a discussion of noelle planning and prototyping
transcript of audio
00:00 In this next segment of Noelle’s case study, I will talk about design step three, to plan, and step four, to prototype.
00:07 The artifacts that I will examine for each of these respective steps are a brief set of plans sent by email and a project builder one, again for the first project only.
00:16 I’m going to zoom in to part of Noelle’s plan here, and although their email is quite short and the images have not loaded to view, there’s still evidence of Noelle mapping elements of the larger project.
00:28 In their first design journal, as discussed in the previous case study segment, Noelle noted that the possibility of exhibiting their paintings around the classroom.
00:36 Organizing this element is a central focus for Noelle at this stage in the process. They’ve selected the five paintings to share and directions for how their peers would ideally engage with those paintings.
00:46 Drawing on the analogy of a puzzle, Noelle is essentially moving pieces into place. Noelle is determining how individual elements together can create the whole picture or project.
00:57 I’ve already shown and discussed Noelle’s third design journal, found in the ideating step, as this is where Noelle was selecting the rhetorical moves to make in their project.
01:06 Noelle used three separate performance art pieces as sources of inspiration and imagined how some of those artists’ moves might be effective in their own performance for the class.
01:15 Now, it’s important to clarify that I discussed the progression of Noelle’s work using an amended order. Some of the journal entries do not line up with the design step.
01:24 Other times, the journals may overlap or reproduce similar lines of work. So here with the planning step, we are looking at an additional journal entry Noelle sent.
01:32 Is it a copy? So, I’d like to thank you for joining me today, and I hope you found this video information I want point to prove that the design process is recursive.
01:57 Moreover, the steps of the design process overlap so as to assure that the writer designer has the structural support to complete the project.
02:04 For instance, in the ideating phase, Noelle examined performance pieces from other artists to mine ideas and gather inspiration for Project One.
02:12 Noelle explains, “I think also my biggest inspiration for it. I don’t remember her name but it was a segment where she did a segment of people being able,
02:20 she like laid things out on the table, and it had roses and guns, and she was like people had the control to do whatever they wanted to her.
02:28 It was in the aspect of what the Russian government was kind of doing to people. It was in the 80s and you know
02:33 all the things at that time. It represented what she felt like the political stance was. I wanted the aspect of it to give the students the availability to voice their opinion on what’s happening around them.”
02:46 Initially, Noelle had thought that allowing their peers to use available tools on their person was not safe. They decided to use post it as a tool for the students to voice their opinions instead.
02:56 It remained a possibility that Noelle could yet again change the decision in the planning stage. Noelle could always reimagine individual elements and details when they mapped it all out and try to determine how it should work together.
03:08 During an interview I had with Noelle, they admitted that they were attuned to the various ways rhetoric operates in online spaces as well as how it allows them to enter into conversations organically. Noel said, “so like if I was to write an essay about nurses in healthcare I wouldn’t necessarily read an essay,
03:25 but I would go look for different ways people have presented the information like listening to a Tik Tok, or listening to a YouTube video, going on Tik Tok in researching what people in a social space are saying about the topic.
03:37 It compares to the way that I look for research and it strengthens my ideas for how I can articulate or I guess like maybe not articulate but show information.”
03:46 Noelle may not have used the terms mode, modal aptness or circulation, but they were already demonstrating their ability to connect their topic with their audience
03:53 and to make appropriate plans. As a student who regularly uses social media, Noelle considered beginning their research journey with the resources they interact with daily.
04:03 Resources that are not coined as academic but are not necessarily unreliable either. Noelle had also mentioned during our discussions that they often watched videos of professionals sharing.
04:15 That kind of anecdotal evidence was much more appealing to Noelle, but I also suspect more accessible to begin examining a deeper issue or concept.
04:24 In Noelle’s work on Black feminism, instead of looking at feminist scholars like bell hooks or Angela Davis, Noelle began by mining social media for the issues and comments everyday people noted or artists working in the genre posted.
04:36 Working from real life experience, Noelle was able to key into the observations presented by others, then take those same ideas to use his keywords in research terms for scholarly evidence for their project requirements.
04:49 So Noelle researched other performance artists work to draw on their performative methods. And that’s what happens. Although Noelle could have begun by looking at research on the topic almost exclusively-
04:58 in other words, locating facts and figures about the black female experience, beauty standards, etc.- Noelle began their work on the project by diving into the affordances of performative rhetoric.
05:09 They thought about how artists had previously taken a topic and used gesture and symbolism to communicate a message to make the point.
05:16 In “Divide and Conquer Rethinking Your Approach to Research,” Friedman and Miller declare, “…but the facts are research isn’t about finding the answer, it’s about finding ideas and facts you can use to create your own answer” and that is just what Noelle has done!
05:32 Thinking about the rhetorical situation that Noelle has created in this first project- which for them was the space of the classroom and communicating with 20 fellow peers, all female, all studying nursing, a majority black- Noelle decided a multi-sensory performance was the best means to communicate their
05:48 message. That said, it’s best to take a look at how all these elements materialized in Noelle’s trial run. I’m going to navigate over to Noelle’s step 4 prototype page.
