WRTC 351—VISUAL RHETORIC

Dr. Pavel Zemliansky

Office: 2285 Harrison Hall
Office Hours: TTH, 8.00-9.30am, 11am-12.30pm, and by appointment
E-mail: zemliapx@jmu.edu
Phone: 87056

Course Goals and Objectives:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Recognize and use fundamental principles and terminology of visual rhetoric

• Construct fluent hybrid textual/visual and visual arguments.
• Gain basic skills in using digital technology useful for the creation of such
arguments
• Learn to use visual media in independent projects.

Course Assignments

• The Ongoing Blogging Assignment 20%

• Discussion Leading 10%
• Collaborative Project:
Harrisonburg-a Visual Ethnography 20%
• Independent Visual Media Project
with a written analysis and presentation 30%
• Class Participation 20%

Please refer to the Assignments section of the class website for detailed description of
each project. IN ORDER TO PASS THE CLASS, YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL
ASSIGNMENTS.

There is no final exam in this class, but I reserve the right to assign short in-class quizzes
and tests on home readings from time to time.

Required Texts and Resources

1. Defining Visual Rhetorics.

2. Essentials of Visual Communication
3. Access to the online readings posted online (see the online readings section)
4. A Flickr (Yahoo!) account and membership in the class Flickr group
5. Access to the class Youtube channel for posting of video clips.
6. Regular and Reliable access to the Internet and a space for publishing electronic
projects.
 Please note that it will be your responsibility to find and use an online space for
your electronic projects. The visual ethnography and the independent visual
media project will have to be published online, and I will not access them on CDs,
jump drives, and other portable media. I most cases, you should be able to publish
these projects on the class website, embedding photos and video clips into pages
of text. However, I expect you to publish your photos on Flickr and all them to the
Flickr class group, and your video clips—on the class Youtube channel. I will
distribute the sign-in information for the class Youtube channel later. Links to
both the class Flickr group and the Youtube channel are located on the class
website

If you decide to make a website or a visual collage of some kind (for example,
using Photoshop), you will have to find a space to publish it and a means to share
it with us. I will help you with that as much as time allows, but it is primarily your
responsibility.

All the books can be purchased from the JMU bookstore.

Attendance

I take attendance, and attending class is mandatory. You are allowed to miss 2 classes
with no excuses or explanations necessary. The reasons for these may be minor illnesses,
headaches, unexpected trips home, etc. If you fall ill and are forced to miss more than the
allowed number of classes, I will expect proof of why you were unable to attend. Every
missed class after this will result in your lagging behind the rest of us in the course and a
reduced participation grade. You participation grade will be reduced by half a letter for
each unexcused absence over two.

When you miss a class, for whatever reason, you will need to complete the work you
missed. I expect you to come to the next class fully ready to participate and with the
homework completed.

Late Work

I do not accept late work. If you must be late on an assignment (including a blog post or a
draft of a project), be sure to arrange for an extension with me before the deadline. After
the deadline, for every 24 hours during which the assignment is late, I will automatically
reduce your grade for that project by one letter.

Inclement Weather

We have been having a rather cold and snowy winter so far. If there is bad weather, we
will have class if the university is open. Visit the JMU website to check for closures. If
the university is closed, I will give you an assignment to complete online on the class
website.
Americans and Disabilities Act Information

If you require special accommodations, you must provide a letter from the Disability
Services during the first week of classes.

Class Outline

Please note that the class calendar on the website will contain day-by-day assignments
and that the outline below is the general list of things to expect. Please also note that
minor changes in the deadlines are possible, depending on the progress of the class. It is
your responsibility to keep up with the calendar and with any changes that may occur. If
something is not clear, please ask.

The class will be broken up in three units.

Unit 1: Weeks 1-4

Introduction to visual rhetoric

Readings: Introduction to Cultural Semiotics, Cultural Icons, Hill and Helmers, Parts of
Essentials of Visual Communication.

This is the most reading and blogging intensive part of the course.

Written Deliverables: Blog Posts and comments

Guest Speaker at the end of Week 4

Unit 2: Weeks 5-8

The Harrisonburg Visual Ethnography Project. Final due the week before Spring break,
drafts and benchmark assignments due throughout the project

Readings: Introductory readings about visual anthropology; Parts of Essential of Visual

Communication

Week 9—Spring Break

Weeks 10-15

Individual visual media Project work.

Project due at the end of Week 14. Presentations in class during week 15.