Courses

Word and Image in Modern Writing

Professor: Cynthia Messenger
Course code: WRR305H1
Format: Lecture/Discussion

About this course

Would you like to explore how the written word has been used to describe the visual realm? What tools do writers rely on to translate images into words? In WRR305H, we study poems about painting and sculpture, wall text in museums, satirical commentary on ceramics, and narrative framing in non-fiction prose.

Course objectives

  • Learn about the rhetorical term ekphrasis, which refers to writing about visual art.
  • Explore new ways of thinking about the intersection between word and image.

Course highlights

Readings are drawn from several disciplines and genres: journalism, belles lettres, poetry, rhetoric, creative non-fiction, and scholarly writing.

A personal note from your instructor

Cynthia Messenger

Each time I teach WRR305H, I look forward to exploring innovative approaches to word and image. I find that students in this course typically come from across the disciplines, and I attempt to reflect their varied interests in course readings and assignments. 

Good to know

Recommended preparation:

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Have a question?

Need more info? Want to discuss if the Writing & Rhetoric Program is right for you? Looking for help in choosing courses? Rima Oassey, the Innis College academic program coordinator, can help!

programs.innis@utoronto.ca
416-946-7107