Description of project
A great way to combine media - still images and sound - without the hassles of a video project. In 2008, Nate Kreuter won the Department's MEME award by doing a similar project in his Rhetoric of Spying class. The assignment asked the students to demonstrate how people can interpret the same evidence differently. Each group was charged with assessing evidence, making an argument based on that evidence, and presenting the argument as a multimedia presentation that drew out connections and support visually and orally. You can see an example of one of these presentations here.
Technology
This combination of still image and audio can be produced by combining Power Point (or similar slide show software) with audio tracks, or using iMovie and recording the narration and splicing in music or other sound effects. These applications are available on all CWRL computers and there are several technicians in the audio and computer lab in Digital Media Services that can both train and support your students during these projects.
Suggested Reading
Edward R. Tufte's The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint is an interesting discussion of the most popular "slideware," as he calls it. In this booklet, Tufte addresses the questions "What is the problem with PowerPoint? And how can we improve our presentations?" and in so doing provides an appropriate analytical lens for discussing and creating this type of project.
Example
A great example of this kind of project is the series "Shelter for the Scarred" on Washingtonpost.com. As part of their coverage of the Michael Vick dog fighting ring and its lasting impact, The Washington Post created a series of narrated slide shows that reports on these dogs' progress while also making an argument about dog rehabilitation. You can review the context for this controversy, between the proponents of euthanizing fighting dogs and those supporting rehabilitation, in this op/ed piece by The New York Times sports writer William C. Rhoden. You can also read a companion article in The Washington Post here.
The argument being made by this narrated slide show depends on the appeals made by the pictures and their connection to the accompanying narration, not simply the "text" alone. Discussing this piece could be a really good way to get your students thinking about this type of composition, to get them to think critically about how image, narration, and sound work together to create an effective argument.
"Shelter for the Scarred" on Washingtonpost.com
For instance, in the opening slide show there are almost no pictures of dogs at all when discussing the Vick case: what is the impact of this missing subject? How does absence work as a rhetorical appeal? How does the author maintain this impact as dogs are introduced into the slide show or when dogs and humans are brought together?
In later sections of the slide show, the focus shifts to the advocacy group BAD RAP, and the dogs they are fostering in several different homes. Images of children with the Vick dogs are featured prominently in this section, a combination that may at first seem shocking. These are supposedly violent dogs, is it appropriate that they are placed in environments with children? The assumed danger of the situation is undercut by the interaction captured in the images. The dogs are held and cuddled like stuffed animals; they are tugged and pounced and sat on like inanimate objects. While these images are popular in this segment, the safety concern is never acknowledged in the narration, emphasizing the gap between what we assume and the reality of these dogs situations.