Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Conference Presentations
    • PCA/ACA Conference Presentation 2022
    • PCAS/ACAS Presentation 2021
    • SEACS 2021 Presentation
    • SEACS 2022 Presentation
    • SEACS 2023 Presentation
    • South Atlantic MLA Conference 2022
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • February 13th: Introduction to User Design
    • February 15th: Instructions for Users
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
    • February 1st: Reflection on Workplace Messages
    • February 20th: The Rhetoric of Technology
    • February 22nd: Social Constructions of Technology
    • February 6th: Plain Language
    • January 11th: More Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Audience & Purpose
    • January 23rd: Résumés and Cover Letters
      • Duty Format for Résumés
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • January 25th: More on Résumés and Cover Letters
    • January 30th: Achieving a Readable Style
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • January 9th: Introduction to the Class
    • Major Assignments
    • March 13th: Introduction to Information Design
    • March 15th: More on Information Design
    • March 20th: Reporting Technical Information
    • March 27th: The Great I, Robot Analysis
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • August 24th: Introduction to the Class
    • August 31st: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Fall 2022)
      • Rhetoric of Fear
    • November 16th: Voice and Other Nebulous Writing Terms
      • Finding Dominant Rhetorical Appeals
    • November 2nd: Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation
    • November 30th: Words and Word Classes
    • November 9th: Cohesive Rhythm
    • October 12th: Choosing Adjectivals
    • October 19th: Choosing Nominals
    • October 26th: Stylistic Variations
    • October 5th: Midterm Exam
    • September 14th: Verb is the Word!
    • September 21st: Coordination and Subordination
    • September 28th: Form and Function
    • September 7th: Sentence Patterns
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 12th: Knoblauch. Ch. 4 and Ch. 5
    • April 19th: Jacques Derrida’s Positions
    • April 26th:  Feminisms and Rhetorics
    • April 5th: Knoblauch. Ch. 3 and More Constitutive Rhetoric
    • February 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)
    • February 1st: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 & 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • February 22nd: St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
    • February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class
    • January 11th: Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Plato’s Phaedrus
    • January 25th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 15th: Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method
    • March 1st: Knoblauch. Ch. 1 and 2
    • March 22nd: Mary Wollstonecraft
    • March 29th: Second Wave Feminist Rhetoric
    • May 3rd: Knoblauch. Ch. 6, 7, and “Afterword”
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • ENGL/COMM/WRDS: The Rhetoric of Fear
    • February 14th: Fascism and Other Valentine’s Day Atrocities
    • February 21st: Fascism Part 2
    • February 7th: Fallacies Part 3 and American Politics Part 2
    • January 10th: Introduction to the Class
    • January 17th: Scapegoats & Conspiracies
    • January 24th: The Rhetoric of Fear and Fallacies Part 1
    • January 31st: Fallacies Part 2 and American Politics Part 1
    • Major Assignments
    • March 7th: Fascism Part 3
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213-110: Science, Technology, and Society
    • August 22nd: Science and Technology from a Humanistic Perspective
    • August 24th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • August 29th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • August 31st: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • December 5th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • November 14th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 16th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 21st: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 28th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 30th: Violence in Video Games
    • November 7th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes Ch. 1-17
    • November 9th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes, Ch. 18-26
    • October 12th: Lies Economics Tells
    • October 17th: Brief Histories of Medicine, Salerno, and Galen
    • October 19th: Politicizing Science and Medicine
    • October 24th: COVID-19 Facial Covering Rhetoric
    • October 26th: Wells, H. G. Time Machine. Ch. 1-5
    • October 31st: Wells, H. G. The Time Machine Ch. 6-The End
    • October 3rd: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 12th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 19th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Prefaces and Ch. 1
    • September 26th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 2
    • September 28th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • September 7th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 5 and 6
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • April 13th: Virtually ‘Real’ Environments
    • April 20th: Rhetoric/Composition Defines New Media
    • April 27th: Sub/Cultural Politics, Hegemony, and Agency
    • April 6th: Capitalist Realism
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
    • March 16th: Identity Politics
    • March 23rd: Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality
    • March 2nd: Foundational Thinkers in Cultural Studies
    • March 30th: Hyperreality
    • March 9th: Globalization & Postmodernism
    • May 4th: Wrapping Up The Semester
      • Jodi Dean “The The Illusion of Democracy” & “Communicative Capitalism”
      • Social Construction of Sexuality
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • A Practical Editing Situation
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Fordism/Taylorism
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • How to Lie with Statistics
    • Isaac Asimov’s “A Cult of Ignorance”
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire
  • Video Games & American Culture
    • April 14th: Phallocentrism
    • April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism
    • April 7th: Video Games and Conquest
    • Assignments for Video Games & American Culture
    • February 10th: Aesthetics and Culture
    • February 17th: Narrative and Catharsis
    • February 24th: Serious Games
    • February 3rd: More History of Video Games
    • January 13th: Introduction to the course
    • January 20th: Introduction to Video Game Studies
    • January 27th: Games & Culture
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
    • March 24th: Realism, Interpretation(s), and Meaning Making
    • March 31st: Feminist Perspectives and Politics
    • March 3rd: Risky Business?

