Trap. The combination of the genres of trance and rap usually through sound mixing and editing, has become a staple of parties and festival shows. They share similar use of synth, heavy base and spoken words to create music.
When we talked in class about usability and the internet, it sounded like the conclusion as to what makes a usable website is simplicity. Creating a website to serve a very obvious purpose is the key to usability.
Every day we are faced with multiple typefaces: the good, the bad and the ugly. Some help us to read faster and more clearly, some to invoke a specific feeling or emotion, all the while persuading us to do something (or buy something).
... and how clashing implications continue to shape our reactions to these colors.

Depending on the region and cultural upbringing, one may have different connotations associated with the colors black, white, and red.
When talking about the ethics and rhetoric of data displays in class, I brought up the example of geographic information system (GIS) and their technique of interpolation.
"The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" makes the assertion that:

The core ideas of teaching- explanation, reasoning, finding

things out, questioning, content, evidence, credible authority not patronizing

authoritarianism-are contrary to the cognitive style of PowerPoint.

"The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" makes the assertion that:

The core ideas of teaching- explanation, reasoning, finding
things out, questioning, content, evidence, credible authority not patronizing
authoritarianism-are contrary to the cognitive style of PowerPoint. And
the ethical values of teachers differ from those engaged in marketing.

To me, this informs much of the essay, and its contexts.  For some reason, I remembered a presentation I watched two years ago on presentations.  How does this presentation, and what it has to say, fit into Tufte's framework?



The easiest explanation is that Steve Jobs is marketing.  Which tells us that much of Tufte's argument applies within certain contexts, specifically teaching and information-presenting.  (The points of overlap are interesting, however.  Both the slideshow and Tufte are opposed to bullet points, for one thing.  Both make the claim that "the average Powerpoint slideshow has 40 words," from apparently disparate sources.)

Tufte is opposed to oversimplified explanations for complicated issues.  He makes the point that people have no trouble reading sports box scores, or stock quotes, for instance.  Why is it so insisted-upon that Powerpoint presentations be so limited in their scope and meaning as to "approach dementia"?

I think it's a combination of things.  I think we've gotten lazy.  Not lazy in the "I really don't want to go to class today"-lazy, but lazy, ethically.  We don't want to have to make hard decisions about the information we're presenting, and we certainly don't want to have to engage with other people about the limited scopes of what we're saying.  We would rather manage, massage, and market a message than actually deliver useful information or knowledge.  As Technical Communication Majors, as Rhetors, however, we have a responsibility to face those challenges--some of us will have the opportunity and the power to do so.  Others will keep marketing.  If you're in the latter group, remember--no bullet points!

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When I first pulled out Tufte's packet on Power Point, it looked like one of the most boring texts on the planet. 30 pages on the style of Power Point? But as I read, I started to see his point and even found myself laughing at certain parts (talking about the “stupefied audience”).
Since media technology has advanced past the typewriter, the capabilities of visual, and eventually digital, rhetoric using images have grown exponentially. By appealing to different human attitudes and emotions, digital images have the ability of persuasion and gaining compliance alike.
Often referred to as graffiti, tagging, or more negatively as vandalism, street-art has been around for 40ish years as it was birthed in the 70 but only gained a real popularity in the mid-80’s.
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