Assignment 9

Did I ever read comics as a kid?

I definitely have never read a comic in my life. I was much more into Barbies and Disney princesses to read comics about superheroes. To continue with that, I chose this comic strip. I'm not sure if its technically a comic strip, but I really liked it.

Are the images more realistic or more iconic? What effect does that give them?
The images are very iconic. Most Americans can identify the Disney princesses on sight. It makes this comic strip easily recognizable.


What kind of transitions are used?
The author uses the dates on the princesses to create chronological order and shift you from one time period to the next.

How do the words and images work together?
They work together to create the entire message. Without the words, it would just be a picture of the Disney princesses but with the words, it gets a message across. It conveys the message that the Disney princesses actually teach young girls bad concepts like being pretty is the only thing worth having. The message is relayed well because the text offers some valid arguements.

Assignment 8

What is meant by remix/remediation?


Remediation/remix simply means taking one medium and transforming it into another. An example would be turning a book into a movie or vice versa. In remediation, no acknowledgement is given to the original work. For example, a movie based on  a Jane Austen book would not give credit to the original text in any way. This would be done in the hope that the transition from book to movie was so seamless that the viewer wouldn't notice. Remediation can also be an alternative form of categorizing and discovering information. A photograph might be upload to an online website so more people can view it. A speech given by the President might be sent to YouTube so students can cite it in projects and so on.


How does it affect a text's message?


Depending on the intent, it can alter a text's message or not. The goal of some people might be to remove all traces of the original work to create a new piece that does not reflect the original inspiration. This would alter the text's message because the original text would not even be cited anymore. However, others might want to make adaptations where they acknowledge where the inspiration came from (like a Stephen King novel) but also strive to create their own message. I believe that it all depends on whether the new creators want to keep the original message or not.


Does any of what Bolter and Grusin are saying contradict Walter Benjamin? 


Benjamin argued that changing a medium around leads to the loss of its aura. Bolter and Grusin claim that this can happen and it can also not happen, depending on the situation. Less extreme forms of remediation can capture the original essence of the work while more extreme remediation projects try to make the original work invisible in the viewer's mind. It all depends on the intent of the people remediating. So, Bolter and Grusin are not necessarily contradicting Benjamin but they are saying there's more to the situation that just losing the essence of an original work.

A nice graph that lays it all out

Look, it's Walter Benjamin!

Assignment 7

What is visual rhetoric?


Visual rhetoric is anything that can be seen, such as a painting, photograph, comic strip, or movie, that attempts to persuade the reader. All forms of visual rhetoric, like literary rhetoric, contain a point that is meant to be proven. For example, a movie can be a form of visual rhetoric. The movie "Avatar" is a prime example; through visual appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, the producers of "Avatar" attempted to demonstrate the idea of advanced civilization vs. native inhabitants and how conquering a native population was morally wrong. The producers and director used pathos in scenes like when the Mother Tree is sad because she is dying and when all the Avatar men and women are running in fear from the human's attack. "Avatar" was definitely a movie in which the prime purpose was to not only make money but convey an environmentalist opinion.


How can an image be a text?


An image can be a text very easily because like a text, it conveys a message. Even though an image does not use words (although it may), the person looking at the image can interpret what it is saying. Painters, movie producers, and photographers take great care into what exactly goes into their image. Every piece is there for a reason, so for the reader, all of what he/she needs to know is in the image. Also, images evoke feelings in people just like texts do. The same feeling you get from a book you can get from an image. You can empathize with the characters in a painting and feel the same way they do, or certain images can incite anger.

How can images and words work together?


When images and words work together, I believe the result can be very powerful. For example, in a  comic strip, words and images work together to create something humorous and satirical. In commercials, the viewer is shown images along with words as a person narrates in the background. Studies have shown that commercials are very effective in making people buy products, so obviously people respond well to images and words mixed together.

Images and words also work well together because they can convey a complicated meaning fairly easily. If an argument was just presented in words, maybe the reader would have a hard time following it and completely lose the meaning. However, when images are added, the reader might suddenly understand the complicated topic.

In this image, the visual rhetoric is very strong. It's purpose is to convince women that the way they can help their men the most and be patriotic is to become a typist for the U.S. It uses positive appeals like convincing women that THEY can help win the war, not just men overseas. This image makes the woman feel important because she thinks, "Wow, I can really do something to help! All I have to do is keep typing!" The coloring of the image is also very effective. It is done in red, white, and blue which emphasizes the patriotic ideas. The message is also conveyed by the woman in the middle; she is pretty and looks so excited to be typing.