abstract

background

theory

praxis

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course

multilinearity
visual rhetoric
theory in practice

references

Most of us conceive the academic essay as a largely textual enterprise whose success depends on the clear organization of ideas, active engagement with relevant scholarship, and a substantive contribution to knowledge or understanding about some slice of the world. With the exception of texts about images, or that use graphs, charts, or tables as evidence for conclusions, the contribution of the visual to the text's meaning in the print essay is not usually considered. With design decisions for print text largely standardized, it has been easy to miss the potential importance of the visual in the meaning we take from a text.

With hypertext, the visual is more easily recognized as an important component in authorship. As Bolter (1998) notes, "If our definition of text expands to include electronic communication, then we will have to give graphics a prominent place in that definition. We will have to reconsider the relation between words and images in communication and in education" (p.8). With graphics and other visual elements firmly established as central to hypertext design, scholars have turned increased attention to the contribution of the visual to the meaning of a text. And if hypertext authors are to explore the potential role of the visual in academic hypertext, they need to understand these scholars' ideas as they attempt to develop academic hypertexts.

integrating the visual | configuring meaning | transparency

abstract | background | theory | praxis | models | course