Comments on: 8. A Hypothetical Visual Thinking Assignment http://courses.johnmjones.org/ENGL605/2012/10/19/a-hypothetical-visual-thinking-assignment/ ENGL 605, WVU, Fall 2012 Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:44:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: willdeaton605 http://courses.johnmjones.org/ENGL605/2012/10/19/a-hypothetical-visual-thinking-assignment/#comment-2033 willdeaton605 Sun, 21 Oct 2012 20:50:18 +0000 http://courses.johnmjones.org/ENGL605/?p=748#comment-2033 Page 209 of the Lauer and Sanchez article offers some assignment ideas. They're kind of cheesy, but seem effective enough. One is to "design a name tag or vanity license plate to represent the values of the primary audience for the design" (Lauer & Sanchez, 209). Lauer and Sanchez, by the way, acknowledge that: These activities are decidedly nonprofessional writing activities and therefore may strike some as an impractical use of time, but they are not impractical if they help low-[visuo]spatial thinkers to develop options other than words to communicate persuasively. These activities are important because they emphasize the creative and visual-thinking stage of invention that is necessary before a document can be produced and delivered. 209 These activities do not seem "Utopian" if Utopian, the way I think you might be using the word, refers to activities that incorporate ideas popular in other fields - a la Brumberger's call for "cross-disciplinary projects" (381) - but they seem Utopian enough if the issue is emphasizing visual thinking through activities with English class resources. Page 209 of the Lauer and Sanchez article offers some assignment ideas. They’re kind of cheesy, but seem effective enough. One is to “design a name tag or vanity license plate to represent the values of
the primary audience for the design” (Lauer & Sanchez, 209).

Lauer and Sanchez, by the way, acknowledge that:

These activities are decidedly nonprofessional writing activities and
therefore may strike some as an impractical use of time, but they are not
impractical if they help low-[visuo]spatial thinkers to develop options other than
words to communicate persuasively. These activities are important because
they emphasize the creative and visual-thinking stage of invention that is
necessary before a document can be produced and delivered. 209

These activities do not seem “Utopian” if Utopian, the way I think you might be using the word, refers to activities that incorporate ideas popular in other fields – a la Brumberger’s call for “cross-disciplinary projects” (381) – but they seem Utopian enough if the issue is emphasizing visual thinking through activities with English class resources.

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