- INFO I502 - Class Notes for 12 February 2008
- Visual Critique of Vacuum Cleaners
- Jeff encourages the class to visit Writing Tutorial Services
- WHAT JEFF DOESN'T WANT ON THE ASSIGNMENT
- Side-by-side feature comparisons
- Should not be the focus of critique
- May be used in the larger context
- Simply compare objective characteristics
- WHAT JEFF WANTS ON THE ASSIGNMENT
- Focus on experience
- You MAY mention objective characteristics, but FOCUS on experience
- It doesn't matter if the vacuum cleaner is 6.7 lbs, BUT
- It DOES matter if the machine is too heavy to use.
- Categories to cover
- The subjective experience of the vaccum
- How does it feel to use it?
- Reference: The Buxton article on the juicer
- What is the socio-cultural significance?
- For example, Is a specific vacuum cleaner designed for women/men?
- Discuss two SPECIFIC vacuum cleaners, not TYPES of vacuum cleaners.
- The two models should be distinct from one another
- What choices did the designers make when creating a specific vacuum cleaner?
- Why did they make those choices?
- How does the machine fit into an ecology?
- For example, how does the VC fit into your home, or into another's home (parent's, friend's, etc.).
- Use the frameworks that we've covered in class
- McCarthy & Wright
- Bertelsen & Pold
- The paper is a CRITICISM activity
- EXAMPLE: Film
- What are the objective characteristics of a film?
- Length (in minutes)
- MPAA Ratings
- Actors
- Language
- Aspect Ratio
- Sound Standard
- Color
- Production Type
- Genre (?)
- Budget
- Production Date
- Directors
- Period of the narrative
- IMAX or Standard film
- What drives a person to see a film?
- Actors
- Directors
- Stars (Rating System; 0-5 stars)
- Theme
- Schedule
- Trailer Moment
- Credibility of the Reviewer
- IMAX/Standard film
- Period of the narrative
- MOST IMPORTANT: Promise of a certain "an" experience
- Credibility of that promise
- STRATEGIES/SUGGESTIONS
- Look at the User Forums on Amazon.com
- Visit Target to look at different vaccum models
- CRITIQUES
- Focus on felt experience
- Don't focus on the interface
- Emphasize the particular
- Make a subjective experience intersubjective
- Barthes
- Critique of Toys
- What did he say?
- Toys are miniature objects of things adults use
- Toys shape expectations of what children should be like
- The materials used in toys shape the way children play
- Plastic toys more faithfully represent actual adult objects
- Consequence:
- Children are being conditioned to inherit the adult world more passively
- Anti-progressive (e.g. girls are conditioned to be housewives/mothers)
- Diminishes imagination & capacity for growth
- Wooden toys more loosely represent adult objects
- Why is this essay an example of criticism?
- Compared two specific types of toys
- Start with the objective characteristic
- Moves to subjective interpretation
- Then to cultural, socio-cultural criticisms
