Module Three

In response to the fair use readings (there will be more), I want you to create a composition comprised primarily of other peoples’ images and/or video. You will keep careful notes of your source material, and will hand these in as part of your final project. The objective for this assignment is for you to create three things: (1) something entirely new from other people’s images and/or video; (2) a well-researched argument justifying your compositional choices as fair use; and (3) notes and references for all materials (articles as well as images).

Your remixed composition can be about anything you want. However, if you’re stuck on a topic then you may want the argument to be about remix or fair use itself. How will you be graded? Pay attention, here:

Grading

1) I will be evaluating the remix assignment on its own creative merits. For example, if you just copy/paste images together then you will not do well on this part of the assignment. You need to figure out ways to use only formal and/or conceptual bits and pieces. You will receive a separate grade on this component of the assignment.

2) I will be grading the essay component in relation to the remix assignment. Essentially, you need to convince me that you understand fair use arguments and that you have synthesized these arguments into a convincing justification for your own work.

3) I want you to find four to six sources on fair use. If you simply search on jstor.org for “fair use,” you will find dozens. You may also draw from popular news articles.

Module Two

Drawing on Sun and Usability.gov, I want you to design, observe, and conduct a short usability test with one or two friends. The purpose of this assignment is for you to conceptualize a two-page study design. The most central question for your two page study design is this: how are you choosing to study usability, and why do you choose to study writing/composing a particular way.

Warning: do not answer the second question with “because it’s easy” or “because it’s just what I picked.” I want you to be able to hypothesize how your study design will produce a certain kind of knowledge.

The last page or two of your paper will include a summary of your initial study. How much potential do you think your study design has to yield knowledge? What kind of knowledge? Can you generalize certain things from your initial findings? If so, what’s the scope?

Goals

To think about usability studies in the form of a research question
To gain experience framing a research question in terms of a study design
To discuss the limits of your results

Grading

Grading for this assignment will be based on your answers to the following criteria:
Did you answer how you are choosing to study usability, and why did you choose to study usability a particular way?
Did you discuss your study design in detail?
Did you summarize your study results?
Did you discuss the scope of your findings?

Module One

Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast: Seeking Visuals

For the first module assignment I want you to connect choices in visual design with rhetorical persuasion and communication. The purpose of this module is to begin a conversation about the kind of argumentative work that can be done with visual elements. I want you to draw on the short C.A.R.P readings and find four images representative of each concept: proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. Your task will be to find images that are not only particularly representative of each concept, but also use a design element to make an argument. For example, an image that relies on the concept of proximity must use this characteristic to make an argument. You will need to identify the argument, explain how the use of the design element helps to convey meaning, and discuss the context for the image.

You will hand in the following as a shared PDF document on GoogleDocs:

Four images, each representative of one or two C.A.R.P. concepts. (2 points each)
Four accompanying rhetorical discussions (2 points each)
Formatted PDF document, complete with headers and image captions (4 points)

Total: 20 points