CLASS Reads

Use the above link to access the full text copy of the book on JSTOR. The link will bring you to the table of contents where you can download one chapter at a time to read offline. You can also read it online in your browser without downloading, but it may be slow to load each page as you scroll, so just download a PDF instead if that happens.

If you prefer to read a physical copy, Moriarty Library (Lunder, Porter Campus) and Sherrill Library (Sherrill Hall, South Campus) have copies on reserve you can look at in the library (hourly loan; not an overnight loan). Just ask anyone at the desk at either library!

Hear the author speak about why he wrote a philosophy PhD dissertation in comics form. Watch the first 4 sections of this video (Intro, Comics as a Literacy Tool, Returning to Comics, What is Unflattening), watch until at least 9minutes30seconds

As you read...

1. Sousanis makes a lot of references to other texts you may be unfamiliar with. Embrace unknowing. Pick three things that intrigue you or confuse you. Do some research. What do you find out? What is exciting to discover? What do they make you think more about?

2. How do you “read” this book?

3. What “tracks” or “assigned paths” (pg.8) are you on – as a student, a member of your community, a national or global citizen? Be specific, with examples.

4. What parts of the book connect with you personally? Explain, with examples, including quotes or references to specific images (citing page numbers).

5. What parts of the book relate to a specific aspect of society today? Explain, with examples, including quotes or references to specific images (citing page numbers).

Visual literacy is as important as reading literacy, especially in our increasingly visual world. Visual literacy enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media.

• As you read Unflattening, your brain is interpreting images and text separately and together, and so the longer you look at one image, the more you see. And the more you see, the more information you have. 
• The key is to not get frustrated that you aren't getting it right away, and just sit in the unknowing, looking the whole time.  Practice slow looking with these activities:

Try it! Slow Looking:

Pick a page of the book and write down everything you SEE on the page. Write for 10-15 minutes without stopping. Do not analyze or make meaning out of what you see; only observe.

Try it! Annotating:

Choose another full page image from the book and annotate it with notes about what you see, what order you saw it, what information you have or wonder, anything! You can print out a page to draw on with any art tools you have, or you can do it digitally.  You can download a chapter of the book as a PDF, upload it to the adobe acrobat website, and scribble away!

Instructions

1. Find a full page image from the book that you like, either download one of these excerpts or open the full book and download a chapter as a PDF.
2. Then, either print it out, or follow the digital editing instructions below (if you have another digital tool you want to use, that's fine too!)
3. See examples of image annotations from the author's own college class

Web Option Instructions:

1. Go to https://acrobat.adobe.com and log in with your Lesley e-mail, and then choose to log in with a "Company or School Account". 
2. Make sure you're in Acrobat: 
   and then upload the PDF you downloaded.
3. Use the editing tools to draw freehand or add text comments.
   

Mobile Option Instructions

1. Download the Adobe Acrobat app
2. Log in with Adobe (not Apple or Google) and enter your Lesley e-mail address to log in with your Lesley credentials
3. Upload a PDF and edit away! Here is a video tutorial