FINAL PROJECT ENGLISH 1101

 Rather than writing a traditional research paper you’ll be creating and presenting a visual argument. And you may do it collaboratively, in groups of  up to three people.

 Assignment Possibilities

• Photographic Essay: Create a series of photos in support of or serving as a particular argument; must present images that are ultimately arguable or controversial.

• Ad Campaign: Develop an ad campaign for a specific product. It can be canned fruit, tennis shoes, a movie, a political candidate, or anything in between, but create a series of ads for the same product line that sells the product. Each ad in the series must serve a different function, probably to target a different audience,

• Video Documentary: Similar to a photographic essay; a short film with an argumentative purpose.

• Editorial Cartoons: Design a series of cartoons and captions that make an argument—political, social, economic, religious, etc.

• Professional Presentation: Identify a problem within a specific community and develop a solution to that problem. Your presentation should rely on visual aids (e.g., PowerPoint, posters, etc.) to support your argument.

• Issue-based web site: Develop a website that informs and persuades readers on a specific issue or topic.

What you’ll need:

• An audience

• A problem

• A claim to make about that problem

• Evidence to support your claim

• An emotional appeal

• An appeal to credibility

• Research, probably (either on the issue or the method you are choosing)

 And a short written explanation of all of the above, that is, how your project addresses each of these issues. Don't forget to properly cite all sources.

DUE Tuesday DEC. 12 2006

Some notes: This project has two parts: a visual argument and a project assessment essay:

Visual argument
Your visual argument must:

·         Be primarily visual rather than linguistic. It can take almost any form: a painting, a drawing, a comic strip, a sculpture, a photograph, a video, a computer generated image or animation, a collage, etc.

·         Support your claim through visual choices, such as typography, color, placement, graphics, etc

·         Appeal to a specific audience

Project essay
You will also compose a short essay  in which you explain your product and  analyze the process you used to compose your visual argument, composed of answers to the questions below. For your project assessment essay, you must:

·         Write about about translating linguistic claims into visual claims.
How does your visual support your linguistic claim?
 

·         Write about the context.
In what ways does your visual argument appeal specifically to the audience you identified? That is, how do your design choices persuade your audience?

·         Write about how you used design..
In what ways did you use repetition, contrast, proximity and alignment? (We will talk about these in class). Why? Did you violate any of these conventions? If so, why?

·         : What does your choice of medium say about your values? How are does your design reflect your character?

How does your visual rely on logic? Can your readers easily understand your visual? Does your visual convey information efficiently? In what ways do you appeal to a sense of reason? How does your visual appeal to emotion? Write about the process.

What was the most challenging part of composing your visual argument? Why was it so challenging? Briefly describe and explain one of the significant revisions you made to your visual argument after your initial draft. What is the most effective aspect of your project? Have you deliberately adapted a standard form in an unusual or creative way? If so, why?

·         If you worked with someone else, write about the collaboration.
What was one way that peer feedback helped you improve your work? How did responding to the work of others help you improve your own work? What were the challenges of working with a partner? Advantages?

·         Write about Project Management.
How well did you plan your work on this project? What might you have done differently? (Warning: This is something that can't totally be put off until the last minute).

Assignment Requirements:

·         A clear claim

·         A visual representation of that claim which communicates not only the overall idea, but refers to grounds (we will discuss strategies on this more in class)

·         An essay that clearly answers all of the questions above