Visual Vehicles
Yes, we'll be drawing in this English class! You don’t have to be an "artist" to do the kind of drawing I’m asking of you in this course: our goal is not to make something beautiful or to accurately represent what things look like. In this class, we will draw for other reasons. Some of us may be able to draw pretty or impressively crafted pictures, but these are not, by themselves, the things that make drawing useful for our work. Whether or not you think you can draw, you can learn to use the act of drawing to help you think, read, remember, and write. Give it a chance!
This page includes a variety of links, images, and videos you may find helpful in exploring using visual vehicles to take you to new places. Please explore!
"But I can't draw!"
Irrelevant. Get over it. 😀
"More preschool, less Rembrandt" sums up Antero Garcia in an interview with Hot Comb author Ebony Flowers. (Her self-portrait exercises can be followed below.)
Our goal here is not to make something pretty or to accurately represent what things look like: you don’t have to be an artist to do this.
One scholar on visual note-taking, Wendi Pillars, urges going for POP: “Process Over Pretty”
Self-portraits are fun with Ebony Flowers
Can't draw? Doesn't matter! Cartoonist Lynda Barry says you don't need to be able to draw, "but you must be willing to draw anyway" (Syllabus 37).
Mind Mapping
To supplement the handout in our syllabus, here's a brief video on mind mapping:
While there are apps and other modern technologies for mindmapping, we'll be writing our mindmaps and other RAFs by hand.
Why write by hand? Some research suggests writing by hand is more beneficial than using a keyboard or laptop.
Also, it's something we do not-so-often these days. Doing differently can help with thinking differently.
Our ReadingArtiFacts (RAFs) can include mindmpas and more. Here are a few examples from previous students.
Sketchnotes and visual note-taking
So many people use visual vehicles to help with their learning! Check out these amazing examples from @sheathescholar who is using visual vehicles as part of their schoolwork for their Ph.D.:
Sketchnoter Doug Neill describes how you can use simple icons in your reading annotations at Verbal to Visual.
Biostatistics professor at Emory University Natalie Dean is using visuals to communicate about COVID-19 and the pandemic. Take a look at this Twitter thread from Dr. Dean on the Omincron variant for an example of how simple visual sketches can be a major part of communicating and explaining. (@nataliexdean)
Artist Lynda Barry makes the case that doodling deepens listening and concentration. She suggests using tight, slow spirals:
Stuck on stick figures? Think drawing people is too tough? Try out these video tutorials:
If this TED Talk doesn't convince you that you can draw and that it will help you remember... Well, just try it. You'll need pen and paper handy. —>
Works Cited
Barry, Lynda. Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor. Drawn & Quarterly, 2014.
Garcia, Antero, Ebony Flowers, and Susan Kirtley. "Teaching and Learning with Comics | Comic-Con@Home 2020." Comic-Con International, 22 Jul. 2020, youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUWlbl__gKc&t=2s. 33:32.
@nataliexdean [Natalie Dean]. "A sketch to explain how a new variant may appear milder even with no change in underlying virulence. This can occur because, when calculating the fraction of cases that are severe, the denominator now includes many re-infections that had previously been averted. A thread." 9 Dec. 2021, 8:57am. https://twitter.com/nataliexdean/status/1468988174693289994?s=12
@sheathescholar [shea wesley martin]. "i’m a doctoral student and just submitted an assignment that looks like this so stop forcing those middle schoolers to do a five-paragraph essay for every damn assignment." 31 Oct. 2021, 3:16pm, https://twitter.com/sheathescholar/status/1454935384668971008?s=12