English 230: An undergraduate course for 60 students
Fall 2022 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Territories
TWF, 1:30-2:20pm
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him)
With Babak Ashrafkhani, teaching assistant
Office hours: W, 12-1pm; Th, 12:30-1:30pm
jentery@uvic.ca
During Weeks 7 and 8, we discussed various types of images: graphical, optical, and perceptual images, for instance. We saw how these images behave in comics by Tomine and Bechdel. During Week 9, we added text to the picture, with attention to Undertale. We couched all of these discussions in the theme of “sensory education”: how we learn—and also how we’re taught–to see and read the world.
This prompt asks you to share your knowledge of images and text by either annotating a primary source or imitating its style.
Your response to this prompt should demonstrate how images and text not only tell stories but also produce a kind of language for audiences to interpret. Such interpretation involves thinking about how images and text are composed and arranged on the page or screen alongside how they are read both together and separately. Hillary Chute’s notion of verbal and visual tracks is relevant here as are terms such as resonance, dissonance, layering, crisscrossing, frame, view, gutter, caption, bubble, symbol, script, and instruction, among others.
You’ve two options for this prompt. Please pick one.
Imitate. This option asks you to draw images and text like someone else does. Please imitate the techniques and style of Fun Home, “Translated, from the Japanese,” or Undertale to draw an event or series of events from your own life. This means you’ll produce your own content while mimicking someone else’s style. Your drawing should include images and text, and you’re welcome to draw manually or with a computer, on paper or screen. If you draw a comic, then please use no more than nine panels. If you draw a moment in a game, then please use no more than three frames or scenes. Your drawing should be accompanied by 250-300 words that describe: 1) what about Fun Home, “Translated, from the Japanese,” or Undertale you imitated, 2) why you imitated it that way, 3) how the imitation speaks to an event in your own life, and 4) what you hope your readers will learn about the primary source from your imitation of it. As you imitate the primary source, try to “draw” (ha!) inspiration from it without copying it. Content matters here, one reason I’m asking you to draw from your own life. Babak and I are your intended audience, so you don’t need to summarize the primary source you’re imitating.
Annotate: This option asks you to describe how someone draws images and text. Select a page or spread from Fun Home or “Translated, from the Japanese” or a scene from Undertale and then thoroughly annotate it to describe how its use of images and text contribute to its story and your interpretation of it. You are welcome to use paper and/or software to annotate, and you can annotate a photograph, screen cap, or scan of the primary source. If you’ve never annotated a comic or game, then consult these compelling examples from Nick Sousanis’s courses. Note how many of them rely on colour coding, diagramming, and legends to convey significance, and some of the annotations follow a theme. Also note how the primary sources are placed on either a larger canvas (in software) or a sheet of paper to create space around them for annotation. Your annotations should be accompanied by 250-300 words communicating your approach to annotation: 1) which aspects of the primary source you decided to annotate, 2) why you selected those aspects (and not other ones), 3) how you arranged your annotations on the page, and 4) what you hope readers will learn about the primary source from your annotations of it. Babak and I are your intended audience, so you don’t need to summarize the primary source you’re imitating.
Do not publish your response to this prompt online. (We’ll talk more about fair dealing in class.)
Babak and I are the intended audience for both of these options.
For both options, you can easily create the content by hand and then photograph or scan it. You could also use Photoshop or GIMP, for example. Or, like many people, you can combine digital, analog, manual, and automated techniques. Your choice! See me if you’d like assistance with image creation and editing.
I will assess your response to Prompt 3 based on the following criteria:
You will receive one mark for each of these four criteria, which will be tallied (.25 x 4) to result in your grade for Prompt 3. I will send feedback to you via Brightspace. I will use UVic’s grading system for assessment, according to this rubric: “exceeds and raises expectations” (A+), “exceeds expectations” (A, A-), “exceeds some expectations” (B+), “meets expectations” (B, B-), “meets some expectations” (C+, C), “meets few expectations” (D), and “no submission.”
You will have an opportunity to revise your response to Prompt 1, 2, or 3 by Friday, December 2nd. This revision can only improve your mark.
Your response to Prompt 3 should be an image accompanied by 250-300 words.
You should submit it via Brightspace. Look for the “Prompt 3” assignment. Feel free to submit more than one file. If I cannot access the file or its format, then I’ll let you know.
Please include references somewhere in your submission (in the comments or at the end of a Word document, for instance). Here are citations for the three works at hand:
Email me if you’ve any questions about making, formatting, or uploading any of these files. I don’t want you to spend much time on the technical particulars, especially if you’re just wondering what I can access or download.
Please submit your response to Prompt 3 via Brightspace by Friday, November 4th at 1:30pm.