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 255F
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing » September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”

September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”

Overall Plan for the Evening

Below is the overview we’re going to try to stick with tonight:

  • Overview for Notes, Workshop, Tutorials
  • Back up to August 28th (if needed)
    • Rhetorical Principles of Design
    • International Laundry Symbols
    • Business Cards are no laughing matter…
  • Design for Information Ch. 1 discussion
  • Theory Discussion
  • Analyzing Assumptions (if needed)
  • Some Photoshop fun–Fancy Logo (time permitting)
  • Workshop–8:30 pm
    Document #1: Business Card and Letterhead (2)
  • It ain’t Greek; it’s Lorem Ipsum or Greeked text
  • Let me know if your Web page is up

Design for Information Ch. 1 “Hierarchical Structures: Trees”

Although learning to develop algorithms to display data is beyond the scope of this class, Meirelles provides us with good concepts about design that are (close to) universal. Remember, no theorist can give you THE appropriate design element or strategy for ALL designs. Designers must consider audience and purpose* in order to choose the most effective element or strategy.
*Other factors such as ability, time frame, resources, etc. will also guide you choices.

Below are some key vocabulary terms to consider:

  • p. 17: For some reason, humans see the world in hierarchies. What are some examples?
  • p. 19: Visual Hierarchy or Contrast: the “emphasis and attention” we give to our design elements to guide users.
    • Notice the rows and columns when discussing proximity…
  • p. 20: Organization charts have graphical proximity correspond to conceptual proximity. “Graphical space…[maps] the source domain of power and not physical space.”
    • However, where are the offices located for the individuals in the CLAS Hierarchy?

Visual Perception and Cognition–(Why is this an ineffective heading?)

  • Ware’s 3-Stage Model of Perception
    1. Preattentive, at-a-glance unconscious attention
    2. Pattern recognition
    3. Accessing long-term memory to “process” the information in our visual working memory.
  • p. 22: “Effective visualizations make intentional use of the preattentive features in the representation of graphical marks.”
  • Gestalt (guh-shtahlt)–Grouping
    • Figure-ground discrimination (or contrast)
      • p. 22: Meirelles calls this “Segregation between Figure and Ground”
        • see p. 34 for an example
        • camouflage
        • What color scheme has the highest figure-ground contrast?
      • Modern(ist) Art disrupts our attempts to perceive “good figure” by violating expectations
        • Gino Severini’s Dynamism of a Dancer
    • Laws of Grouping
      • Proximity and Similarity
      • Continuation
      • Enclosure
    • Users come to design from many backgrounds, perspectives, so a one-size-fits-all T/theory isn’t the whole story
    • And Gestalt isn’t just for objects…
  • Case Study–SmartMoney Map of the Market
    • The at-a-glance goal for any stock market prices/values is to quickly ascertain gains and losses.
    • p. 32: Humans project the container metaphor “onto other physical objects, events, and actions.”
    • What’s inside your brain…Open up to me…Don’t shut me out…
    • p. 33: Closure or good continuation–our minds fill in the gaps or what’s “behind” an object
    • p. 35: scale of signs and other visual displays
    • p. 36: color schemes

Analyzing Assumptions/Prejudices

Time permitting (you’ll hear that line all semester), we’re going to get into group discussions on analyzing assumptions. Remember, one of the main goals of this semester is for you to be able to articulate WHY you make certain design choices. Although it happens sometimes, rarely do you do something “just because.”

