Photo essay Final

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Digital Usage in the Courtroom (Rough Draft)

Research question: How has technology, specifically digital usage, in the court room effected the way lawyers, judges, and juries function in the courtroom? What are some examples of these digital uses? And how are these digital uses being received and presented rhetorically? 

Things I would like your help on:

** This outline is what I am going to follow no matter the means of my presentation. I am not sure how to present my project…

Should I do a video, multimodal text, or power point? What suggestions do you have regarding this? Any other presentation types I should I be thinking about?

I know this is sketchy rough draft but how is the structure in the outline so far? Does it flow? Does it make sense? Is it missing anything?

Is it entertaining? I know this is not the most exhilarating topic but could you find interest in it? If it is not very interesting to you can you see it being interesting to other people? If it is not interesting, do you have any suggestions to help?

In section V,  I have 3 articles relating the project with 3 articles in class. Do you think these are the right articles? Any other suggestions?

Minor note…title suggestions?

** I have had trouble finding actual court cases that I can study. I have an appointment with my Business Law teacher to see if she can lead me in the right direction.

I. Introduction
             A. Attention Getter: (Some court case where digital rhetoric wins a big case)

            B. Why is this important to the Project? How does it relate?

            C. Research Question to be answered…

II. Explanation/ Examples 

A.     Three basic rules categories for digital usage in a courtroom

1.     Equipment that can be brought into the courtroom by a trial lawyer regardless of whether or not the courtroom is equipped or not. EX: Laptops, videos, sound recordings, etc…

2.     Equipment normally available and equipped for a courtroom. (some courtroom have better technology that others)

EX: Digital monitors in jury box, videoconferencing, better sound system, etc…

3.      Equipment that is used is specialized cases and is not funded by the judiciary.

EX: Virtual reality displays, holograms, etc…

** Insert graphic of levels of digital usage in courtroom.

III. Lawyers

** This section will be formatted similar to section IV but it will be about usage of the digital rhetorical strategies.

A.     Category 1: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies used in a rhetorical way? How does this differ from the modern way of doing things? Examples…

B.     Category 2: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies used in a rhetorical way? How does this differ from the modern way of doing things? Examples…

C.     Category 3: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies used in a rhetorical way? How does this differ from the modern way of doing things? Examples…

IV. Jury/ Judge

** This section will be formatted similar to section III but it will be about perception of the digital rhetorical strategies.

A.     Category 1: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies perceived? How does this differ from the modern way of judgment? Do these rhetorical strategies actually effect to outcomes of court cases? Examples…

B.     Category 2: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies used in a rhetorical way? How does this differ from the modern way of judgment? Do these rhetorical strategies actually effect to outcomes of court cases? Examples…

C.     Category 3: What example can be most helpful in this category? How are these technologies used in a rhetorical way? How does this differ from the modern way of judgment? Examples…

V. Application: Apply articles read in class to digital rhetoric in the courtroom. 

A. Grant- Davies: rhetoric, discourse, and exigence. Why is it important? Why is it needed? Why is it important and needed in the courtroom? What are some of the basic ways to use rhetoric using all 3 digital usage categories?

B. Hayles: how do we interoperate? How do these ideas of interpretation help/ hurt a layer in the courtroom?  How does if effect the judge/jury? Relate to each category of digital usage.

C. Fisher: the rise of technology lead toward the fall of rationality. How do these digital rhetorical tools help teach a jury/judge rationality? Is it the lawyer’s job to teach the jury/judge rational? How can each category of digital usage help or hurt a lawyer in terms of Fisher?

VI. Conclusion

A.     Restate research question and answer in 2-4 sentences.

B.     What is the future of digital usage and digital rhetoric in the courtroom?

Infographic Reflection

For my info-graphic I wanted to combine style, sound, pictures, and text into one informational piece. It took awhile for me to come up with my idea because I set those guidelines for myself. I ended up coming upon Ducks because I have been frequently duck hunting this year. There are so many types of ducks and different characteristics of ducks. As I young hunter I felt it was necessarily to be able to identify all the ducks that you shoot. his project was not only so I could have more information on this subject but also so any young hunter in the future can be informed as well.  

This project was a lot different then all of the other projects this year because I came into it with high hopes and a plan. The other projects were more of a "lets see what I can do" type of project. I wanted to have picture of both sexes of he Duck with the type of quack it made, along with the characteristics of color and size. I feel I did a pretty good Job at this except that Microsoft word gave me a template and would not let me falter on it very much. It would not let me change the typlate to two pages and It would not let me add sound. his was a very big problem for me but a that point in my project there was nothing I could do. 

