Individual Conferences in Humanities 424 on Thursday 2/19 and Tuesday 2/2. We will cancel classes on these days, though the lab will be open for your use.

Previous Class Blackboard Items

Class Blackboard for January 20

This is the home page for Compositon 3220 for Spring 2004. Please check back for updates. The links to the left will become active as the pages are updated and posted. Please e-mail me if you have questions.

Introductions and Roll. (Some things about me).

Syllabus and materials needed

Reading for Thursday: Edward Tufte, Chapter 1 "Images and Quantities," pg. 13

Tour of the site

First Assignment: Graphic Representation of a Process

Visual Rhetoric Exercise

Class Blackboard for January 22

Reading for Tuesday. Edward Tufte, Chapter 2, page 27-.

Introducing the first major project, the Graphic Analysis of a Process.

Setting Up Your Folders. On your Zip disk or other storage device, please create a set of nested folders like those on the right:

Beginning Photoshop. We'll get our feet wet with Photoshop in our first exercise, "Beginning Banner Techniques." You'll need to download the image "richlighthouse.jpg" to your "visual rhetoric" folder on your Zip and then open it up in Photoshop.

You will have until Friday at 2:00 p.m. to post the image to the Web and send me the URL via an e-mail message with the subject line "5230 liquid page."

Class Blackboard for January 26

Questions? ...about folders, Zip disks, the Graphic Representation of a Process assignment, the schedule,

Tufte Crowd. We'll consider in class some of the following topics from our readings of Edward Tufte's Chapter 2.

1. Compare the informational graphics at the bottom of page 29 with John Snow's map on pages 30-31. All of them deal with the cholera epidemic in London in 1854, but why is Snow's map more effective than the two bar graphs at solving the mystery of the epidemic?
2. Given what we learned above in question 1, why do the Morton Thiokol graphics on pages 47 and 48 reveal less about the relationship of cold and O-ring damage than Tufte's own graphic on page 45?
3. What does Tufte mean by "aggregation"? What is it good for? What problems can it cause? Compare graphics using aggregation on pages 35, 44-45 (vs. 41).
4. Take a look at Tufte's Four Principles of Information Design on page 53 (in the last long paragraph).

Beginning Photoshop. We'll continue today withy our first exercise, "Beginning Banner Techniques." You'll need to download the image "richlighthouse.jpg" to your "visual rhetoric" folder on your Zip and then open it up in Photosho2p.

You will have until Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. to post the image to the Web and paste the URL into a message to the Webx discussion "Banner Techniques Exercise URLs".

Webx Discussion. Today, we'll learn how to log into the Webx discussion board.

Class Blackboard for January 29

Roll, Questions, Announcements, Housekeeping

• Tufte Reading for Tuesday: Chapter 3, "Explaining Magic: Pictorial Instructions and Disinformation Design," pages 55-71. This chapter will be especially valuable to those of you doing an instructional directions for the Graphic Analysis of a Process Project.
• Graphic Analysis of a Process Project due a week from next Wednesday (Wed., 2/11)

"Banner Techniques" Exercises (Beginning and Intermediate) and "Moving Files with Dreamweaver MX." We'll continue today with our first exercise, "Beginning Banner Techniques" and "Intermediate Banner Techniques." You'll work with the version you saved previously, which we adapted from the original raw photo "richlighthouse.jpg." You should save the optimized .jpg image to your folder www/3220/exercises/banner (that is, the folder "banner" inside of "exercises" inside of "5230" inside of "www").

Today, we'll:

1. post the image to the Web (in a folder 3220/exercises/banner) with Dreamweaver MX,
2. view the image online with your Web browser at the URL <http://www.d.umn.edu/~youruserid/5230/exercises/banner/banner.jpg>,
3. with the banner visible on the screen, copy the complete URL from the "Address" box of the Web browser, and
4. paste the URL into a message to the Webx discussion "Banner Techniques Exercise URLs".

We'll learn how to access the discussion board in class.

Webx Discussion. Today, we'll learn how to log into the Webx discussion board.

