Illumination
To begin today we will review the work and page notes of the last few weeks and the assignments due in the coming weeks. The quarter is fast coming to a close. Be mindful of the work that must be completed to pass this English class.
A quick recap of recent work:
Essay 3 (a summary of the posted article).
Essay 4 (a poetry explication of "Illumination").
Essay 5 (a short report stemming from the article"Climate Change Will Cause More Energy Breakdowns" published in the NewYork Times) is due today. I'd like to look at a few, in fact, during class; by means of the shared drive the entire class may profit from the individual work you have composed.
Essay 6 (a local field report) is due week 9 for presentation.
Essay 7 (a short report with full MLA documentation) is due week 10, at the start of class.
Essay 8 (in-class final) will be assigned week 10 and due at the end of class week 10 or 11.
All of the assignments above are geared to writing that takes account of the creative work and research or reporting of others and that requires accuracy in representation and the use of textual evidence in support of claims, the sine qua non of academic writing.
--------------Writing About Images
We experience the world through our senses and mind, reading the meaning of color, shape, sound, texture, form, composition in the images endlessly playing in our perceptual fields. The images that culture produces–photographs, films, commercials, drawings, paintings, cartoons, logos, graphics, etcetera–these may be “read” and elicit our response just as a written text might. What can one learn from visual representations? Can one analyze the particular messages or meaning conveyed, interpret the story told, point or theme illustrated? Indeed, whether we want to understand the documentary value or the aesthetic appeal of a particular image, or the social, political, or economic interests and attitudes that an image represents, close study of visual representations can be fun and insightful activity.
How do advertisers get us to buy? What makes a particular photograph resonate? What storylines or themes implicit in images make us pause? How to begin identifying or “reading” the source content?
The following guidelines should help you write cogently about visual representations:
Source, Purpose, Audience
*Identify the context of the image(s) or video; that is where and how it has been published and distributed or exhibited. To what end or purpose was it created, and by whom?
*What audience does the image address or appeal to? How so?
*What is the most prominent element or figure in the image? And the primary focal point?
*Identify the important objects and figures of foreground and background, consider the literal and expressive details of each, and their collective arrangement in the composition.
*What story or event is depicted or implied?
*What mood or emotion or idea(s) are put in motion by the use of light and dark, color, balance or lack thereof, the use of white space, graphic text or other elements, etcetera?
*To the extent the image persuades by feeling, mood, dramatic content, and so on, what is to be learned?
What do the uses of the image suggest about culture, politics, social life, art, history, the human condition?
Essay Practice: We will be writing about a single image or video piece, and its bearing on the larger issue(s) to which it speaks.
Some options we will consider are listed below. Keep track of titles, authors, photographers, and posting sites so that MLA documentation can be completed.
(1) The following URL affords a fairly extensive photo archive that we will use for class practice in presenting and interpreting visual images. You will choose one image for a short work of 350-500 words that describes the image and the idea(s) it serves to illustrate or the questions to which it gives rise, whether social, historical, political, philosophical, aesthetic, technological, existential . . . . You must have a point to make in addressing the image and support that point by means of reference to the image. You do not have to be an expert on the subject the image addresses or implies, but you should be able to identify something about its impact and merits to make an interesting short essay.
(2) Some online periodicals provide a fairly large number of the work of cartoonists, who offer perspectives on matters making the news, in politics, sports, environment, etc. Choose one from the daily offering or the archives, describe the image and any accompanyng text, the artist or author, and the story, matter, or issue it addresses. You can google key words associated with the pictured material, and find recent news reports that may enhance your understanding of what is being depicted. Humor is typically an important element in cartoon work and you may have fun presenting readers the material. Avoid selecting any piece you do not get. 350-500 words, titled, double-spaced lines.
You should include references to author or relevant sources in text and at the bottom of the piece in the MLA format.
* The world of images obviously exceeds the postings above, and if you have some alternative image example, you may elect to work with it.
An alternative to this practice involves getting together with one or more classmates to discuss an issue important to you all, airing your thoughts, concerns, and collective knowledge. As a pair or group, you will google some very narrowly focused area of the subject matter to see what can be learned from recent reports or the opinions expressed by others. Each of you will write about the issue, incorporating into the paper some of what your classmates have had to say, your own beliefs, and any important items of fact or opinion expressed in news reports.
Whew! Sounds difficult, doesn't it? But it is not, really. You will hash out the matter between yourselves to determine how you each see a particular issue, its importance today and in the years ahead. You will have to write down some of the interesting questions and comments generated in your group discussion. Some of these you will use to illustrate the issue and the range of responses it generated in your discussions. Each of you will write your own paper and in the course of it show what one or more of your classmates had to contribute to the discussion. You will quote, paraphrase, or summarize briefly their views. You could even use the question/answer format for part of the piece. Above all, have some fun and try to learn more about the subject and your classmates' experience.
Listed below are some of the topics I have received in previous quarters:
1. Threats to the environment, including climate change and pollution.
2. The weak economy and high rate of unemployment.
3. The struggle to legitimize gay marriage.
4. Threats to our food supply and/or what's wrong with the Farm Bill.
5. The high cost of education today.
6. The technology race. Should we spend for 4g phones and all the rest?
7. Fast food. The real costs.
8. The costs of war and militarization.
9. Culture rot or the dumbing down of society by media.
10. The threat posed by overpopulation.