In the future I would build my info graphic from the ground up. I do not think it is hard to add our own text boxes, colors, and pictures, This would give me more freedom and the ability to have as much sound as I please. Overall I had a good time doing this project. I had the best time researching a learning about my topic. 

Virtual Reality Morphing into Actuality

It is obvious that kids are playing a lot of video games; there has to be a way to make all this time they are spending into positivity for society. In my opinion there are two ways of doing this:

1.     Virtual control of an important task like farming, teaching, etc.. For example the games the McGonigal developed that she presented toward the end of her Ted Talks; the game of survival skills in a gas shortage, or developing social sustainability in Africa. Another example of this is the Farm game talked about in Priebatsch talked about in his Ted Talks. These examples can lead to players playing a game and not realizing that in some way they are benefiting society.

2.     Individual virtual reality leading to shaper social, mental, and physical skills. According to McGonigal there are 4 basic skills that can be learned from any game urgent optimism, weaving a social fabric (like someone better after playing) blissful productivity ( happily working hard),  epic meaning.  Once you have mastered these 4 basic skills then you become a super empowered hopeful individual, capable of changing the word.

One ability a video game has that can never be transferred over to reality is the ability to start over. In the above first example above there is no room for failure. Any game with a higher purpose becomes reality not a game. For example if you are helping to support social innovation in Africa by playing that game made by McGonigal. If you are the best player and everyone looks at your work and it is actually used in the real world then does that not just become work? Lets just say this African game takes a hold and people start paying it all over the world. Africa then is some how innovating socially as a society. What happens when the next game comes out? And people start losing interest in the African game? McGonigal says it best at the end when she says “people use games to escape everything that is un-satisfying in real life.” When the things that are un satisfying in life are becoming the games themselves, then game are just becoming more like reality. Why can’t we just help Africa socially stabilize? Because not a lot of people care…Just because someone is playing it virtually doesn’t mean that somehow it makes them care. People want to escape reality when they play games. As much potential as there is for positivity to come out of hours spent gaming, there is no immediate thirst for gamers to change what they are doing.  I can’t see a World of World Craft player to some how shift to a game made by McGonigal.

It all about the Benjamin's

I found the article by Johnson-Eilola to be very informative and interesting. I think this is so because I am writing a similar paper in a different class.  In my paper I am discussing the inconstancy of plagiarism/intellectually property case convictions in America.  I am studying some major court cases like Dan Drown and the Di Vinci Code, a law suit on George Harrison, along with many other intellectual property cases. Through my studies I have found that there is a huge gap in convictions. Some of the cases go to court, others get dismissed, and others are settled out of court. Where is the line that marks the difference between plagiarism and intertextuality? Because of Johnson-Eilola I think I found why there is this gap in convictions... DOLLA DOLLA BILLS YALL!

Throughout school, any one in my generation of English majors have touched on on the battle of modernism vs postmodernism. I think it is important to think about two things when comparing this battle to intellectual property, technology and profit. "We cannot separate writing from the economic sphere. We can attempt to keep access open, but we can no longer ignore intellectual property laws and pretend that they will go away." (212) Why will intellectual property laws no go away?... technology and profit. It is obvious that there is an information super highway it is easily accessed, yeah yeah yeah.  Because of the easy access it is easy for people to charge money for their work.  "Oddly, although we frequently lament the fact our students mist now pay copy write permission fees for material in the coursepacks we ask them to purchase for our classes, we don't often think about the postmodern shift that resulted in this situation." (209)

Before this article, I thought about this postmodern shift as a step toward a peaceful all knowing society where bunnies run, and  people are free to share ideas. Now I realize the only reason there has been a shift from modernism is because if peoples drive for profit.

Its all about he Benjamin's

know what you shoot.... my infographic

link to my infographic

Photo essay proposal

Lately, I have been thinking about going to law school. So, for my photo essay I would like to do digital rhetoric and writing in the courtroom.  Law practice has been fairly consistent in its usage in rhetoric and writing but because of the increase in technology, digital usage has been increasing in the courtroom. My photo essay will address the following questions: What usages of digital rhetoric and writing are present in today’s courtrooms? How are these digital usages used in favor of the defense and the prosecution?

I am relatively unfamiliar with courtroom rhetoric and writing, especially in terms of digital usage. This project will be more of a discovery/ informational project for me and anyone else that may be interested in law.  I am interested in this because I want to pursue law in the future but also because I believe rhetoric is one of the most important tools for a lawyer.  I want to explore this topic because I believe it will be helpful to me in the future. I could do some random project centered only on this class but instead I thought I would do something useful for my future.