Web-Based Documents. Time permitting, we'll learn how to use Dreamweaver to create Web-based documents like those used for the Graphic Analysis of a Process Project. Two examples of these kinds of documents are:

• The Making of a Star (from spring 2003)
• Links out of a Watchband (from spring 2003)

Class Blackboard for February 3

The first project, the Graphic Analysis of a Process, will be due Wednesday, February 11 (a week from tomorrow) by noon.

Tufte readings. We'll talk about Tufte's Chapter 3, which was assigned for today.

Resizing in Photoshop. Before we complete the exercise below, we'll resize the images in the "Making of a Star" project.

Web-Based Documents. Today, we'll complete the exercise "Web-based Documents: like. Two examples of these kinds of documents are:

• The Making of a Star (from spring 2003)
• Links out of a Watchband (from spring 2003)

Once we've completed this exercise in class, post the two documents in separate folders to your "exercises" folder on the Web, visit both documents to make sure they work, and then paste both URLs into a message to the Webx discusson "web-based document URLs" by tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Saving your "www" Site Information to your Disk.

1. Look in the "Site Panel" on the right side of the Dreamweaver screen.
2. Find the "Site" menu at the top of the "Site Panel" and open it.
3. Choose "Export"
4. From the "Export Site" box, choose yes for "Back up my settings"
5. Navigate to your Zip disk and save the .ste file.

When you want to begin work on a different day, simply choose "Import" from the Site Panel's "Site" menu and navigate to that .ste file to import it.

Class Blackboard for February 5

New Due Date for Graphic Analysis of the Process. Because we will not have class on Thursday, Feb. 12, the due date for the first project is now Monday, 2/16 by noon. Then on Tuesday and Thursday of that week (2/17 and 2/19), we will cancel class for individual conferences in my office in 420 Humanities. More on signing up for conferences on Tuesday.

Today's Exercise: "Simulating Action in an Image Using Photoshop Layers." This exercise will introduce a number of useful tools and techniques in Photoshop that you'll need for the Graphic Analysis of the Process project. For this exercise, you'll need to download the 9th and 10th images from Links out of a Watchband.

Individual Work, But Still in Class till 3:15. Though we'll spend the rest of the time working individually on our projects and getting help from neighbors, please plan to work till 3:15. (Sometimes people confuse individual work in class with an open lab situation).

Class Blackboard for February 10

New Due Date for Graphic Analysis of the Process. Because we will not have class on Thursday, Feb. 12, the due date for the first project is now Monday, 2/16 by noon.

Then, coming up...

• Tuesday, 2/17 we will meet again in class and sign up for conferences.
• Thursday 2/19 and Tuesday 2/24, we will cancel class for individual conferences in my office in 420 Humanities. More on signing up for conferences Tuesday 2/17.

See the schedule for a more visual explanation.

Reading for Tuesday, 2/17 (a week from today): all of Molly Bang's book, Picture This: How Pictures Work.

Introducing the next major project, The Picture Book due Wednesday, 3/3 by noon.

Individual Work, But Still in Class till 3:15. Though we'll spend the rest of the time working individually on our projects and getting help from neighbors, please plan to work till 3:15. (Sometimes people confuse individual work in class with an open lab situation).

Class Blackboard for February 17

Questions and Issues related to turning in the Graphic Analysis of the Process project yesterday? Collect annotations.

Sign up for conferences Thursday 2/19 and Tuesday 2/24 in my office in 420 Humanities.

We'll not meet as a class this Thusday or next Tuesday (2/19 & 2/24) because of scheduled conferences. This one, 20-minute conference, however, will count as two days' worth of attendance so please be sure to make it.

Please sign up for a time slot using the discussion board by clicking the link there for either Thursday (2/19) or Tuesday (2/24). If you can't make any of the times, please e-mail me to make other arrangments. Be sure to sign up only for times listed on that day which have not already been reserved in posted messages.

