English 419 - Spring 2012 Visual Rhetoric

Instructor Information
Instructor: Valerie Thomas E-Mail: vthomas@unm.edu Office: 256 Humanities Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 1-3 p.m. or by appointment. Please note: the best way to contact me is to send a mail message using the WebCT Mail tool.

Course Materials
Designing Visual Language by Charles Kostelnick and David Roberts. Second edition. Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication. 2011. The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin Williams. Third Edition. Peachpit Press. 2008. Access to Microsoft Office and InDesign (see Course Description below)

Course Description
This course will prepare you to work with visual elements of textual communication page design, graphic design, webpage design, poster design, etc. Design in its broadest sense is an academic and professional discipline that requires years of study, in many cases both as an undergraduate and graduate, and that study is not done in English departments. For this course, you will consider yourself a writer who, because of the demands of computer technology, must understand principles of proper design and how to communicate visually in the documents you create. Thus your goal is to create effective layout and design work and to be able to talk sensibly to professional designers and printers. To reach this goal, you will need to have access to and develop and demonstrate facility with computer programs. To help you learn how to use the computer programs to create visual elements in documents, I will provide demonstrations and videos on how to use Office 2007/2010 and InDesign. These programs are available for free download. Links to the download web pages are available in WebCT. (If you have a Mac, the demonstrations and videos I provide do not cover Mac applications. Please contact me for help with Mac applications.)

Course Objectives
After completing this course, you should be able to

Analyze documents in terms of their ability to use visual design principles to meet their purpose, communicate effectively with their intended readers, and address contextual factors. Understand the principles of design and be able to implement these principles in the documents you create. Use software (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign) to create documents that implement effective document design. Understand publishing considerations so you are able to work efficiently with printers to create professional documents.

Assignments & Class Activities

During the semester, you will analyze the design used in existing documents to help you understand the theory and process of visual rhetoric. You will also create four documents used in professional settings. As you create each document, you will analyze the documents rhetorical situation (purpose, readers, and context) and use the design principles you learn to create documents that meet these needs. In the process, you will use a variety of software applications to create the documents you design. Please note: you must submit all of your Design Projects in PDF format to ensure that the formatting/design you create is retained when I open your project on my computer. If you submit projects in the native software application, I may be unable to view the fonts, pagination, graphic elements, and images you include in your document. Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 for Windows, Microsoft Office for the Mac, and InDesign all have the ability to save the work you create in PDF format. I will provide information on how to access this feature when you are working on the first design project. The grading breaks down as follows: ASSIGNMENTS Design Analysis Design Project #1 Design Project #2 Design Project #3 Memo & Draft of Final Project Final Project Discussions (15 at 10-points each) Reading Quizzes (14 at 10-points each) Exercises (3 at 20-points each) Web-Conferences (5 at 10-points each) Total POINTS 100 100 100 100 50 150 150 140 60 50 1000

I try to be fair when I put a grade on a paper. Nevertheless, if you think I have misjudged or misinterpreted your work, contact me so we can talk to me about it. You created a high quality assignment that meets the requirements, is complete in content, and indicates you understand and can apply design principles and theory effectively. Your assignment shows strong effort and needs very little or no revision. You created a solid assignment that meets the requirements but needs some revision. Effort is apparent but you need to pay more attention to the material you have been studying. There are some errors or problems. Your assignment meets most but not all of the requirements but needs quite a bit of revision. Your assignment needs more creativity and effort. There are a number of errors or problems. You completed the assignment but it needs a lot of revision. Your content is incomplete, your organization is hard to follow, and your design work doesnt meet the purpose or readers needs. Your assignment shows very little effort. You didn't submit the assignment, you didn't follow the directions in the assignment, or you committed plagiarism. It is clear you didnt apply the information you have learned in creating the assignment.

A+ to A100-90%

B+ to B89.9-80%

C+ to C79.9-70%

D+ to D69.9-60%

F
Under 60%

Web-Conferences
I will hold web-conferences to discuss key ideas related to the assignments you are working on. The dates of the web-conferences are listed in the Course Schedule. You are required to attend the conferences and I will grade participation. If you miss a conference, I will record each webconference so you can view it afterwards. To show you viewed a web-conference you missed and gain points for it, you may send me an email within four days of the web-conference that summarizes what you learned. I will also offer individual web-conferences to help you with the software you are using. The web-conference tool (Elluminate) will allow you to share your computer screen with me so I can walk you through how to use specific aspects of the software to achieve the design effect you want. Please note: To participate in the web-conference, you will need a set of speakers or headphones, and a microphone. I recommend USB equipment: entry models are widely available through computer supply stores, online, or at the UNM Bookstore. You will also need to test your and setup your equipment prior to the web-conference. I will provide a practice web-conference session for you to use to test and setup your equipment.

