Category Archives: Class Discussion

Crowdsourcing Lebduska’s article on Racist Visual Rhetoric

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Here, we’ll start the discussion we’ll continue in class next week about Lebduska article, “Rasist Visual Rhetoric and Images of Trayvon Martin.”

This is an opportunity to make sense of the article together (similar to how we each write our excerpts/questions on the whiteboard in class), so let’s first tackle what the article is actually saying by crowdsourcing her main claims (thesis, points, evidence in support of those points) here. Then we can also unpack them, asking clarifying questions, complicating them, challenging then with provocations and counter-arguments, etc.

Don’t forget to include citations in MLA format when you refer to the text.

Crowdsourcing Ben Wetherbee’s article on Memes, Topoi, and Politic Rhetoric

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Here, we’ll continue the discussion we began in class today about Wetherbee’s article, “Picking Up the Fragments of the 2012 Election: Memes, Topoi, and Political Rhetoric.”

This is a challenging article (on many levels), so let’s first tackle what the article is actually saying by crowdsourcing his main claims (thesis, points, evidence in support of those points) here. Then we can also unpack them, asking clarifying questions, complicating them, challenging then with provocations and counter-arguments, etc.

Don’t forget to include citations in MLA format when you refer to the text.

Crowdsourcing Laura Gries’s article on Circulation and Iconographic Tracking

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Here, we’ll continue the discussion we began in class this week about Gries’s article, “Iconographic Tracking: A Digital Research Method for Visual Rhetoric and Circulation Studies.”

This is a challenging article (on many levels), so let’s first tackle what the article is actually saying by crowdsourcing her main claims (thesis, points, evidence in support of those points) here. Then we can also unpack them, asking clarifying questions, complicating them, challenging then with provocations and counter-arguments, etc.

Don’t forget to include citations in MLA format when you refer to the text.

Tracking Viral Visual Images

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Today in class, we’re building on the thinking / work you’ve done with the readings, and also your first drafts of this week’s presentation in order to see how images circulate / make visual arguments in practice. Therefore, each group will work on the image of the drowned Syrian boy who washed on the shore, recently.

Young boy washed up on the beach.

Photo credit: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/shocking-image-of-drowned-syrian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees

This image has gone “viral” in a number ways, and is a fascinating case study (much like the Obama Hope image that Greis explores) of how images circulate.

In pairs, you will research this image together, track its circulation, and discuss what you find. You will have 15-20 minutes together to do this. Make sure to take notes as you can, and before we come back together as a class to discuss the assignment, you and your partner should make a collaborative post (include both of your names), summarizing your thoughts (categorize as “The Image That Shook The World” (it’s OK if you don’t completely finish – do the best you can, and then work to revise it for Thursday’s class). Here are some things to consider as you work:

  • What is the original context of this image (or images, since there were a series of them)? Who is the “author”? When/where/why was it taken (or created)?
  • What kind of visual imagery does it involve? What type of argument does it make (including its emotional appeal)?
  • What about the remixes of this images? What arguments / appeals are they making?
  • How did this image go “viral”? How did it circulate? Through what networks (social media & otherwise)? How did the consumers of this image become producers of new meaning?
  • What meanings did this image taken on? How was it appropriated?
  • How did you go about doing your research here? Provide us with the citations / links you are looking at.

NEW ‘MOMENTS’ IN TWITTER

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As a non-Twitter Tweeter, I must say that the new feature is quite refreshing. The usual chaos of Twitter has always been a turn off for me. According to, Twitter’s Moments Will To Tame the Chaos, by Farhad Manjoo,

“The feature, called Moments, tries to transform Twitter’s chaotic timeline into a series of narratives that are easily navigated by people who aren’t familiar with the service’s strange rituals.”

Now with this new addition it is easy to filter through the piles of trending content;  at a first glance shines lights on the changes in the filtering process of hashtags and the actual nature of a hashtag, the archiviblity of twitter, the curating of these said moments, and the actual meaning of a moment. However, it does raise the question of how all this content is being complied:

  1. How are these moments being filtered?
  2. Are “moments of the moment” based on the number of tweets?
  3. In what ways does this addition differ from other Social media feeds that offer the same categorical trending feature?
  4. Is this a loss or a gain for Twitter in the sense that they lose their identity of being the social media that allows users to bounce from one topic to another, or is it a gain because it opens to being a more organized and better structured medium?
  5. How are these moments curated and by whom?
  6. Are moments viewed in different ways via different mediums (smart phones vs. computer screens)?
  7. How long do these moments last?
  8. What are the ethical responsibilities of Twitter in this new feature to Tweets and their content?
  9. How has the Terms and Services changed based on this addition? Has it changed?

How do you feel about this new moment in Twitter’s history? Where do you think it goes from here? How long do think it will last? Will Twitter’s Moments only last a moment?