DTC 355 - Comics, and, Myself as a Technorhetorician

Comics

Despite the fact that I found it very difficult to read through McCloud's comics this time around, I do find his argument to be a decent one (and by that I mean a true one). Technology is constantly evolving and changing to suit our needs and fantasies; it changes with our newest discoveries. From what I gathered, McCloud is arguing that the evolution of the comic through time is due to our development of different technologies. From the tomb and cave drawings to the screens on our computers, comics have existed in many forms. Comics, McCloud defines, are "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence" (McCloud 200). Though I could argue that not all comics are more than one frame, this is a fantastic definition.

When it comes to the medium in which comics are presented, whether on a wall in a cave or in the comics section of the newspaper, the only thing that changes is the way in which comics are viewed. As McCloud shows, comics have been presented on the screen in the digital world where they "remain a still life" (McCloud 229). This comic still life however, is explored differently on a screen or on the Web. You can click to turn the page, or use the hand tool to drag a .pdf file back and forth. You can zoom in to see the detail. With the constant new discoveries and developments of digital technology, the way in which we explore comics can and will change. With one of the newest technologies being touch screen interaction, users can touch their fingers to a comic and move it across the page to continue reading.

In the last few pages of McCloud's comic, I became confused on whether or not he thought comics had a place in the world of digital technology or if he thought comics were going to explode like the splitting of an atom and disappear. I don't see comics going anywhere at this point, but maybe McCloud is losing hope for his favorite medium of communication. Comics may be presented in different ways but their purpose remains the same.


Myself as a Technorhetorician

Throughout the course of DTC 355 we have read many texts--some good, some bad, and some... very boring (sorry Paul). Once I graduate from WSU, I plan to find a career in some sort of design whether it be print or digital media. A few of these texts that I think will be imperative to keep in mind as I continue to develop as a technorhetorician include:

1. Robin Williams' "Non-Designer's Design Book"
2. Rudolph Arnheim's "Pictures, Symbols, and Signs"
3. Nicholas C. Burbules' "Rhetorics of the Web: hyperreading and critical literacy"

Williams' book really lays out the most important concepts of design. I consider myself a designer, and already knew what a good design looked like (or so I would like to think). However, reading a book about design principles put a name and purpose to everything I do. CRAP, my new favorite acronym, (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity) helps me (and will help me in the future) make conscious decisions about design. Thank you, Robin Williams!

Arnheim's "Pictures, Symbols, and Signs" will also help me in the future when I am placing images in my work. Different images have different purposes. The way Arnheim defined the three functions of an image really hit me and, as Williams did, will help me give purpose and direction through my choices in design. I will be able to make a conscious choice whether or not to use a picture, a symbol, or a sign.

Burbules is one of the authors I really enjoyed reading from. Links are incredibly important on the Web and I certainly will be making some of my own in the future--whether it is on my own personal site or for clients' pages. As Burbules discussed, links are more than just to move the user from A to B and there are many methods to make this move possible. I certainly wont be using catechresis in my links (unless there is a purpose!). Metonymy though, I will use. This cool new word I'd never heard of, will now be something I try to use when making links.



Works Cited

McCloud, Scott. "Reinventing Comics."

DTC 355 - Hook and Sturken

Hook's Dream House

I feel that Hook's high school art class assignment on which she was instructed to design her dream house, did infact take the attention away from "political realities, from class, race, and gender differences" (396-400). On the surface, these things are removed by placing the quality of fantasy on the dream house and by removing the dream house from the context of the designer's life and background. It is my assumption that the art teacher did not know an extensive background on each student, therefore taking away the context and the underlying motivation for the design of each dream house. Hook explains her realization that her dream house infact did illustrate the economic standing of her family; her dreams were the result of "class-based longings" (396-400). She explains that her dream house was designed in a way that was greatly affected by the house she grew up in. Though someone looking at the plans for her dream house might not gather this information, Hook knows it is there.

[Side note: Why exactly does Hook feel so inclined not to capitalize her own name?]

Architecture as a cultural practice.

Architecture is a cultural practice in every way, shape, and form. The materials we use are a reflection of our research. The style and structure of our buildings and dwellings are a result of our opinions on style or what looks good and the development of our knowledge in what works.

The Compton Union Building (CUB), for example, is a reflection of our current awareness (or you could call it an obsession) of the environment and what we as humans are doing to it. The CUB renovation used materials from the original CUB to "recycle" and they have implimented a system that should save energy throughout the building. The current culture of most Americans includes environmental awareness; our culture has created the "Green Movement." This building is a reflection of that.

Additionally, in Marita Sturken's essay The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, she describes the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.. The architecture of a memorial can be a reflection, a snapshot in time, of what culture cared about. In this case, the Vietnam Memorial represents a gash in the ground, a "black gash of shame" in our culture(Sturken 401-416).

