A Daily Teaching Guide
A note to the user: The daily guide should be thought of
as a flexible tool that can be adapted to any instructor’s preferences
or needs; certainly instructors might select different discussion strategies,
engage in more interactive mini-lectures, or design additional activities
in order to highlight particular themes or controversies. All readings
can be found in Convergences textbook. All assignment sheets, activity
guides, and sample visual texts are linked. The daily guide includes plans
for 15 class periods; if four weeks are allowed for the unit, this leaves
one flex day that can be used for a speech workshop, for additional discussion
of the readings, or for supplemental readings or activities.
Note: DAY = HOUR
Days 1 and 2: Portraits of Iowa City
Day 1:
Reading Assignment: Introduction to Portraits
In class:
- Use an interactive lecture to clarify terms raised in readings by
thinking of examples of each kind of portrait listed in the text as
well as the functions different types of images play. (e.g., why are
senior photos posed rather than candid?)
- In a class discussion, using
sample photos from ‘Heavy
Drinker’s Guide to Iowa City’ web site and University
of Iowa virtual tour from admissions home page, apply
speaker, audience, and message vocabulary to visual texts. Ask students
what they know or can discern about the goals and values of the speaker—in
this case the person or group who crafted the photographs. Next, ask
students whom they imagine as the target audience for each set of photographs.
How are the photographs crafted with the goals and values of that audience
in mind? How might other audiences respond to the images? For example,
would we expect parents of prospective students to respond similarly
to the Admissions photos and the Heavy Drinker’s Guide? What about
prospective students? Then have students consider the questions of message
or argument. What arguments do these photographs contain about Iowa
City, the University of Iowa, and the people who live, work, and go
to school here? Are these arguments appeals to logos
(reason), pathos (emotion), or ethos (authority and credibility)?
Finally, raise the question of which set of photographs represents the
“real” Iowa City and discuss questions of accuracy and authenticity
of representations.
Teaching Notes:
The brief textbook introduction includes an overview of some of the
functions of portraits and photos, and introduces ideas of candid versus
staged photography. This reading introduces students to the topic and
offers new concepts and perspectives they can readily apply. The discussion
of sample photos uses a familiar context—Iowa City and the University—to
begin developing and practicing new rhetorical skills of analysis. I find
that most students enjoy the activity, but I am mindful of students who
may be uncomfortable with alcohol-related discussion, and I try not to
affirm or participate in any commentary that normalizes underage or excessive
drinking.
Day 2:
In class:
Activity: Photo tour of Iowa City
- Students break into four groups. Each group receives a disposable
camera and a mission: to photograph Iowa City in order to sell it to
a particular audience.
- Students leave and take pictures; they return cameras and brief list
of ID statements for photos at end of class time.
- Instructor should get photos developed.
Teaching Notes:
The photo activity builds upon the previous day’s discussion
and provides an opportunity for application of rhetorical terms and concepts
to real world endeavors. The photo tour challenges students to consider
content and composition in relationship to audience, and highlights the
impossibility of a visual text capturing a singular, authentic representation.
One group’s version of Iowa City is no less ‘real’ than
another’s. My students loved this exercise—they were still
talking about it on their end of semester evaluations. They seemed to
really appreciate the combination of creativity, community, and application
of knowledge.
Day 3: Self Portraits
Reading Assignment: Dorothy Alison, What
Did You Expect? and Anne Sexton, Résumé, Self in
1958, and photo
In class:
- As a class, or in small groups, discuss themes in Alison reading and
in Sexton readings. Spend some time considering the photograph of Sexton
and comparing this image of her to the image students have after reading
the poem and résumé. Draw connections between the two
readings, including similarities and differences in theme and content
as well as style, genre, and intended audience. The question of intended
audience is particularly interesting with regards to the résumé;
students should be able to offer anecdotal examples of creating a professional
persona.
- Assign the speech, an analysis of a photograph
of a community to which the student belongs. Hand out assignment sheet
and clarify instructions and expectations.
Teaching Notes:
Several short texts and the photo raise questions of appearance, expectation,
and presentation; all explicitly engage the issue of constructing personas,
images and selves for multiple audiences. Both Sexton’s and Alison’s
work can be used to discuss the role of media images in perpetuating class
and gender stereotypes. The reading discussions allow for return to questions
of audience and speaker, as well as message and the impact of different
media—just as with the photos, ask students to consider the values
and goals of the speaker, the response of the target audience and of other
audiences, and what arguments the author advocates. Today also serves
as an introduction to the idea of ‘verbal portraits,’ a concept
that can help guide this unit; students may be intrigued by the opportunity
to consider what visual images a written text provokes for them and compare
these to relevant photographs or other visual texts. Finally, if you are
using this unit early on in the semester, you may want to spend some time
discussing the finer points of critical reading. I spend some time strategizing
with students about effective ways to read (for example, reading with
questions and goals in mind, taking notes, and reading multiple times)
and emphasizing the importance of reading rhetorically (at the most basic
level, thinking about the speaker, audience, and argument for each piece)
as well as attending to the themes and content of a text. Students will
probably be familiar with reading and summarizing ‘what the essay
is about’ but will be less familiar with the rhetorical questions
of whom the text is authored by and for, and what the text argues.
