Strive to Survive

As my Visual Rhetoric course at SJU finally comes to a close, I can exhale my feelings on the course, and inhale a deep, soothing sense of relaxation. Not knowing anything about visual rhetoric or the techno-software being used these days, I entered Dr. Knight’s course blindly, but now, I can say that I at least have an idea, and I understand more than I did beforehand.

For those considering a visual rhetoric course in the future, here are a few tips to succeed and survive:

1.) Pay Attention—not just to the words and text, but everything around you. Heighten your senses and keep your eyes open at all times. If I learned anything, it’s that everything is an image, visually communicating a message.

2.) Open up—don’t sit in your comfort zone, break out. The more you let loose and leave your bubble, the more likely it is you’ll bring something new to the class.

3.) Get Techy—there’s a wealth of technology sitting on the internet, so use it! From presentation designers such as Presentation Zen to basic movie creators such as iMovie.

4.) Find yourself—a TED talk isn’t easy, but you can make it less stressful by finding something that you feel comfortable talking about. Don’t attempt to emulate any of the talks on the TED website. Make it your own.

5.) Take advantage of the vagueness—Dr. Knight lets us pave our own way, and though some stress over it, it is something to treasure. We are not limited in terms of creativity and we are free to experiment.

Go forth and conquer visual rhetoricians!