Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2009

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

English

Committee Chair

Huot, Brian

Author's Keywords

Anime texts; Composition theory; Visual rhetoric pedagogy

Subject

Visual learning; Animated films--Japan; Motion pictures in education; Audio-visual education

Abstract

Our contemporary culture is laden with a glut of visual stimuli: advertising, packaging, television, film, the internet, digital-camera-wireless-web-access-mobile-phones. In a world filled with visually rhetorical media, it is imperative that the field of Composition continue to embrace the theorizing and use of visual rhetoric an apt (if not vital) pursuit. It seems a responsible choice to select visual texts and/or visually rich writing assignments in order to address the current fabric of public/private communication. Furthermore, such texts can potentially set the student reader (viewer/writer/designer/composer) at ease in the sometimes daunting task of becoming a "college writer" and subsequently a professional able to communicate in the contemporary world. Visual texts that reflect the social climate students encounter each day may help break down some of the initial barriers to reading and composing. Students react differently to film, comics and other media than to a more traditional "school" text. This dissertation submits that the genre of Japanese animated film, known as anime, is particularly ripe for study and use in composition. Anime offers visually rhetoric texts that are accessible yet challenging for students in the area of analysis. Anime also encompasses a wide range of themes and styles. A specific form of anime, termed in this dissertation ultrakinetic , describes visually rhetorical texts that highlight the presentation of movement in ranges from stillness to slowed to hyper-fast. Ultrakinetic texts reflect a 21 st century sensibility and are effective models for students who must learn to read and compose in a rapidly changing multimodal environment.

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