Works Cited

Hook, Bell. "Black Vernacular: Architecture as Cultural Practice." Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World. Comp. Carolyn Handa. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Sturken, Marita. "The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial." Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World. Comp. Carolyn Handa. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Is Cornell Scream-ing for Attention?

Don't laugh, I thought it was a clever title. Maybe you don't get it. But who really cares anyhow, here's what's up:

So apparently I live under a rock. Otherwise the advertising for Chris Cornell's new R&B influenced album took a road I don't roll on too often.

Two weeks ago, Cornell released a new album, Scream, produced by the one and only Timbaland. (If you are unfamiliar, he has produced the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Missy Elliott--the man is pretty well-known in the pop world.)



Alright so here's the deal. I haven't heard the album yet, though I fully intend to. Cornell's title track and first single "Scream" is so catchy I can't stand it. Timbaland sucked me in with those sweet beats of his. When I first heard the song about a week ago.. (on my favorite radio station 107.7 TheEnd), I couldn't help but wonder if it was a remix. After the song was over the dj so kindly informed Seattle that it was not. In my mind I'm thinkin', "What has he done?! A whole album of Chris Cornell on a pop extravaganza? Hmmm but I sorta ...like it. The man is CRAZY!"

I could ramble about how I so dearly miss Audioslave and Soundgarden and how I wish I could hear Cornell rock his vox like nobody's business. I could call him a sell-out. I could call him selfish and greedy for attention, calling on one of the top producers to make him a pop star. (In my own healthy opinion, "rock god" is a much cooler title than "pop star", but who asked?) Finally, I could call him a conformist for taking some anti-aging drugs and poking botox needles into his face... Oh, he just has incredible jeans--I mean, genes? Right-o!

In conclusion, "Scream" = my new guilty pleasure.

Watch the music video (which Timbaland so shamelessly appears in) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBjBFEByEDE

Btw, that's some sweet album art.

U2 - No Line on the Horizon

It's been a while since I've written an album review; there just hasn't been a whole lot released lately that I've been genuinely interested in.

When I heard U2 had a new one hitting the stands, I was excited for one reason:

New album = World Tour.

(Which, if you haven't taken a glance at the column on the right, would enable me to check "See U2 in concert" off on my Bucket List.)

OK, now to the review.

I wasn't too interested in hearing the new album--for Pete's sake I wasn't even aware it was released this week, ..nor did I know "No Line on the Horizon" was the title. I was sitting in class yesterday when a friend of mine pointed proudly to the screen of his MacBookPro, "Look what I got. It came out on Tuesday." He had listened to it once through (which is how it's supposed to be done, people) and then listened to a few songs here and there. Overall it sounded like he thought it was one of those albums that grows on you after a few listens.

My friend bought the digital album on Amazon for $3.99, so I decided I'd have to try it out. Why not? I grabbed my Sony headphones, flipped on the noise-cancelling switch and sunk into the couch to take a ride out to "The Horizon." (Okay, that was cheesey.)

"No Line On The Horizon" was as boring as its album cover.

There was nothing to it, no substance, no golden moments. It was flat. Stale. It was Boring. Plain. Unoriginal. Did I say it cost $3.99? I had to use every ounce of self restraint not to skip through every track on the first listen.

With the exception of the second-to-last track, "Breathe", there were no guitar solos. Bridges barely existed on this album. When songs are 5 and 7 minutes long, ideally there is a bit of contrast somewhere. But there was nothing. The intros were long and gave me anxiety. Not only did Bono pull out the talking-but-sorta-singing act (which drives me nuts), he pulled lyrics out from where the sun don't shine. And I don't know if this is just me, but I felt as though Bono's ego was so oversized you could actually hear it.

I get the feeling this one was overworked, overproduced and maybe...just maybe, they tried too hard to be mainstream. You'd think after 11 studio albums, U2 wouldn't feel the need to impress anyone--just make your music, man!

DTC 355 - Clarity-Brevity-Sincerity

The C-B-S model, clarity-brevity-sincerity, represents clear, truthful, and to-the-point communication. This theory of human communication was, at first, a difficult concept to grasp. I might have been thrown off by how unrealistically it represented the communication I've experienced; but then I read on. Lanham goes on to explain that the C-B-S model may be a great theory to recognize, but it is “less useful in practice" (140).

I fully agree with Lanham on this point. The C-B-S model can be an accurate model for a small amount of communication, but I think the majority of human communication leans more on the side of rhetoric; rhetoric being the way in which we conduct an argument. The fact that this model exists, just helps us recognize what rhetoric is and how we utilize style and argument to communicate because we have something to compare it to. Humans do not communicate with full clarity, with full brevity, nor with full sincerity. Lanham points out that his theory "leaves out much of what it sets out to explain--human behavior. And if it does not work as a theory of behavior, still less does it work as a theory of expression" (Lanham 141).

