Eng

239 Course Calendar: Subject to Change

Date In-Class Activities/Readings Readings for the next class
period
Unit 1: Visual Literacy Narrative

Week 1 Course introduction
Tuesday Introductions to course and syllabus. Read: “Multimodality,
Multimedia, and Genre” on
Introduce unit 1: linguistic communication and reggienet.
Digital Literacy Narrative assignment.

Thursday Discussion on the five modes of communication. Read Lloyd Bitzer’s “The
Digital vs. Multimodal. Rhetorical Situation,” and James
Porter’s “Forward” on reggienet
Watch David Foster Wallace “On Ambition”
Week 2 How Technology Changes The Way we
Communicate
Tuesday Discuss Bitzer and Porter, and the tools we use to Read “Burke’s Representative
communicate. Anecdote as a Method of Media
Criticism” on reggienet. Find an
Discuss the tools you use to communicate in social example of media representing
and academic settings. reality, and bring it to class.

Thursday Discuss the role of media, and what rhetorical
purpose it can have.

Discuss peer review.

 Have a copy of Digital Literacy Narrative for class
on Tuesday for peer review.
Unit 2: Photo Essay

Week 3 Peer Review and Unit 2

Tuesday Peer review for Digital Literacy Narrative. Read: "Expanding Perspectives
For Comprehending Visual
Digital Literacy Narrative due Wednesday by Images In Multimodal Texts."
midnight.

Thursday Introduce unit 2: visual rhetoric.

Discuss Panofsky and the levels of visual literacy.

Week 4 Studying visuals, and demarcating meaning

Tuesday Genre studies: Examine visual texts, infographics, Read: “Toward a Visual
listicles, infographics, and graphic novels.
Argument”
Discuss how these genres use visuals with text.
Thursday Discuss “Toward a Visual Argument,” and the value Wiki post 1 due by midnight
in visuals. Saturday

Discuss infographics: Numberphile youtube video
on infographics.
Week 5 How can images tell a story?

Tuesday Discuss citations and contextualization of images. Read: “The Vocabulary of

How can images tell a story? Comics” on reggienet.

Bring in an image that has
Watch David Griffin’s TED talk “How Photography meaning for your unit 2 project.
Connects Us.” Be prepared to show these to
your classmates.
Thursday Continue the discussion of the story images can Read: “The Wall the Screen the
create. Discuss “The Vocabulary of Comics.” Image” on reggienet.

Discuss your images in small groups.
Week 6 Making Space for Images

Tuesday Discussion of “The Wall the Screen, The Image.” Read “Pictures, Symbols, and
Signs,” and “Rhetoric of the
Image” on reggienet.

Thursday Reading discussion/group quiz on readings. Finish a draft of your unit 2

Open lab/conference opportunity.
project. Bring a copy for peer

review for our next class.

Week 7 Peer review/finishing touches

Tuesday Peer review session for unit 2 project

Thursday Unit 2 project due by midnight

Unit 3: Podcasting

Week 8 Hear me out: genre studies and mechanics of

podcasts
Tuesday Introduce unit 3: podcasting. Genre studies on

podcasts.

Thursday Genre study presentations Wiki posting 2 due Saturday by

midnight.

Week 9

Tuesday Spring break

Thursday Spring break Read: “Consider the Lobster” on

reggignet.

Week 10 The affordances of audio

Tuesday Discuss “Consider the Lobster,” and listen to a Read: “Music and Identity” on

reading. Discuss the merits of text vs. audio. reggienet. Pick a song that you
 Discuss the basics of recording with Audacity. feel has a strong rhetorical

message and bring it to class for

discussion.

Thursday Discuss music, the potential of audio. Conduct ambient ethnography

Discuss the rhetoric of drums and John Bonham assignment. Be prepared to

present next Thursday.

Read “Don’t Make English

Official” on regginet, browse

The Onion, and listen to an

episode of The Bugle podcast.

Week 11 Satire in action

Tuesday Discussion of satire, podcasts, and the rhetoric of Read “Rhetoric’s Mechanics:

the inane. Reteaching the Equipment of

Writing Production,” and

 "Podcasting And Performativity:

Multimodal Invention In An

Advanced Writing Class" on

reggient.

Thursday Ambient ethnography results. Bring a draft of your unit 3

Discuss of place, and its effect on audio. project to class for peer review.

Week 12 Peer review/unit 3 finale

Tuesday Peer review for unity 3

Thursday Unit 3 due. Conference day. Wiki posting 3 due by midnight

Saturday.

Unit 4: Web Design

Week 13 Genre Studies

Tuesday Introduce unit 4: web design. Homework: Read Chapters 1-3

Genre studies on web design. in “Don’t Make Me Think”

 Thursday Genre studies presentations.

Class discussion on what makes a good website.

Week 14

Tuesday

Thursday Conferences

Week 15

Tuesday Conferences

Thursday Conferences Read chapters 7 & 9 in “Don’t

Make me Think.”

Week 16

Tuesday Unit 4 usability test.

Thursday Unit 4 due by midnight.