In this conference, we'll talk about your Graphic Analysis of a Proecess Project, but also any of these other up-coming matters, depending on what's concerning you:

• The Picture Book Project
• Dreamweaver, Photoshop, your "www" folder, etc.
• Anything else that may help you in the class

Our next meeting together will be Thursday 2/26.

Molly Bang's Picture This: How Pictures Work.

Recreate the scene above from the movie Schindler's List as a Molly Bangs-style graphic of geometric shapes, colors, etc. How does it fulfill some of Bangs' principles of "how pictures work"?

Exercise: Non-optically Acquired Graphics.

See the in-class handout of Photoshop techniques. Save the result for the Web as a .gif or .jpg, post it to a folder 5230/exercises/nonop, and send the complete URL to the Webx discussion "Non-op Images"

Class Blackboard for February 26

Picture Book Project. With six days before this project is due, we'll work with William Stafford's poem, "Traveling through the Dark" to talk about story, plot, and emotion.

Plot and Story. Let's consider the differences between story and plot.

Paraphrasing E.M. Forster, Janet Burroway distinguishes these two terms this way:

A story is a series of events recorded in their chronological order.

A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance. (39)

Use your Freytag's Triangle handout to chart the plot of this poem.

Class Blackboard for March 2

The Picture Book Project is due by Wednesday at noon. To submit this project,

To turn in this project, you'll need to do the following by Wednesday, 3/3 at noon.

1. Create a Web Gallery with Photoshop of your images. Make sure the images are saved with the file names 01, 02, 03... so they will appear in the correct order. See page 392 in the Photoshop 7 book for details.
2. Post the entire contents of the Web Gallery folder to the Web in the folder www/3220/picture. Do not leave out any of the files or folders that Photoshop created in the Web Gallery process.
3. View your picture book on the Web with your browser. If you saved it in the folder I suggested, it should be at the address <http://www.d.umn.edu/~youruserid/3220/picture>.
4. With the main page of the Web Gallery on the screen, copy the URL from the address box in the browser and paste it into a message to the Webx discussion "Picture Book URLs."
5. Print and annotate the project. Print out the page(s) of your project from the Web and make annotations on particular features and parts by 1). writing numbers on the printout and then 2). typing your comments for each numbered item in a separate Word document. Print out the comment sheet and leave it along with the Web-page printout in my mailbox in Humanities 420 by Wednesday, 3/2 at noon.

Workshopping the Picture Book Projects

Before class on Thursday, March 4, visit the projects of your classmates and respond to them in writing. See the workshop page for details and guidelines. We will take the projects in the following order.

Introducing the

due Thursday, 3/25

Class Blackboard for March 4

Workshopping the Picture Book Projects

Today, we'll workshop the first 6 projects below by discussing them in class. Be prepared to talk about your reactions and suggestions when I call on you. See the workshop page for details and guidelines. Tuesday, we'll do projects 7-13.

I've made links to the projects posted as of the time I'm editing this page, but the most complete set of links can be found at the Webx discussion "Picture Book URLs."

Introducing the

due Thursday, 3/25

Class Blackboard for March 9

Office Assistant, UMD English Department
$8.00/hour, Flexible hours.
Call 8228.

DUTIES:
Desktop publishing and production of chapbooks (templates and training provided) to accompany the Jankofsky Medieval and Renaissance Studies lecture series; production of posters, flyers, etc.; duplicating, mailing and other clerical duties; work with the Jankofsky Committee at UMD, UMD Print Services, and off-campus Duluth letterpress printer/binder.

See the complete announcement...

Workshopping the Picture Book Projects

Today, we'll workshop the second set of projects below by discussing them in class. Be prepared to talk about your reactions and suggestions when I call on you. See the workshop page for details and guidelines. Tuesday, we'll do projects 7-13.

I've made links to the projects posted as of the time I'm editing this page, but the most complete set of links can be found at the Webx discussion "Picture Book URLs."

Be thinking about an image to use for this anaytlical project, due Thursday, 3/25. Questions?

Class Blackboard for March 11

Workshopping the Picture Book Projects

Today, we'll workshop the second set of projects below by discussing them in class. Be prepared to talk about your reactions and suggestions when I call on you. See the workshop page for details and guidelines. Tuesday, we'll do projects 7-13.

