Limitations of the Medium: The Gettysburg Address Powerpoint

As I prepare for a few speaking engagements at academic conferences next weekend, I am keeping in mind lessons learned about what powerpoint presentations giveth, and what they taketh away from effective communication by sharing this classic by Peter Norvig--The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation.

Exploring various media in terms of their affordances and limitations is a classic approach to semiotics, and I wish all presenters considered how this powerpoint totally decimates the power of Lincoln's speech while still abiding by many principles for presenting clear information. It's a great piece to discuss with students before they design presentations, particularly in public speaking classes. What does the speech communicate that visuals do not? What makes the speech effective? Why are the visuals less effective? It also presents an opportunity for social studies students in middle school and high school to create a more effective powerpoint presentation for the speech. I'd introduce an audio recording or professional performance in a still shot on video, then show the powerpoint, and then show the clip from Ken Burns' Civil War--and ask students to shoot for something somewhere between Norvig's satire and Burns' film. Students could also go the other direction, and add all sorts of flashy visuals, video clips and preposterous image collages to create their own Gettysburg Address Powerpoint presentations that humorously show the limitations and common abuses of powerpoint features in public speech communication. Norvig has also posted a great story about the making of his powerpoint and the response he's gotten from it.

Back in 2003, Wired magazine hosted a "debate" of sorts pitting the view that "Powerpoint is Evil" from Yale Professor Edward Tufte, author of the Cognitive Style of Powerpoint monograph, against "Learning to Love Powerpoint" from new wave rock God and avant-garde artist David Byrne (front man of the Talking Heads). Tufte bemoans the use of Powerpoint in schools, arguing that the constraints of the software encourage poor visual communication. Byrne discusses how he moved from feeling limited by the software to exposing its limitations through mockery to transcending its constraints in art. Especially for college courses discussing multimodal composition, Tufte's tirade and Byrne's celebratory transcendence make for a fascinating contrast to approaching communication tools and how they shape our discourses. For any class, Byrne's art illustrates how playing with the affordances and limitations of media offers avenues for both critical commentary and self expression. DJ Alchemi posted a nice review of Byrne's powerpoint art in 2004 after arguing that the Tufte/Byrne "debate" was bogus. He also links to an NPR discussion with Byrne and some more presentation software art from DJ Spooky (using Keynote). I really like the idea of designing multimodal composition lessons starting with Tufte's critique and following Byrne's learning curve from mocking the medium in the medium as a means for learning its affordances and limitations, to transcending the rules and habits of communication imposed by the medium for artistic commentary, critique and self expression. So, there's an idea. Any takers?

And here's a bonus image for your Friday pleasure...

 I want a poster of this in my classroom.

K&P's Black Ice: Denotation, Connotation & Myth about Color & Race

Sketch Comedy & Semiotics! Use this Key & Peele sketch to introduce Roland Barthes' notions of denotation (primary, literal, explicit or commonsense meaning), connotations (secondary meanings or implications), and myth (bundles of historically constructed meanings that become naturalized as truth--like stereotypes or "universal" values). In "Black Ice," the Black weather correspondents become outraged at the connotations of the terms used for dangerous road conditions by their White news anchors who seem oblivious to the racial implications of their literal language. So, get ready to list all the ways the characters describe (and images portray) black ice in this video; then, identify connotations and denotations while making some notes about myths or stereotypes you see in the comedy:
Key & Peele manage to expose the myths of both the "outraged Black person who makes everything about race" and the "ignorant White person who is completely unaware of race issues." But what do they do with these stereotypes? Are they reinforced or subverted through the humor? To make this conversation more fruitful, back up and analyze how K&P communicate those myths--What techniques are used to get laughs about the stereotypes? This makes a great introduction to these basic semiotics concepts in high school English or college media studies, and could start some interesting conversation about race, stereotypes, and humor. Students could try their hand at writing comedy revealing connotations about stereotypes of their own ethnic or social group (always safest to speak about your own oppression), through a news sketch like this, or a short ad in print or video.

K&P have an interesting backstory and talk about using their biracial identities and abilities to "code switch" (change between speech patterns to fit social context) to explore stereotypes from multiple angles while showcasing the real diversity of Black masculinity across the range of their characters. Their most famous character, Luther the anger translator (for President Obama), also works to undo the double bind around the stereotype of the angry Black man. K&P's approach to humor about Black male identity would make a great research topic for interested students, especially in comparison to other comedians who take on the topic.