Day 4: Family Portraits
Reading Assignment: David Sedaris, Ashes;
Sally Mann photo Candy Cigarette; Melissa Harris, Daughter,
Model, Muse Jessie Mann on Being Photographed
In class:
- As a class or in small groups, discuss the readings, emphasizing the
issues of family and relationship and their connections to portraits.
Students might enjoy imagining how they would pose the Sedaris family
for a “traditional” family portrait.
- We tend to think of family as a private domain, but these are very
public images of family. Ask students to think what may be gained and
lost in the texts via their transgression of the public/private boundary.
For example, Mann’s photographs are particularly compelling precisely
because they allow the viewer an intimacy with Mann and her children,
but this same intimacy may also generate a feeling of discomfort or
distaste.
- If the instructor or students don’t want to emphasize themes
of family and relationships, controversies over the public reception
of art could also be explored.
Teaching Notes:
Both essays deal with issues of family and the ways families negotiate
difficulty (death, sexuality) and express love; the photo illustrates
some themes raised by Harris/Jessie Mann, particularly why Sally Mann’s
work is/was controversial. Of course, there are still evident connections
to familiar rhetorical concepts and portrait themes, but new questions
about family and relationships can also be integrated. The texts also
raise issues of sexuality and intimacy. Sedaris identifies as gay; Jessie
Mann discusses the controversy surrounding childhood sexuality that accompanied
her mother’s photography. Students may express discomfort or uncertainty
with regards to these issues. This can be an opportunity to discuss homophobia
and heteronormativity. It can also be an opportunity to challenge students
to consider their response rhetorically: what does this tell them about
themselves as an audience? How might other audiences respond? In terms
of composition, students can consider what purpose Sedaris’ sexuality,
for example, serves in the essay. Why might an audience need or want to
know Sedaris is gay? How does this connect to the other themes in the
essay? I use student discomfort as an opening to remind the class that
all audiences come to texts with values and goals of our own, and this
shapes our initial responses, but part of being a mature, thoughtful,
responsible audience member is learning to discuss the strengths and weaknesses
of texts without being unduly influenced by our own standpoints. I also
try and model appropriate language and tone, so that students begin to
see that it is possible to discuss seemingly difficult issues in a thoughtful
and respectful manner.
Day 5: Portraits and Captions
No reading
In class:
- As a class, briefly discuss the functions of captions, drawing on
the reading for examples, including the photograph of Jessie Mann
titled ‘Candy Cigarette’. Ask students to consider how
this caption shapes their interpretation of the photograph. Prior
to reading the caption, did any of them think Jessie was smoking a
real cigarette? How might that ambiguity change an audience’s
response to the photograph? What other captions can they imagine for
this photo? Additionally, look back at the portrait of Sexton and
imagine a variety of captions. How might students have responded differently
to the photo if it were titled ‘Just Before Suicide’ or
‘Putting Her Affairs in Order’ or ‘Ashes’
or any other captions they can imagine?
- You might also go to the websites for the photos used in class on
Day 1 and prepare new overheads that include the captions. How do
these captions fit with the photos? Do they change students’
perceptions of the speaker or message?
- Students can return to their photo groups from Day 1 and look at
they photos they took. Ask them to write captions to help make the
link to their target audience. After some time, take the photos back
and redistribute them to different groups- I make a lame joke about
an error in the developing lab. Students’ goal becomes to write
captions for their new group of photos—not the photos they crafted—that
sells these images constructed for one audience to a different audience.
Teaching Notes:
Captions are something students tend to overlook and undervalue, but
they will quickly see the power of just a few words or a single sentence
when they consider the way the phrase ‘candy cigarette’ structures
their response to Mann’s photograph. The opportunity to practice
manipulating audiences of their own is likely to intrigue them. Additionally,
for my students the caption exercise really drove home the power of language
and strengthened their investment in developing their skills as writers.
In returning to the photographs and ideas from the discussion, it becomes
increasingly evident that not only can no representation adequately capture
or convey reality, but any representation also can be manipulated to serve
purposes other than those for which it was originally intended. |