Online Discussions/Attendance
Each week you will participate in an asynchronous online discussion with other students to discuss readings, concepts you are studying, and assignments. Participating in the weekly discussions shows you are attending the course. If you do not regularly participate in the online discussions it is the same as not attending class. Please note: I reserve the right to drop students from this class who fail to participate in three weekly discussions. Additionally, missing or not fully participating in discussions will negatively affect your grade for the course.

FAQs about online discussions:

1. How many online discussions will there be each week? There will be one online discussion each week. We wont have a discussion during Spring Break so there will be 15 discussions. 2. How often should I participate in the weekly discussion? You should post an initial response to my discussion prompt plus two or more follow-up responses to your group members postings or additional questions/comments I pose. In this way, you will develop a conversation on topics presented in class to enhance your understanding of key concepts. 3. When will the weekly discussion open and close? I will open the weekly discussion topic on Monday evening of each week. It will close at midnight on the following Sunday night. 4. When are my discussion postings due? Your first response is due by Thursday midnight and your additional responses are due by Sunday midnight. This gives you three days to post your first response and three days to provide responses to your group members or me. 5. How much are discussion responses worth? You can earn up to 10-points total for each online discussion. I award up to 5-points for your initial response and up to 5-points for your responses to your group members postings. 6. When do you grade discussion postings? On Monday of each week, I will review your postings for the previous discussion and assign a grade from 0 to 10-points. 7. How do you grade discussion postings? I check to see if your response to my prompt relates to the discussion topic, references information from the textbooks, includes supporting details and examples, and shows you have given serious thought to the discussion topic. I also review your response postings to your group members to see if you responded to their ideas thoughtfully and thoroughly. If you do this and do it well, you get full credit. If your responses are hurried and short, and dont relate to the topic effectively, you wont get full credit.

8. What happens if I dont submit a response in time? If you submit a response after the deadline, I deduct 2-points for each day late. Please dont be late though. Your group members are counting on you to post timely responses. 9. How long should I make my discussion responses? I dont count words. However, to provide a thoughtful and useful response, in most cases you will need to post at least two paragraphs (approximately 200 words or more) to my initial response and at least a paragraph (100 words or more) in response to the postings of two or more students in your discussion group or to my questions/comments. Remember, however, that it is better to post a short response rather than nothing and receive both an absence and a zero for that weeks discussion.

Course Expectations
This course functions much like a standard classroom course. Just as you need to attend a regular class several times a week, you need to virtually attend this class several times a week. The students who are most successful login to online courses at least every other day. However, you can choose the time of day and where to participate...at the library, at home, or anywhere you have Internet access. Also, remember to review the course schedule to keep up with the assignments that are due each week. There are weekly deadlines for quizzes, discussions, and assignments. As an upper-division course, you should expect to devote approximately 5-10 hours to this course each week. This includes the two and a half hours you would normally spend attending a regular class (reviewing weekly course materials, participating in discussions and webconferences, and completing quizzes) and time spent reading and working on assignments. All announcements/changes/due dates will be posted on WebCT: It is your responsibility to check WebCT for communications and any changes to the course several times a week.

Late Work
All assignments are due by 11:59pm on the dates listed on the syllabus. If you are late with an assignment, you must write me an e-mail that tells me that you will be submitting the assignment late and when I should expect it. If you fail to inform me that your work will be late, I will not accept your assignment. Please note: Submitting work late will result in a 10-percent per day deduction from your grade for the assignment. This means that you will lose an entire grade for each day your assignment is late.

Grammar, Punctuation, and Typos

In this class, we will talk about grammar issues when appropriate, but you should have mastered English grammar and correct punctuation by this point in your academic career. You should also make sure to review your work to locate any typos. If I find grammatical mistakes, spelling or punctuation errors, or typos in your work, they will negatively affect your grade.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the using of anothers language and/or ideas without acknowledging the source. The University considers plagiarism a serious form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism in this course results in one or more of the following consequences: failure of the assignment, failure of the course, and disciplinary action by the University. Always cite your sources.

Course Policies
Positive Learning Environment: The English Department affirms its commitment to the joint responsibility of instructors and students to foster and maintain a positive learning environment. Access to Education: Qualified students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should contact me as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner. Contact the Accessibility Services Resource Center at 277-3506 or through their website at http://as2.unm.edu/ for information on available assistive technology and services. UNM Policies: This course falls under all UNM policies for last day to drop courses, etc. Please see http://www.unm.edu/studentinfo.html or the UNM Course Catalog for information on UNM services and policies. Please see the UNM academic calendar for course dates, the last day to drop courses without penalty, and for financial disenrollment dates.

WebCT Information
Technical Support: If you are having technical problems with WebCT, contact free technical support: Phone (505) 277-5757 M-F 8AM-5PM, Email webct@unm.edu, or on the Web at http://webct.unm.edu Copyright: All materials used in this course both as handouts and on WebCT fall under copyright laws and should not be downloaded, distributed, or used by students for any purpose outside this course.