I've made links to the projects posted as of the time I'm editing this page, but the most complete set of links can be found at the Webx discussion "Picture Book URLs."

Bring to class on Tuesday, 3/23 a copy of the image you'll be using for the Analytical Essay Project, due Monday, 3/29. The image can be in either electronic or paper form.

Class Blackboard for March 23

Favorite Picture Book: Based on your votes, the favorite Picture Book Project was Kelly Stone's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Other projects getting votes were those by (in alphabetical order) Aaron, Brian, Casey, Jayme, Maggie, Sara.

Responder of the Set: Today in class, we'll announce the Responder of the Set for the Picture Book Project, based on your votes.

First, let's recognize all those (in no partiuclar order) who received votes and the appreciation of your classmates: Casey, Shannon, Maggie, Erin, Jayme, Amanda, Abby, Grace, Jennifer, Tessa, Brian and Kelly.

From these, I'll announce those who received #1 votes, and then the overall winner.

This project is due in my mailbox in 420 Humanities by Monday, 3/29 by noon.

Today we'll do some idea-generating exercises in class to help you write this essay:

• clustering
• a focusing statement

Class Blackboard for March 25

We'll cancel class next week to hold individual conferences in my office, Humanities 420. Please sign up for a conference on one of the days below during an available time.

• Tuesday, 3/30
• Wednesday, 3/31
• Thursday, 4/1

Introducing the Revision Project

due by the scheduled final exam time, Wednesday, May 12 at 4 p.m.

Revise one of your previous projects with what you've learned so far. This revision will be judged by the degree of improvement over the original, rather than on the original scale. Your annotation of the revision should therefore be detailed and persuasive, and refer not only to the criteria of the original assginment, but to what you've learned subsequently.

This project is due in my mailbox in 420 Humanities by Monday, 3/29 by noon.

Are there questions about the evaluation checklist I gave you last time?

To warm up, let's talk about the cultural work of this image that circulated on the Internet in 2001.

Then, we'll dig into the Tufte and Bang books to look for quotes and ideas that apply to your image and to the cluster and writings we did last time.

1. look through your Tufte and Bang books (at our assigned readings so far, but elsewhere if you see something that strikes you) and, on a piece of paper, make a list of quotes and ideas (with page numbers) that may prove relevant to analyzing your image. Keep this list with your materials from last time.
2. pick one idea, from either book, that you think is especially useful to note and remember
3. Then, post a message each the Webx discussion A Catalogue of Ideas from Tufte and Bang.
4. In the first line of that message, type a word or short phrase that sums up that idea and page number so they will display as the title of your message in the listing.
5. Below the first line, explain why you chose the idea or technique, and demonstrate how it can be used to analyze an image by referring to specific example. Link to the specific example with a URL. Feel free to use one of the images we've looked at in class: Beardsley's Yellow Book cover, the Tianamen Square Tank Man, Victory (Tianamen Square skin), In-A-Gadda-Da-Oswald (a.k.a. "Oswald in a Jam"), the Accidental Tourist.
6. Finally, look through the postings of your classmates and find one to comment on (be sure to click the "reply" button directly above the message you're responding to).

Class Blackboard for April 6

Introducing the

Collaborative Quiz.

For Thursday, come in with an idea for the Confection project (a "system" of ideas).
Also, bring your Photoshop books with you.

Resources

• Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy
• Radiohead's album cover for Hail to the Thief.
  

Class Blackboard for April 8

Question about the Confection Project?

Today, we'll do an exercise in Photoshop using layer masks to select parts of an image, which is covered on page 266-267, and moving a layer on 144.

You can download and use the following images for this exercise.

• fallleavesgnd.jpg
• cat.jpg

Photoshop Teams

On Tuesday, we'll have our first day getting together into Photoshop teams.

Class Blackboard for April 15

Please sit with your Photoshop teams today so we can continue to work together.

Working in our teams, we'll take on another sample Confection Project, this time Gregory Ulmer's theory of manifestos, called CATTt.

