" section of the
Content.
Remember that initial discussion board posts must be made by 11:59pm on Thursday of the week
indicated (dates are provided below) and that a minimum of two responses must be posted by the following
Monday at 11:59pm.
Week 2
Initial post to discussion board Week 2 by Thursday, 9/11;; responses by Monday, 9/15.
Required reading
Kress and van Leeuwen, Introduction, 1-­15
Kostelnick and Roberts, Chapter 1
Optional reading
"Visual Rhetoric: Overview" at the Purdue Online Writing Lab
WikiBooks: Visual Rhetoric (to browse-­-­this is the result of a class project, and while useful, is
not a scholarly source in itself)
Week 3
Initial post to discussion board Week 3 by Thursday, 9/18;; responses by Monday, 9/22.
Required reading/viewing
Watch the film "Helvetica" (available for instant streaming (rental or purchase) on
Amazon.com and iTunes and on Netflix with either a subscription or free trial). More info on the
film as available at its home website
Read Faigley 434-­447 on designing texts and typography
Optional reading
Brumberger, Eva. “The Rhetoric of Typography: Effects on Reading Time, Reading
Comprehension, and Perceptions of Ethos.”
Mackiewicz, Jo. “What Technical Writing Students Should Know about Typeface Personality.”
“Ikea Switches Catalog Typeface, Faces Backlash” at NPR.org (web)
Web Designer Depot. “40 Excellent Logos Created with Helvetica.”
Typography for Lawyers.
21 Most Used Fonts by Professional Designers.”
Melo and Bowen at Smashing Magazine. “Expressive Web Typography: Examples and
Techniques.”
Week 4
Initial post to discussion board Week 4 by Thursday, 9/25;; responses by Monday, 9/29.
Required reading
Kostelnick and Roberts, Chapter 2, "Perception and Design"
Moore and Fitz, "Using Gestalt Theory to Teach Document Design and Graphics"
Johnson-­Sheehan and Baehr, "Visual-­spatial Thinking in Hypertexts"
Week 5
Initial post to discussion board Week 5 by Thursday, 10/2;; responses by Monday, 10/6.
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15439607/View
1/5
9/3/2014
Reading Schedule - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Required reading
Kostelnick and Roberts, Chapter 3, Visual Analysis
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 1, 17-­44
Harrison, "Visual Social Semiotics: Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning"
Optional reading
Kostelnick, "A Systematic Approach to Visual Language in Business Communication"
Week 6
Initial post to discussion board Week 6 by Thursday, 10/9;; responses by Monday, 10/13.
Required reading
Ramage, Bean, and Johnson, "Analyzing Images"
Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, "Visual Arguments"
Optional reading
Gizmodo. “62 Cases Made Against BP Using Photoshop”
Yoos, "How Pictures Lie"
Week 7
During this week you'll be working on Project 1, and there is therefore no reading required.
Week 8
Initial post to discussion board Week 8 by Thursday, 10/23;; responses by Monday, 10/27.
Required reading
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 2, 45-­78
The New York Times, "The Changing Landscape of the Lower Ninth Ward"
Brody et al. "Map-­making and myth-­making in Broad Street: the London cholera epidemic, 1854"
The Lancet
Koch. "The Map as Intent: Variations on the Theme of John Snow." Cartographica
The Guardian. "John Snow's Data Journalism: The Cholera Map that Changed the World."
Optional reading
Tufte, “Sparklines: Intense, Simple, Word-­Sized Graphics," 47-­64
Kimball. “London through Rose-­colored Graphics: Visual Rhetoric and Information Design in
Charle’s Booth’s Maps of London Poverty.”
Kay, Stanforod. “Haiti Recovery: By the Numbers”
McKeon, Matt. “The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook.”
The Washington Post. “Gulf Coast Oil Spill.”
The Art of the Title Sequence. “Dexter (+Eric Anderson interview)”
Tufte. "A Visit to John Snow's Cholera-­Infected Waterpump in London." Week 9
Initial post to discussion board Week 9 by Thursday, 10/30;; responses by Monday, 11/3.
Required reading
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 3, 79-­113
Tufte, "Links and Causal Arrows: Ambiguity in Action," 65-­82
Optional reading
Tufte, "Words, Numbers, Images," 83-­121
The New York Times. “Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options”
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15439607/View
2/5
9/3/2014
Reading Schedule - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
The New York Times. “Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options”
Visual Economics Infographics
NASA Exploration
Week 10
Initial post to discussion board Week 10 by Thursday, 11/6;; responses by Monday, 11/10.
Required reading
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 4, 114-­153
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 6, 175-­214
Schriver, "Quality in Document Design"
Hocks. “Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments.”
Optional reading
Kostelnick, "A Systematic Approach to Visual Language in Business Communication" (repeat)
Week 11
Initial post to discussion board Week 11 by Thursday, 11/13;; responses by Monday, 11/17.
Required reading
Manning and Amare. “Visual-­rhetoric Ethics: Beyond Accuracy and Injury.” In Technical
Communication.
Allen, Nancy. “Ethics and Visual Rhetorics: Seeing’s Not Believing Anymore.” In Technical
Communication Quarterly
Dragga and Voss. “Hiding Humanity: Verbal and Visual Ethics in Accident Reports.” In Technical
Communication.
Optional reading
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 5, 154-­174
Week 12
Initial post to discussion board Week 12 by Thursday, 11/20;; responses by Monday, 11/24.
Required reading
Tufte, "Corruption in Evidence Presentations," 141-­155
McNaughton. “Information Graphics at the Boston Globe: From Concept to Execution.” In
Technical Communication.
Dragga and Voss. “Cruel Pies: The Inhumanity of Technical Illustrations.” In Technical
Communication.
Kostelnick. “Conflicting Standards for Designing Data Displays: Following, Flouting, and
Reconciling Them.”
Optional reading
Tufte, "The Fundamental Principles of Analytical Design," 122-­140.
Kress and van Leeuwen, Chapter 7, 215-­238
Good Magazine, “Transparency: Does Commuting by Car Make You Fat?” Week 13—Thanksgiving
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15439607/View
3/5
9/3/2014
Contacting Me - Visual Rhetoric for Tech Comm-FA14-900C-1033
Email
Email is by far the best way to reach me. My goal is to respond to email by the end of the next business day-­-­
usually sooner than that.
Skype
Skype is the best way to have a synchronous conversation wtih me. My Skype address is DrLiveseyUWStout.
Though I will be signed into Skype during my office hours (see below) there will be times when I cannot take a
call because I am meeting with another student. Schedule a conversation with me by email to be sure of
reaching me.
Phone
There is a phone in my office ( +1 715 232 1358 ), but I am often in conference with students or in the
classroom (or meetings!) and reaching me there is hit-­and-­miss. If you wish to schedule a phone call, I'm
happy to do so. Please email me to set up a time.
Office Hours
My physical office hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 11am Central Time. I am, however,
available for appointments outside those times. I do teach the rest of the day Tuesday and Thursday, so
MWF is better for me in general. I am happy to work around your schedule to the extent that I am able to.
https://uwstout.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/le/content/2582348/viewContent/15459793/View
1/2