I want us to consider more familiar assumptions first, but the goal is to get you to think about your preconceived biases in order to do this level of critical thinking about your assignments specifically and information design in general. Let’s hop on over to the Prejudice and Rhetoric page if we need any reminders.

Workshop: Business Cards and Letterheads

Let’s take a look at (very) brief InDesign tutorial from last week.

Remember, I expect you to work the entire time. If you’re “finished,” let me know…I’ll fix that. (BTW–how are those webpages coming along). Please have others look at your designs. I don’t have a formal workshop system, but, if our workshops aren’t productive, I’ll institute a formal structure. Your participation grade can go negative, so use your time wisely.

At a minimum, I want you to have a perfect, final product to turn in at the end of the evening…that was a joke.

Remember, your assignments must have memos. The format below will suffice:

Please do not copy and paste this. Take the time to type it out.


Audience & Purpose

My audience is…
My purpose is…

Distribution

Ideally, I would most likely display my documents…

Dominant Element in the Documents

What is the dominant element of your documents? This isn’t just the biggest design element. Consider what draws readers’ attention in your document. Maybe it’s an image, logo, text, color, etc. that is a focal point (see Williams, “Create a Focal Point,” p. 124). Whatever it is, describe it and explain why you think it is appropriate for your document.

Rhetorical Analysis

Why do your design choices convey the message you intend? First, state your intended message. Then, explain how you convey a particular ethos (professionalism, artistic, academic, etc.) with your design choices. You will have logos, but you most likely won’t have any pathos appeals. Focus on ethos for your first documents (business card and letterhead). You’ll discuss logos and pathos (in addition to ethos) for Documents #1 & #2.

If you don’t use the word “ethos,” you’re doing something VERY wrong on this assignment. We will discuss ethos in class.

Estimated Cost

I expect 200 business cards will cost $$$.$$ and 1000 sheets of letterhead to cost $$$.$$.

Style

Make sure you identify the following for each document:

  • Typeface
  • Font size(s)
  • Font color(s) (C=__, M=__, Y=__, K=__) or HEXADECIMAL
  • Stock–paper or substance cards will be printed on

Software Used

My creation came to life through the following computer tools…. [Make sure you tell me what area or section or component was created by which computer tool, assuming you used more than one]

References/Citations/Sources

You must reference where you found images or other information used in your design(s) that you did not personally create from “scratch.”


Remember, you must also reflect on changes you’ll make after I look at your work (in the portfolio), so the entire list on the Assignments Page will not apply to your memos for this draft. The above sections should be included in your memos for this draft. Any questions?

Photoshop Fancy Logo Tutorial

Time permitting…

As your Assignments Page states, you’ll have some software requirements. Today I’m going to try my best to show you how to make a floating, glossy, or fireball-ish effect using Photoshop. I’ve got a page here that will help, but this tutorial comes from a YouTube video–Web 2.0 Logo Design Tutorial–and it’s specific to CS3 (Mac version).

So follow along with me, go at your own pace, but please don’t distract others. Hold your questions for our pauses during the tutorial.

This tutorial has two aims: 1) to get you to do something difficult with Photoshop and 2) to get you to observe a “live tutorial.” You may critique me all you want, but consider the conditions we’re under and how that may affect this tutorial. I want you to notice how or why we get off the same page as we go through this tutorial. It’s ok if that happens! I’m trying to get us to slow down and think about the fact that an audience following a step-by-step process can have different results. Why?

Want a more advanced tutorial? If so, try to follow along with the example from Aquul on Photoshop CS6: “Clean Professional Logo” tutorial (an ad pops up first). Remember, I expect you’ll devote time outside of class to learning this software because…why? Exactly, this is not a software instruction class.

Next Week’s Readings

Make sure you read Chapter 2 in Design for Information and Chapter 4 in The Non-Designer’s Design Book before coming to class next week (9/18). Also, keep bringing your books!!! You will fail the class if you don’t. Stay on top of your reading so you don’t fall behind. That midterm (10/02) will be here before you know it!

Of course, don’t forget your Business Cards and Letterhead (and memos)–they’re due next week.

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