We'll continue working together in our Photoshop teams. Once everyone has had a chance to demonstrate and teach their techniques, I'll ask you to

1. visit all the teams' Webx discussions,
2. check out each person's sample products and technique descriptions, and then
3. vote on the technique you'd most like to learn. (Vote simply by sending a reply to that person's message).

The winner (?) will lead the entire class through the steps of the technique in the book, on the big screen and on our individual computers, where we'll each complete the exercise, save it for the web (as a .jpg or .gif) in a folder www/3220/exercises/team, and post it to the Web. By Friday, please send the URL of the finished product to the Webx discussion "winner."

Class Blackboard for April 20

We'll conclude our Photoshop teams activity by asking the three top vote-getters in last week's poll to lead us through the steps of their techniques: Brian S., Tessa S. and Aaron P.

Everyone in the class will

1. follow the demonstration from each winner and complete those steps on your own computer,
2. save each final product as a .psd file in your non-www "visual rhetoric" folder
3. save a version of each image for the web (as a .jpg or .gif) in a folder www/3220/exercises/winners
4. post the folder www/3220/exercises/winners to the Web.
5. By Wednesday at 2 p.m., please send the URLs of three Web versions in a message to the Webx discussion "winner."

Activity in Class:

1. Look at the body of ideas for your Confection Project, and then at the examples of confections in Tufte. What example would make the best model for coherently visualizing (embodying, dramatizing) those ideas and the relationships among them.
2. Read what Tufte has to say about those examples, and then
3. Make a list of concerns, needs, goals, questions, challenges, things to remember, etc.

We'll discuss these in class.

Class Blackboard for April 22

Today, we'll learn some more Photoshop skills specifically for creating the Confection Project.

For these exercises, you'll need to download and open in Photoshop the following image files.

• mountain road
• suitcase
• baby chick
• winter welcome guy

The Confection Project due by next Wednesday 4/28 by noon. More on the format of turning it in on Tuesday.

Class Blackboard for April 27

Please sit with your Photoshop teams today.

The Confection Project due by tomorrow, Wednesday 4/28, by noon.

Then, on Thursday, we will begin workshopping those projects to give each of you feeback and suggestions. You might use these if you decide to use this project for your Revision.

Please do the following by Wednesday at noon:

1. Complete your Confection Project and post it to the Web in the folder www/3220/confection. You'll probably save this as a .jpg, but, when you're performing the "Save for the Web..." process, see which format (.jpg or .gif) gives you the smallest file size with the same visual quality. The .jpg or .gif need not be inserted on a Web page in most cases, unless you want to include additional text with the image.
2. In a message to the Webx folder "confection URLs and explanations," a). paste in the URL of the image/page and, below the URL in the message, b). write a paragraph explaining your confection and the body of ideas that it visualizes, and, if available, giving at URL to a page out on the Web where these ideas are further explained or developed.
3. Print out the Confection and turn it in to my mailbox by noon Wednesday.
4. Include with the printout: a). a printout of the explanation that you sent in the Webx message to your classmates, and b). a typed annotation of the project referring to numbers that you've handwritten on the printout. If you printout is more than one page, please group your annotations by page.

Then before class time on Thursday:

1. Review the workshopping page for ideas about what you might discuss in your comments.
2. Visit the Confections scheduled for Thursday in the schedule below. The most current list of URLs can be found at the Webx discussion "confection URLs and explanations."
3. Read the explanations for these confections in the Webx discussion "confection URLs and explanations."
4. Type written comments and suggestions for each project scheduled for Thursday.
5. Printout the comments, separated on different pieces of paper by project, to give to the authors of the confections after class on Thursday.

By the end of class on Thursday,

Paste all the comments for Thursday into a single e-mail message (no attachments please) and send it to me by the end of class on Thursday with the subject line "3220 confection workshop"

Networking (20 minutes)

Open up your Confection Project on your computer (in whatever state it's in right now!). Make a list of the main challenges you face in authoring this project: questions of technique? of conception?