People, sometimes unfortunately, don't always tend to speak with utmost brevity. Personally, it is just against my nature to not have descriptive words flying around. My friends tell me I am the worst story-teller they know. I tend to include the most unnecessary details that usually have nothing to do with the storyline. So I like to paint the whole picture? "Get to the point!" they tell me.

In any case, the C-B-S model model may be a great theory, but it doesn't work too well in practice. I am sure there are cases where it works, but the majority of humans generally have a bit of style, a few extra words here and there, and perhaps not the whole truth in their use of everyday language.



Works Cited

Lanham, Richard A.. The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 130-156.

DTC 355 - Burbules and Links (are cool)

First and foremost, (after reflecting for a minute on Burbules and links), I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the reading. I have never thought about links in the way Burbules presents them, and I think now I am able to further develop my website to incorporate some of these ideas. There is a lot more to links than just moving from A to B!

Links conceal and reveal exactly what the link is pointing to. When you have a link on a page, the link is hiding the destination. When the link is clicked on, the destination is, or should be, uncovered. In some situations, certain links may be more concealing of what they'll reveal than others. Burbules identifies eight different types of links in "Rhetorics of the Web", one of these being Catechresis. Catechresis as a type of link is where "any two things can be linked" (Burbules 116). For example, a link placed on the word "hippo" could take you to a website for trees. This is how some links can be more concealing than others.

Catechresis is the most concealing of the types of links Burbules identifies. One located further up the scale could be a metonymic link. Metonymy is "substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself" (Metonymy). An example of a metonymic link could be an image of a crown or the typed word "crown" as a link to a website about the kings of France.

Burbules did a fantastic job of making the me think about links in a different way. Next time I click on a link or create my own, I will consider the type of link it is and think about how it could be different or why the designer/author might have chosen that particular method of linking.



Works Cited

Burbules, Nicholas C.. "Rhetorics of the Web: hyperreading and critical literacy." Page to Screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era. Ed. Ilana Snyder. London: Routledge.

"Metonymy." WordNet. 2006. Princeton University. 1 Mar 2009 http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=metonymy.

DTC 355 - The Power of Capital Letters... and Punctuation, with a bit of Goffman too.

a. Solomon, Punctuation, and Capitalization
Just as punctuation marks "[move] words along in proper timing and with proper emphasis" (Solomon 289), capital letters have the ability to add tone of voice and importance to words. When thinking of capitalization, some people may think of correctly capitalizing the name of a person or place, the first letter of a sentence, or certain words in a title. When I think of capitalization, I think of words or phrases that are all in capitals. These words or phrases have affect, are a part of design, and may enhance or decrease readability. For example, IF I WERE TO WRITE THIS BLOG IN ALL CAPS, YOU WOULD PROBABLY BECOME RATHER IRRITATED AND GIVE UP. Because I capitalized this sentence, all voice and flow is lost--even with the punctuation. The tone of voice, however, is loud and obnoxious. The format greatly decreases readability--readability being the ease at which the reader can move through the words. Much of reading is not all in the combination and order of the letters, but also in the shape of the word. If you noticed when you read the above capitalized sentence, you probably read it with a bit of choppiness and monotone. This is because your eyes must pause an extra split-second to gather all of the information (the letters) in each word. Furthermore, the capitalization of the first letter of a word brings concreteness and importance to something.

In regards to a new punctuation mark, I believe that all the punctuation marks we need, exist. I am fully able to express myself and add voice to my writing through the use of the available punctuation. I can ask a question, scream using exclamations and capital letters, create an awkward ...pause, and perhaps (create sidenotes or clarification). What more could I need?


b. Goffman and GenderAds
According to Goffman, there are many ways in which social weight is illustrated through advertisements. The women smile the majority of the time while the men are usually serious; men are usually depicted as bigger, taller, stronger than women; the women are nuzzlers by nature; and, women's hands are often used in presenting products (Goffman 28-80).

In advertising today, these many qualities can be found. In the Cheerios pictures below, nuzzling and smiling by the woman are two apparent Goffman-identified qualites. The man in the family picture on the right is barely smiling and he is also slightly separated from the mother and children, which can be read as the head of the family or, the security figure.

Go to http://www.cheerios.com/ to view this image at a larger size.

As the roles of men and women have begun to merge or mix and match, advertisements are still following qualities that Goffman has identified. Men are still depicted as security for women, the power in the room. This is not always necessarily true, even in Goffman's time. However, the principle of size is and status of a person is. Whether the viewer admits it or not, the relative sizing in advertisements always means something--the bigger the better.

In advertising today, many of the same qualities that Goffman identified are still present.

Works Cited

Goffman, Erving. Gender Adverstisements. Harper Torchbooks,

Solomon, Martin. "The Power of Punctuation." Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Carolyn Handa. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.