Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-083: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • ENGL 2116 sec. 083 Major Assignments (Summer 2020)
      • Final Portfolio Requirements
      • Oral Presentations
    • June 11th: Continue with I, Robot
    • June 15th: Ethics and Perspective Discussion
      • Ethical Dilemmas for Homework
      • Ethical Dilemmas to Ponder
      • Mapping Our Personal Ethics
    • June 16th: More on Ethics
    • June 1st: Effective Documents for Users
    • June 2nd: Final Project and Research Discussion
      • Epistemology and Other Fun Research Ideas
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters Better
      • Research
    • June 3rd: Technology in a Social Context
    • June 8th: Information Design and Visuals
    • June 9th: Proposals, Marketing, and Rhetoric
    • May 18th: Introduction to the course
    • May 19th: Critical Technological Awareness
    • May 20th: Audience, Purpose, and General Introduction
    • May 21st: Résumé Stuff
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • May 25th: More Resume Stuff
    • May 26th: Plain Language and Prose Revision
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • May 27th: More on Plain Language
    • May 28th: Review Prose Revision
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • February 3rd: I’m in Love with the Shape of You(r Sentences)
    • January 20th: Introduction to the Course
    • January 27th: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Spring 2021)
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 4750-090 & ENGL 5050-092 Video Games & Culture
    • Assignments for Video Games & Culture
    • August 25th: Introduction to the Course
    • November 10th: Aggression & Addiction
    • November 3rd: Moral Panics and Health Risks
    • October 13th: Narrative, ludology, f(r)iction
    • October 20th: Serious Games
    • October 27: Risky Business?
    • October 6th: Hyperreality
    • September 1st: History of Video Games
    • September 22nd: Video Game Aesthetics
    • September 29th: (sub)Cultures and Video Games
    • September 8th: Defining Video Games and Critical Theory Introduction
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 13th: Umberto Eco & Jean Baudrillard
    • April 20th: Moving Forward on Theory
    • April 27th: Last Day of Class
    • April 6th: Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
      • What is Postmodernism?
    • February 10th: St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
      • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • February 17th: Knoblauch on Magical and Ontological Rhetoric
    • February 24th: Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method
    • February 3rd: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 and 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • January 13th: Introduction to Class
    • January 27th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 16th: Friedrich Nietzsche
    • March 23rd: Mythologies and Meaning of Meaning (part 2)
    • March 30th: Derrida’s (refusal to have) Positions
    • March 9th: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213/HTAS 2100: Science, Technology, and Society
    • December 10th: Violence in Video Games
    • December 15th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • December 1st: COVID-19 facial covering rhetoric
    • December 3rd: COVID-19 Transmission and Pandemics
    • December 8th: 500-word Essay
    • November 10th: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 12th: Frankenstein (1818) Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 17th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 19th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 3rd: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 1-17
    • November 5th: Planet of the Apes (1964) Ch. 18-26
    • October 13th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • October 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • October 1st: The Golem at Large Introduction & Ch. 1
    • October 22nd: The Time Machine
    • October 29th: H.G. Wells and Adaptations
    • October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2
    • October 8th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 3 & 4
    • September 10th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • September 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • September 17th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • September 22nd: Collins & Pinch Ch. 5 & 6
    • September 24th: Collins & Pinch Ch. 7 & Conclusion
    • September 29th: Test 1
    • September 8th: Introduction to Class
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 280F
Phone: 704.687.0613
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing » August 28th: Introduction to Information Design

August 28th: Introduction to Information Design

Overall Plan for the Evening

Below is the overview we’re going to try to stick with tonight:

  • Canvas Posts
    • Weekly Posts
    • Supplemental–if you feel you need to supplement your participation use the Canvas Discussion “Participation Supplement–Closes Tuesday, 11/21 at 5:00 pm”
  • Remote ‘H’ Drive Access (quick)
  • Design for Information “Introduction”
  • “Technical Writing” vs “Technical Communication”
  • Webpage Stuff
  • Document #1: Business Card and Letterhead (2 assignments)
    • WORKSHOP next class (9/11)–you must have a draft
  • Prejudice and Rhetoric
  • Robin Williams Introduction to Design

Accessing Your ‘H’ Drive Off Campus

Well, the link below takes you to an FAQ on how to access your ‘H’ drive when you’re off campus. However, this system is going away on October 6, 2017–just in time for Fall Break. I suggest using your Google Drive Storage or DropBox.