In your Photoshop teams,

1. Take two minutes looking at/talking about each of your projects (six minutes total).

2. Discuss your challenges or concerns. Offer help or suggestions to one another. Decide on one question/answer (big or small) that you want to pose to the entire class, either genuinely to ask for help, or to give us the answer that you found.

3. Then We'll take...

• one minute to open and think about our own projects
• eight minutes for you to talk with your team about each project, and decide on a single quesition/answer to pose
• ten minutes going from group to group, hearing and possibly reacting to the questions/answers posed.

Class Blackboard for April 29

The Confection Project Workshop.

By the end of class today, paste all the comments for Thursday into a single e-mail message (no attachments please) and send it to me by the end of class on Thursday with the subject line "3220 confection workshop."

Introductions:

1. Salo, Stephanie . In this confection I have briefly explained each stage in a normal sleep cycle. I used the image of a Ferris wheel to depict the constant movement from each stage in the cycle. Like a Ferris wheel our sleep cycles continue to revolve until we wake-up, or get off the ride. As we progress through each cycle our body’s reaction to each change varies, like it may as the Ferris wheel spins higher off the ground. As the wheel continues towards the ground, like in the last stages of sleep, your body achieves the highest level of relaxation. More information about sleep cycles at: http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamresearch.htm

2. Schak, Jennifer This confection aimes at illustrating the story of the King James version of the bible. Each compartment demonstrates an important part of the bible. The quickest summary goes like this; God created all. Humans sinned so god sent his son jesus who was born to mary. Jesus was killed and resurrected so that our sins may be forgiven and someday live everlasting. This will all be determined on judgement day. The confection reflects the book's arrangment from beginning to end.

3. Scherf, Tessa My confection is focused on the basic four stages of alcoholism. I chose to do this one because it is something that affects a lot of people, and is also something that is not readily understood. Each picture represents the seriousness of each stage, whether it be casual drinking, using alcohol to take the edge off of a bad day, drinking daily or coming to the end (death) where there is no turning back.

4. Price, Aaron. My confection represents the battle between the Football Stadium and the Baseball Stadium conflict here in Minnesota. Many people are for and against the two stadiums being built while many people are against just one of the stadiums and for another. My confection shows the issues of both sides. While Baseball has been around longer then football it is many times considered a much more artistic and deeply emotional sport while football has always been considered the MTV of sports (popular, fast, always different, and very aggresive). This shows that there are two different sides; the Baseball Fans infavor of the new Twins Stadium, and the Football Fans in favor of the new Vikings Stadium.

The rest of my confection shows the stadium issues, which have been a consern from both sides for many years now. To see some of the different sides of the issues and conflicts associated with the stadiums go here: http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/2004/session/stadium_issues/

5. Stone, Kelly: http://www.d.umn.edu/~ston0179/3220/confection/Confection%20Final.jpg

My confection is focused on the major I created (Interdisciplinary Studies-Professional Writing). Because the basis of my major is made up of both writing and visual arts, I wanted to display the different parts as one image. The background, a graduation hat, sets a scene to connect the links of my major I’m graduating with. In order to emphasis the parts of my major, I layered a painting with a notebook, and a paintbrush with a pen. The magazine, which includes the images of the hand, painting, and notebook, holds the theme of my major together because it is part of my major’s outcome. New Moon Magazine contributed to my major because it is where I held an internship.

6. Winkler, Lucas This confection describes my summer priorities. As you travel up the dirt road, my priorities get less important. Most importantly comes finding a job. Next comes figuring the best place for me to live. After that comes entertainment, which involves sports. Lastly, I must be thinking of that special girl (this is just a picture of a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader).

Class Blackboard for May 4

The Confection Project Workshop.

The most complete and current listing of URLs can be found at the Webx discussion "confection URLs and explanations"

By the end of class today, paste all the comments for Tuesday into a single e-mail message (no attachments please) and send it to me by the end of class with the subject line "3220 confection workshop."

