English 7/806
Instructor: Julia Romberger
Email: jromberg@odu.edu
Phone: 683-4012
Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
Office: BAL 4054
Office Hours: M 2:30-3:30 | W 2:00-3:00 & by appt.
Website: http://jromberger.faculty.digitalodu.com/806sp13/
Course Description
In this course, students will explore how visual elements—verbal and graphical—work within
different types of documents. A combination of readings in theory and research in visual rhetoric
and technical communication will be used in order to better understand how people process
visual information and how that processing is influenced by social expectations and cultural
contexts. This course will provide students with scholarly grounding for their own teaching and
workplace practice.
Students will not only analyze different print and digital compositions, but they will also produce
their own documents using different tools. The practice portion of this course will include
learning several technologies for creating documents. In this class you will:
• Develop a sense of how the interdisciplinarity of the field of Visual Rhetoric and Document
Design complexifies and enriches the discussion of what is rhetorical
• Learn to develop documents with sound rhetorical value
• Understand and apply basic design principles with an eye toward audience need
• Learn image editing basics; you may also explore DreamWeaver, Photoshop, and Fireworks
Reading List
Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook ed. Carolyn Handa
Bedford/St. Martin's (March 12, 2004) ISBN-10: 0312409753
You will also find articles and chapters in Blackboard in the Assignments Section.
I also recommend (but don’t require) especially to anyone doing digital work:
Lidwell, William, et al. Universal Principles of Design: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability,
Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach
Through Design. Rockport Pub./ Beverly, MA (2010) ISBN-10:1592535879
Project Overview
There are 4 projects in this class, some of which are multipart. Below is an overview. More
details will be available off the course website.
Proposals (10 pts)
This 250 word proposal for your Final Project will present a problem to address or a particular
perspective to explore on a topic in visual rhetoric and/or document design. You will need to
provide:
• a thesis
• a theoretical perspective or methodology
• the significance of the project
• 2 - 3 sources (this may also to be used in your Bibliography Blog)
• what visual media you will include and why.
These are due to me in a Word attachment via email.
Bibliography Blog (20 pts)
English 7/806
Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
The idea for these blogs is to create a resource for the class Each 1 of 3 entries is to be written
in APA format. These entries should come from your research and should consist of 500-700
word annotation that covers the following:
• identifies the research question
• discusses the theory or methodology for conducting the research
• summarizes and gives the implications for the conclusions
• discusses how the article fits into both your research and the overall questions posed by the
class
PhD students will sign up to submit one of those articles as a class reading to either the theories
day or the artifacts day near the end of the semester.
Visual Argument (30 - 25/5 split pts)
This is the one collaborative project in the class. You will complete it in teams of 2 - 3. This
assignment will have two parts - the entirely visual component and a individual written 1000
word accompanying essay. I recommend using something you are already familiar with that
handles images well, like PowerPoint. Certainly if you have people who are familiar with Adobe
Photoshop or Dreamweaver, your team should feel free to pursue this options, too.
Final Document Project (40 pts)
This will be a research project with a visual component. Feel free to explore other mediums like
Sophie, a webtext, video components, etc.
There will also be a presentation on this. The presentation is meant to be low-stress, air your
ideas. PowerPoints are encouraged. They won’t be graded.
MA students will complete a 15 - 18 page paper
PhD students will write a 20-25 page paper.
It will also include a minimum of 4 images. You should feel free to branch out from any topic in
the class or to take on something that interests you personally that is relevant to questions of
visual rhetoric and/or document design. You must have:
• a clear research question
• clear thesis
• relevant methodology or theoretical perspective
• Conclusions
• APA formatted bib
Course Calendar Overview
You can find a full version of this calendar at http://jromberger.faculty.digitalodu.com/806sp13/
Week 1 (Jan 16) -
Introduction to Class
Kostelnick
Week 2 (Jan 23) -
Rhetoric of the Visual
Mitchell (bb)
Barthes (VR pp.152-163)
Arnheim (VR pp. 137-151)
Hill & Helmers (bb)
English 7/806
Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
Week 3 (Jan 30) -
What do we mean by design?