Access to MyFiles on your ‘H’ Drive

Design for Information

I’ll do my best to include specific visuals from Meirelles’s Design for Information on the webpage. Of course, because of copyright, I can’t always do that. Before analyzing specific images, let me ask you a few questions:

  • Based on the “Introduction,” what is Meirelles’s goal(s) for the book?
  • What does the selection of visuals say about this book’s approach?
  • What is the purpose of Information Design?

Consider some specific areas for the “Introduction”:

  • p. 11: Infographics and Information Design
  • p. 13: Data/Information Visualization: graphical displays of information that create meaning for an audience.
  • p. 9: London Underground Maps
    • London Underground Map (pre-1933)
    • London Underground Map (1933)
    • London Underground Map (today)
  • p. 12: “Ghost Counties” by Jan Willem Tulp
    • Ghost Counties of Colorado
    • “Home” vs “Housing Unit”
    • Pie or Circle Chart for Charlotte (downloads an Excel file)

There’s a great critique of Tulp’s interactive project. He’s praised for being innovative, but, honestly, how easy are these charts to read? He even has alternatives to his approach–yes, professionals REVISE their initial ideas…they create drafts!

“Technical Writing” vs “Technical Communication”

Before we get too far into the specific reading, let’s talk about the difference between “technical writing” and “technical communication.” Is there really a difference? Let’s focus on “writing” and “communication.”

This course is not necessarily an introduction to document design because, presumably, you’ve already had that in English 2116 and other Technical Communication courses/situations, or you’re a quick learner. Instead, this course is an intermediate (or advanced) step in your becoming effective technical communicators. Whether or not you actually become an employee with the title “Technical Writer,” is irrelevant: ALL OF YOU WILL HAVE TO COMMUNICATE TECHNICAL INFORMATION TO AUDIENCES.

Make sure you’re reading the assigned material. Your Midterm and Final (which is slightly cumulative) will be based nearly entirely on the reading. I’m going to try my best to make sure we use the vocabulary from the book because I think the concepts are very useful. In different contexts the terms might have different meanings, but the ideas and strategies the terms describe are practically universal.

Let’s consider a document we have on us all the time: International symbols for laundry.

I also have a page to introduce Robin Williams’s principles of design.

Webpage Assignment

This might be a good time to go back to your webpage requirements from last week’s page.

Adobe…A Suite Introduction

The computers are updated with the Adobe Creative Cloud. Remember, the following Adobe products are available to complete your assignments:

  • Dreamweaver (webpages)
  • InDesign (multi and single page layouts)
  • Photoshop (bitmap graphics)
  • Illustrator (vector graphics)…actually, you most likely won’t be using Illustrator
  • Premier Pro (video editor)…not sure you’ll need this one, but it’s here in case you want to try it out

What’s the difference between bitmap graphics and vector graphics? Chapter 7 in your book covers that, so I’m going to hold off on that for now.

Regardless of which products you use, don’t forget that each assignment has a memo explaining your document’s creation. More detail is given on the Assignments Page for these memos. Don’t blow off that step! Reflection is a way to get you to be conscious of the design choices you make.

Adobe InDesign

The first time I taught this class I had InDesign CS2 in my office (the computer lab had CS3…). Finally, I have CS7 in my office and on the Instructor’s computer, and you have CS7 on the lab computers. I’m no expert at these products, but I continue to learn new things. There might be slight differences in my tutorials…Oh wait a minute…I don’t do tutorials, so there’s no problem. Let me go over your first assignment and set you loose.

Remember, I expect you to work the entire time. If you’re “finished,” let me know…I’ll fix that. Additionally, I’m not going to be on facebook or ESPN.com , so you shouldn’t either. Your participation grade can go negative, so use your time wisely. Integrity violations will stick in this class–just like a four-game suspension for a cheating quarterback.

At a minimum, I want you to have a sketch of your business card and letterhead–at least images–by the time you leave. Keep everything for your portfolio.

And don’t downplay these business cards…they’re serious business as these guys will show you…

Next Week’s Readings

Make sure you read Ch. 1 in Design for Information and Ch. 3 in The Non-Designer’s Design Book before coming to class in two weeks (9/11)–remember, 9/04 is Labor Day, so we won’t meet. These chapters serve as an introduction to visual design, and they’re short. The assignments are what you’ll create to show that you understand the material from the books and our discussions. Remember, while the material may seem like “common sense,” don’t think that you can dismiss the reading. The theories the textbooks offer are important.

Please have something (an idea, a rough sketch, a draft) to work with when we return to class on 9/11 for your Document #1 Workshop. You’ll have one or two classmates look over your designs (Business Card and Letterhead).

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