Introductions:

7. Johnson, Jayme. For my confection I chose the Classical Approach to Organizational Management Theory. There are 3 main parts that I chose to visualize to help understand. You can think of the workers under this management as a machine. First is specialization - which you can see that each person has their own specific job, to show this I chose the images of 2 assembly lines, the left with people, the right just the machine itself. Second is standardization - which is the people working at this type of job are the same as those working at a similar job, or parts in one machine are the same as parts in another, this is seen with the boxes of people and parts on the image. Third is replaceability - if a worker is unhappy the company can replace them easily (from the box of other workers) just like if a part breaks on a machine it is easily replaced.

8. McGuire, Megan. My confection is the four lobes of the human brain, and the point my confection is trying to get across are the functions of each lobe. This confection should help you to remember what each lobe does. The occipital is the first visual receptor. The temporal can see color and detail with cones and rods. The frontal can do some higher functions such as reading a map or math. And the parietal is used for motor skills.

9. Morley, Amanda I showed the stages of grief as outlined by Elisabeth Kubler Ross in her book, On Death and Dying. There are five stages, as I have shown: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. There are a few good web sites that have descriptions of each stage, one of which is <http://www.modernlife.org/all_staples1999to2000/2000archive/March/FiveStagesOfGrief.htm>.

First of all, I thought the road was most effective in showing the progression of these stages because they are just that: stages a person moves through, from one to the next. In the bottom left-hand corner of the page is the man I call the griever. He is the one dealing with a loss in this confection.

I chose to use a broken bridge to show denial because, at this point in grieving, the griever is cut off from reality. The broken bridge represents the gap between the griever’s perception and reality. Although it is downed, it is passable and once the griever makes it over the bridge, he hits the anger stage.

I depicted anger with an erupting volcano because it gives the impression of a person who has “blown his top” or someone that is “fuming mad.”

Once the griever moves past the anger stage, he makes it to bargaining. I depicted this with a market, where bargaining actually occurs as money is exchanged for goods. In the case of grieving, the griever tries to bargain with a higher power, saying things like, “If you bring him/her back, I will never do anything wrong ever again.”

After bargaining comes stage four: depression. At this stage grievers are alone and inconsolable. They feel like there is no point in going on. I depicted depression as a pseudo-cemetery because some people commit suicide in this stage. Also, time spent at cemeteries is often spent in solitude and can lead to feelings of loneliness and sadness.

Finally, the gas station shows the final stage of acceptance. This is the where the griever has dealt with the loss and has realized there is nothing that can be changed. Instead of continuing to grieve, he decides to accept the loss, “fuel up,” regain energy and get on with his life.

10. Nadeau, Abby. My confection is about a story by Edgar Allan Poe called The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. It is a very weird Poe story and it involves topics on becoming an adult, black v. white race, cannibalism and the "civilized" v. the "uncivilized." These topics were a challenge for both the author and the character in the story. Each compartment symbolizes those topics in a small way. Besides the actual compartments there are two hidden objects that if you can find them, they tell you more about the picture. At least one of them does for sure. If you want to know more about this story you can go here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA98/silverman/poe/frame.html The site gives a larger summary and offers the complete text.

11. Peterson, Grace “The Lady of Shalott” is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in which the lady is under a curse that she may not look at the world through her own eyes, but must only see it reflected in a mirror. She does not know what the penalty is for looking without the aid of the mirror, and finds that when she does finally look the outside world with her bare eyes, as the noble knight Sir Lancelot caught her eye in the mirror, the penalty is death. My confection attempts to explain how the curse is carried out. The images in my visual explanation of “The Lady of Shalott” focus on her death as a result of the curse for looking at the outside world. There are four images, which are linked with four stanzas of the fourth part of the poem.

12. Poplau, Thomas My confection is dealing with a set of beliefs that stems from Punk sub-culture called straight edge. The punk band Minor Threat created straight edge in the early 1980s. Being straight edge is seen as following some rather simple rules to makes ones life and attitude more positive. There are three main beliefs or rules to being straight edge: first no alcohol, second no drugs or mind altering substances, and finally no promiscuous sex.