Norman (bb)
Atzmon (bb)
Buchanan (VR pp. 228-259)
Porter and Sullivan (VR pp. 290-302)
Proposals Due via Email
Week 4 (Feb 6) -
The Gaze
Foucault (bb)
Mulvey (bb)
Debord (bb)
Bernhardt (VR 94-106)
Annotated Bib Entry #1 due
Week 5 (Feb 13) -
Arguments on Argument
Blair (VR pp. 344-363)
Kenney (VR pp. 321-343)
Williams (bb)
Birdsell (VR 209-320)
Week 6 (Feb 20) -
Fontastic Times
Lupton (bb)
Kinross (bb)
Trimbur (VR 260-271)
Keedy (VR 272-276)
Annotated Bib Entry #2 due
Week 7 (Feb 27) -
Artifacts
Welling (bb)
Rogoff (VR pp.381-394)
Benjamin (bb)
hooks (VR 395-400)
Week 8 (March 6) -
Info Graphics
Tufte (bb)
Kostelnick 2 Atlases (bb)
Lupton and Miller (bb)
Morrison (bb)
Visual Arguments Due
Week 9 (Mar 13) -
Spring Break
Week 10 (Mar 20) -
Technology and its Implications for the Visual
DeVoss, et al (bb)
Arola (bb)
Sheridan (bb)
Lanham (VR 369-371)
Allen (bb)
Annotated Bib Entry #3 Due
Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
English 7/806
Week 11 (Mar 27) -
Applying the Visual to Composing
Hocks (bb)
Wysocki (bb)
Lemke (VR 71- 93)
Kress (VR 38 - 54)
Week 12 (Apr 3) -
Presentations
Week 13 (Apr 10) -
Presentations
Week 14 (Apr 17) -
Theories - PhD student Submissions
Week 15 (Apr 24) -
Artifacts - PhD student Submissions
Late Work
Late work will not be accepted. If there are truly extenuating circumstances, contact me 24
hours prior to the due date. All portions of each project must be turned in or a failing grade will
be given for the entire project.
Incompletes will only be given if 80% of the work has already been completed for the class.
Grading Scale
A+ (100 – 97)
B+ (89–87)
C+(79-77)
D+(69-67)
A (96-93)
B (86-83)
C(76-73)
D (66-63)
A—(92-90)
B—(82-80)
C—(72-70)
D—(62-60)
F (59 and lower)
Course Policies
Project Management
To facilitate your work in this distance education setting you need to do the following:
• Use your ODU email account - This is used by Blackboard, and you must check it on a
regular basis and use it to contact the instructor.
• Write Engl 706 or 806 in the email subject line - In your email, this must be in the
subject line. This will help the instructor and fellow students keep track of emails related
to the class.
• Put your initials and the date in file names - When you send a file to your instructor or
collaborators, this essential information helps everyone keep track of who was working
on which version.
• Bookmark the Course Calendar - Bookmark it and check it before each class. It will be
updated regularly.
• Maintain backup copies - Maintain them religiously. “My computer ate my file” is no
longer a valid excuse in this day of cheap flash drives and Google docs.
Technology and Collaborative Work
English 7/806
Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
You will be expected to learn new technologies to complete projects in this class. I will provide
assistance and resources, but in the end it is incumbent upon you to learn and implement these
technologies.
Collaborative work is a required component of our course. You and your team members are
responsible for updating one another and me about assignment development and progress. In
addition, you also are responsible for negotiating together all aspects of your work including
planning, drafting, revising, file managing, and scheduling of assignments.
You will have the option of “firing” a member of the group who fails to perform their tasks. A
memo detailing the concerns of the group must be given to both myself and the group member
to discuss the issues before the firing occurs. A meeting will then take place. A member fired
from the group must complete the project on their own at a 10% penalty.
Attendance & Punctuality
Attendance is required at all scheduled meetings. More than two (2) absences can result in a
failing grade for the course. Please note that no distinction is made in this course between
excused or unexcused absences. If you must miss class because of a religious holiday or ODU
affiliated extra curricular activity, advance notification must be provided to the instructor to
remove the absence from your record.
Excessive late arrival or failure to prepare for class meetings will result in each incident counting
as an absence.
Ethics & Plagiarism
As per the University's Honor Code, you must do your own original work in English 7/806 and
appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is
borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. Whenever you borrow
graphics, quote passages, or use ideas from others, you are legally and/or ethically obliged to
acknowledge that use, following appropriate conventions for documenting sources. In English
706, the most serious form of academic dishonesty is to recycle another individual's major
project under your own name.
If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others' writing ethically and
legally, ask the instructor. Follow this primary principle: If in doubt, ask. Be up front and honest
about what you are doing and about what you have contributed to an assignment.
Documented Disability
If you have a documented disability, make sure you register with Disability Services
757.683.4655. Once you do so, feel free to talk to me about any special accommodations that
you may need to fulfill the requirements of this course.
Course Evaluation
At the end of the semester, you will have an opportunity to evaluate the instructor and the
course. This is very important for helping the instructor and the department to assess the class.