A lot of my research will come from the Internet especially academic databases. Some of my other research will come from law journals and case studies. Case studies will help my project observing what digital and rhetoric usages lead to a victory in the courtroom.  Some of my secondary research could be to observe a court case at the Gallatin county court house or to do an interview with an actual lawyer.  Ideally, I would like to learn some rhetorical techniques that might help me in the future.

the true author of a photo analysis

When I first started reading Bernhardt I was wondering why we were analyzing a memo on wetlands. As I stated reading trough I started to realize all of the syntax, rhetoric, and composition an unimaginative/ creative piece can posses. "electronic media, strategist of rhetorical organization will move increasingly toward visual patterns presented on screen and interpenetrated through visual as well as verbal syntax." ( Bernhardt 77) As I thought about this quote and continued to read Wysocki the photo essay started to come into play.

Wysocki is almost too helpful in his analysis of analysis. I wonder to myself as I read is interpretation this concrete? Who is to say Wysocki's interpretations are wrong and he is full of shit? If I analyse exactly as he tells me to analyze  then I am analyzing like him. Interpretation for me is personal for the most part. Sure there are common beliefs like green is the color of success or things of that nature but who is the actual author of a photo essay? If I give analysis of a photo is my interpretation right? or is does the authors deeper meaning trump all? in that case I wonder what the point of analyzing at all?

reflection

1.       My buddy Blake and I were messing around with his go pro at hockey practice. It turned out that we got about 10 minutes worth of footage. The assignment called for videos and pictures of my own creation. Because I play hockey I have a plethora of my own photos and videos. Then the problem was finding a message. You lead me toward an advertising video.

2.  The difference with this project is that I used previous materials to write. While I do this with some projects, I usually challenge myself to write on new topics. Another difference was that this a/v project was layered with meaning. Lately I have been writing mostly academic papers. They are pretty cut and dry research, write, and then edit. This project was move of research, compose picture, compose text, compose music, compose timing, and then edit. I hopefully can write in layers when I am creative writing. But this project has taught me to think about what I say in my academic projects. I usually don’t think about rhetoric but I can relate rhetoric to the layers of this project.

3.       One of the paths I couldn't take was having actual game footage. The season has not started yet so I felt as if I could capture the crowd and he game interacting together that t would give more of a community feel; hopefully leading to more donations. I also wanted to show more of the hockey culture. The problem with this was that a lot of the things we say on the in the hockey room wouldn't help sell the bobcat hockey brand. I just wish we weren't so vulgar. It’s funny because I didn't notice until this project.

4.       I think I already said this but I will approach my academic writing with more of a layered approach, like movie maker. For example I can lay down my methods, then Ideas, then my writing, then rhetoric and then editing. I have previously had trouble with using rhetoric in my academic writings.

5.     

       I know now how to successfully compose a movie on movie maker. I also know how to properly judge an A/v short based on the viewings we did in class. I think he most important thing that I learned was realizing places to use rhetoric as a whole not specifically toward movies. Even though I learned a lot about rhetoric in movies.  

Modernist Discourse v. Postmodern Discourse

After reading Jamieson and Wysocki I realized that the third critique in Critique of Judgment by Kant connects both article. (understanding---judgment---reason) The reason that I state this is because at first I understood the Jamieson article and I also understood her judgment but I could not find her reasoning. At first in the Jamison article, (no offence to anyone) I felt as if she was extremely feminist. Extreme feminism seems to stray away from equality in my opinion. So, at first I thought, what is the reason she is blasting male discourse and anyone putting a stereotype on feminist rhetoric? Yet she would say things like “although some men deliver “effeminate” speech and some women master “manly” speech, theorists held that speakers generally stayed true to their gender?” (Jamieson 801-02) If people stay true to their gender yet Jamieson is critiquing the stereotypes people state about gender, then what is the point of this article?  I guess I finally started to get the point during the last section on politics. It is interesting to think about the political means of rhetoric for both genders. Men take shots at each other’s credibility (competitive), and women lay out what they do well/ what they can do for you (emotional). Now when you apply this idea of foreseeable discourse then you can begin to understand the change from modernism to postmodernism. Modernist were judgmental, concrete, and traditional just as their discourse and rhetoric reflect. Jamieson reflects this on her critique of gender driven discourse. Wysoki does a great job of reflecting the postmodern ideas of discourse. For example when studying one of the first graphics of the women with the arrow pointing to her butt. Obviously this is directed toward men. The point I am trying to make is that postmodern ideas are open, excepting, and groundbreaking just like our discourse and rhetoric reflect. Instead of critiquing and finding the best use of discourse we recognize and celebrate our differences. For example, “manly” was the best form of discourse in the modern era now in the postmodern era it is dependent upon the context. 