06:01 It’s important to note that the full-scale performance proceeded without issue and although it is considered a draft in the assignment sequence, it was an exceptional first draft.
06:12 I’m going to briefly go over the organization of the class session when Noelle performed. Noelk=le was attuned to the sense of nature of the subject and provided a disclaimer before they even began to perform.
06:23 This was rhetorically responsible as Noelle found a way to enter into a larger conversation, but carefully considering opposing viewpoints in the spectrum of feelings their peers may experience.
06:33 Although the students in the class identified as female, they came from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, and races, Noelle did not assume to have authority over the matter.
06:43 They did not center their own personal experience. Rather, Noelle wanted to share their experience with unrealistic American beauty standards and the inherent racism and misogyny exhibited by white men in perpetuating such standards.
06:56 After Noelle shared, they were able to invite in active responses and participation from their fellow peers in the class. Noelle had successfully designed a logical sequence for each project element.
07:08 Moving from the top of the page to the bottom, the full recording of Noelle’s performance has been segmented in sequence to make it easier to focus into each element.
07:18 But I am going to move back up and focus in on the first two videos here. First, Noelle provided a disclaimer about the content that would follow.
07:28 Then Noelle shared brief introduction about what students could expect to follow over the course of the class. Then they explained the subject matter, the position that they were taking, the segments of the performance, and the expectations for the audience.
07:42 Noelle also included the time duration for how long each segment may take. I appreciated how attuned Noelle was with their audience.
07:49 They asked if they could air drop the audio for their recorded segments as they assumed many of their peers were Apple users.
07:56 That way students moving through the gallery walk could listen to Noelle’s artist statement for each piece. However, we did decide to play the full audio on.
08:03 the classroom sound system for all to hear. Recording of the gallery walk shows a multi-sensory experience for students as they heard Maya Angelou reciting her poem, “Phenomenal Woman” and Noelle reading their reflections on their exhibited paintings.
08:17 You can see in here one particular student join in and begin to recite the poem with Maya Angelou. It is a wonderful moment affirming the connections that young Black female students would take.
08:28 All of the elements flavored the room and created several opportunities for Noelle’s peers to engage and respond. Hearing Noelle share their insights into the intent behind their paintings also helped to transition the gallery walk into the individual performance.
08:44 A little further down the page is Noelle’s full performance. You can hear audio playing of Noelle’s voice, their poetically sharing introspective reflections about their experiences, especially in the context of the historical treatment of Black women by white males.
09:02 Early on Noelle refers to their “sassiness.” This is obviously connected with the work Noelle had done in their first design journal.
09:09 They had collaged images together and inserted phrases. One phrase said, “you always have an attitude, fix your face.”
09:16 Noelle has revised the statement in the prototype we watch. They recognize the rhetorical quality of word choice and very deliberately address tone.
09:23 And back now… Noelle is able to assert their voice, their tone is power. They can do what their skin tone cannot.
09:31 Their skin color deprives them of power. As Noelle speaks, it becomes clear to the audience that they are speaking freely.
09:38 It’s not stream of conscience, but Noelle is not reading from a formal paper either. What you can hear is authentic feeling in the way that
09:44 Noelle contemplates their words and pauses between thoughts. Their audio provides a sort of soundtrack for the performance.
09:51 Noelle is building credibility as they move freely about the room and you hear them speak freely about Black feminism. Noelle continues to speak about labor and servitude.
10:00 They use the term mammy which alludes to Black women enslaved to perform motherly duties for white children. Noelle shares statistics about Black women being underpaid for their labor.
10:10 Then Noelle aligns themselves with the pronoun we. Noelle emphasizes that they too experience this inequality. It’s positioning themselves as a Black woman that affirms Noelle’s credibility as the speaker.
10:22 They also capture their audience with the emotion- Noelle employs other loaded terms. For instance, they refer to themselves as a welfare queen.
10:31 This situates Noelle in modern slavery. As the government reduced many Black women to being financially dependent on the system and excluding them from the jobs that would change their economic status in class.
10:42 Noelle quickly points to the irony of such racist press- They describe how Black fashion and music is popular and coveted.
0:49 Black musicians created popular genres like hip-hop and jazz. Black men and women’s place in American society has been manipulated according to the interests of what white men need and want.
11:02 As Noelle’s voice is heard over the speakers, they are performing in front of their peers. They speak about slaves, welfare, and culture.
11:09 As they share their thoughts, Noelle places a wig of long, straight black hair on their head and puts makeup on their face.
11:15 But the makeup is not Noelle’s skin tone. Instead, it is a shade of beige which creates a stark contrast against Noelle’s natural dark skin. 11:23 We can assume one of two possibilities-that they are commenting on the lack of inclusion in the beauty industry for Black skin and that this may be the deepest shade available for colored skin.
11:33 Or that Noelle is symbolizing how Black women are expected to adhere to White standards of beauty. They are considered beautiful only when they look more White.
