Molly Scanlon ENGL 1106 February 16, 2010

Writing Opportunity  For 15 minutes, write about a place, a spot that brings back sensory details—sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes. Try describing a private place—a certain tree in your backyard, a basketball court, a relative’s dining room, the interior of a closet, the cotton candy stand at Busch Gardens.  List the details and sensations to get closer to your dominant impression, a cluster of images, or a person connected to that place. (This is your internal landscape).  Write a few short, descriptive paragraphs and share it with a partner.

Now, ask yourself…  Why do I focus on this element of the landscape and not another?  What is my reason for narrowing my gaze to any specific place?  What spaces have I rejected as I’ve narrowed my gaze?  Why do I use metaphors and descriptions as I do? Are there any that I abandoned along the way?  What memories did you have that you decided to ignore?

“Visual Culture” Today  Visual Arguments to: inform (increase awareness) convince (persuade) explore (challenge pre-conceived notions) make decisions (call for action) talk about the past, present, or future  So how do we “talk” about them? Everything’s An Argument, Lunsford. p.p. 9-20

Visual Arguments to Inform Picturing Texts, Faigley et al., p.p. 51

Visual Arguments to Convince

Visual Arguments to Explore Picturing Texts, Faigley et al., p.p. 431

Visual Arguments to Make Decisions Picturing Texts, Faigley et al., p.p. 42

Visual Arguments about:  The past (Did something happen? How?)

Visual Arguments about:  The present (Why do we see it that way?)

Visual Arguments about:  The future (Should we do that?)

Worldview  Do you see the world like this?

Or do you see the world like this?

Your assignment:  Observe one or more spaces of your writing community for 1 (one) hour.  As a passive observer, take notes in your double-entry journal (you will be expected to turn it in with your visual).  Feel free to take pictures, walk around, do research, etc. to better understand how the space is used.  Create a visual that captures the space.

Before my example… …think about a city you are somewhat familiar with: Where are the business buildings? Where are the residential neighborhoods? Where are the entertainment sections? How do people get around? Who uses which forms of transportation? Does where you live indicate your occupation, marriage status, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, value in a community?

Describe this map: - How many tracks/train routes? How many stops per route? - Are the track lengths all about equal? Do they each extend into/out of Washington D.C. about the same length? - What regions do they provide transportation to? What regions are not served by the Metro? - Rate the trains in order of importance (you be the judge of “importance”: # of commuting riders, # of local riders, wealth of the riders, landmarks and certain stops along the route, etc.)

Now describe this map: - How many tracks/train routes? How many stops per route? - Are the track lengths all about equal? Do they each extend into/out of Washington D.C. about the same length? - What regions do they provide transportation to? What regions are not served by the Metro? - Rate the trains in order of importance (you be the judge of “importance”: # of commuting riders, # of local riders, wealth of the riders, landmarks and certain stops along the route, etc.)

What’s different? Does it make a difference? - How are the affordances of this map different from the custom design by WMATA? - What might motivate the mapmakers to depict straighter track routes, or equal track lengths?

For Thursday:  Read Fieldworking, “Researching Place” ( ) & “Mapping Space” ( )  Wiki response the readings (engage with them, don’t tell me if you “liked” them or not)  Include an idea of a place you might observe in your writing community  Revise your proposal and me by 12:00 noon