Final A/V Short

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BDJwuzOTU&feature=youtu.be

A graphic novel afterthought

The readings for today all seem to fit together and seem to fit with the class. Which is nice because I have been struggling with fitting the readings within the class. After going through the readings I couldn’t help thinking of a graphic novel, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. I specifically thought of the relationship between text and picture. In Fun Home Alison as well as her Dad struggles with their sexuality throughout the novel. The interesting thing that happens in this novel is that the text and the comic strips (pictures) do not align. What the author says gives us an image contrary to what the picture tells us. I wonder why this is. Mishra states in the article, that throughout early schooling we have been thought to analyze text and treat photos as afterthoughts. The reader shouldn’t except the drawing and move on. The reader needs to inspect the difference and ask why? It could be as simple as a difference in views but it is most likely an author’s critique on the natural world, as Mishra states on page 4. I think another example to think about is on page 7 of Mishra when he explains the word horse. Horse is just as relevant and typical as any other 5 letter word because we have an image associated with a word we can form imagination. In Fun Home Alison purposely displays differences between pictures and text to simulate the different ways she sees the world because of her different sexuality. The text that is read is how the reader/society is taught to view the world. Alison views the world as the pictures in the novel illustrate. I guess it is a little off topic, but it all boils down to the rhetoric of pictures. I think it is crucial to think about the rhetoric of pictures in our A/V shorts. What do you want each picture to say? Or what does the picture say to the reader? Do you need text to explain meaning to the reader? Or can you use the text to make a point contrary to your picture? 

A graphic novel afterthought 

Fishing for facts on fisher

“The Validity of Schell’s argument is not the question here. Our concern is its reception, which the limits, perhaps the impossibility of persuasive argument in our time, given the rational world paradigm.” (Porter 387)

As I was reading Fisher I found myself wondering the same question. In this postmodern information driven rational paradigm of a society is there any room for debate? Of course once you start to think about this you think about political debates. This is covered by porter when he defines traditional rational, “some sort of hierarchical system, a community in which some persons are qualified to judge and to lead and some other persons are to follow.”(Fisher 385) In my opinion and Fishers, intellectual debate is mental stimulating, aimed toward knowledge and the betterment of all parties of the debate, including the audience. In this modern society a heavy portion of individuals are already educated because of the internet and television. Fisher also says “being rational (being competent in argument) must be learned.” (Fisher 379) So, because information is so assessable, because programs to project trends, and because we have an easily excisable history there is no reason to learn rational when it is practically presented to you on a silver platter. So I ask again what happened to the intellectual argument? When I was reading Fish’s opinion on the important aspects of argument, I couldn’t help thinking about underground societies. The first thing that I thought of was the School of night. Basically, it this was an underground club of the best minds around England during the times of Shakespeare (it might still exist today). It was thought that these men sat around arguing and contemplating life, the natural world, the afterlife, astronomy, science etc… Some modern examples of this could be the skull and bone society or the illuminati. Beyonce Illuminati?  

 Where has this drive for intellectually stimulating conversations gone? Sure there are debate clubs in high school but is there any new knowledge being formed and contemplated? Or is it just the same knowledge getting repeated from a not card formed from facts from the internet? Because of this never-ending stream of knowledge have we gone straight past rationality and toward a fact driven society? I think it is interesting to bring up the last reading and the thought there is no original work. Fisher touches on that subject on pages 381-382 when he describes the unending conversation. All works seem to have stemmed from a main conversation. With this thought there is no original ideas, it is interesting to think about where society is now. Let’s just say I am correct and society is now only a fact driven society, could the reason for this be that there is no original ideas? Could society be dying like a star just building and building on top of our own ideas until we become too heavy and implode?

intro...

The Death of the Original Idea

After reading Intertextuality and the Discourse Community by James Porter I find myself wondering if I have ever come up with a new original idea in my writing. Now that I see that the American constitution was plagiarized. I feel as if there is no hope. Even if I feel like there is no connection to other texts in my writing it is likely that a word or phrase has been borrowed or taken from somewhere else without my knowledge. This can me in two ways, the first is subconsciously putting down a word or phrase without knowing it came from another text. The best example
I could find in the text was the term lobbed. In fact I have heard it said as a military term in movies, lob a grenade! I subconsciously heard it somewhere and I brought it into my every day language. The second way that I can borrow something without my knowledge would be if it is used in every day language. I immediately come to common Shakespeare phrases such as, dead as a doornail, or a laughing stock. Based on these two ways of intertextuallity and interpretive community I am struggling to find a conscious way to create an original work. Any suggestions, ideas, or examples of an original work?  Please let me know.