11:43 Noelle begins to talk about the girls that they see on Instagram. The White girls who have gone viral for their physical appeal.
11:49 Noelle questions what makes them so appealing? Can Noelle be like them? Be that appealing? According to White men, Noelle’s power can only be asserted in their outward appearance.
12:00 Hair, makeup, clothes- their sexuality on full display for the male gaze and how violent that gaze may become. They reference R. Kelly, a Black musician accused of trafficking and rape, and Donald Trump, the former President of the United States who’s notoriously sexist, racist, and offensive.
12:18 In context, Noelle references these famous contemporary men who are guilty of objectifying women and have often gotten away with it.
12:24 In doing so, this jeopardizes the safety of women. Subsequently, Noelle themselves feel unsafe. Who or what is in place to protect them?
12:35 Maybe they’re fellow Black women? Maybe they’re on voice? Their mouth? Their attitude? Then Noelle calls all women to action. Especially those in the room, right then participating in the process.
12:47 Noelle suggests that they might all band together and share their experience. And that they might rise to protect one another.
12:54 Noelle concludes by inviting the women in the class to write a response to the performance and to do so by placing an anonymous sticky note on Noelle or an item on the table before Noelle.
13:03 Students begin to quickly write their Post-Its and get up to place them. Noelle eats for everyone to be done and then select some of the Post-Its to read back aloud to the class.
13:13 There are many aspects to consider in terms of Noelle’s success drafting a prototype of the first project. The objective of producing a prototype was to test Noelle’s ideas and plans thus far.
13:24 Prototypes are intended to prove if the thing works. Does it perform? Is it appealing? Functional? If not, how can revisions be made to make it more appealing or more functional?
13:34 It is imperative to the recursive process of making a thing. In writing, the prototype is intended for feedback. What suggestions can be made so that the writing becomes clearer for the reader?
13:44 More effective even? In writing courses, students work in feedback loops where they draft, share, gather feedback, make revisions, and redraft.
13:53 Writing is much like the designing process in that they both move the maker designer through steps. Although Noelle’s performance was meant to gather feedback from their peers, that’s not exactly what happened.
14:04 The students were astounded by the project quality. They had no feedback to provide Noelle.
14:10 Instead, the students elected to join in on the class conversation about Black feminism, beauty standards, and issues of race. Thus, Noelle has successfully managed to 1. create a rhetorical situation for their stated issue, 2. select a project modality to
14:26 communicate their position on the issue, 3. design all project elements into a cohesive whole. Noelle designed a unique rhetorical situation for their project in that they reimagine the class as an art gallery.
14:39 In galleries and museums throughout the world, artists are challenging and engaging their patrons with socio-political issues of the past and present.
14:46 Art of all genres, not just performance, connects with their audience and generates thinking through image, gesture, and sound. Being that it was their trial run, Noelle learned to their surprise that their initial planning was effective.
15:00 The multi-modal approach to developing a project through scaffolded design journals and project builders certainly supported Noelle’s process. They had unlimited resources and possibilities to bring parts and elements together to communicate to their audience.
15:14 As composition scholar Patricia Dunne emphasizes in her 2001 book, Talking, Sketching, Moving, Multiple Literacies in the Teaching of Writing, writing instructors must make all means available to students.
15:26 They may be must “…investigate and use whatever intellectual pathways they can to help writers generate, organize, reconceptualize and revise thoughts and texts.”
15:35 With a design focused approach, the steps of the process broke the project down into manageable parts. But more importantly, each step guided task where the work student produced could stand.
15:46 Yeah. In design journal one, Noelle collaged images and quotes about their topic. Despite the intention to brainstorm for the first project prompt, the collage could be isolated text on its own, which provides one reasonable explanation for the effectiveness of Noelle’s overall project.
16:04 They were not writing under the same set of assumptions or expectations that come along with academic essay writing, which often end up including anxiety, procrastination, and writer’s block.
16:15 Noelle admits, “they’ve always just struggled with formal writing. It’s always been something that’s just so structural. There was just no creativeness that they could do other than just saying like creative words and adjectives, but that wasn’t enough for them.
16:28 Like you say multiple times, there’s more than one way to communicate.” With the design journals, Noelle was not expected to brainstorm ideas and then immediately transition into outlining paragraphs in an essay with topic sentences, details, et cetera.
16:43 Although the steps of the process in both writing and designing are congruent, the expectation are much more flexible and appealing to students in the design process.
16:52 Once Noelle took what they had prepared in their design journals one, two, and three, they had quite a bit of material to plan.
16:58 Noelle could organize all of the elements they had worked with individually and determine an order of activities that made sense for the audience.
17:05 Noelle was also mindful of transitioning between each of the activities. Much like paragraphs in a paper or sections of a document, Noelle applied the same principles to their performance.
17:15 They stated their issue in position, then used details and examples to support that position. And while also illustrated the issue by gesturing and performing some of the things they spoke about in the audio recording.
17:26 Drawing on the plan they established in the design journals one through three, the pieces of the puzzle fit together and the project was cohesive.