Diagrams in general function as tools for relaying information from one entity to another. They are a means of communication just like writing, radio, television, and speech. However, diagrams can function as learning devices and open visual and spacial areas of understanding in ways that most other types of communication cannot. Many important ideas such as location of objects, chronological order, or processes can be understood by looking at one simple diagram; in writing, these same ideas can take thousands of words to express the same thing to the reader. Therefore, in the context of writing, diagrams can supplement the writer and help him/her to convey the intended message in much fewer words. In the case where the information in a diagram is only a small part of the author's message but still critical to its understanding, the author can spend more time focusing his/her writing on more pertinent and complicated things then the simple but important things easily made understood through diagrams. One ramification of using diagrams in a virtual environment is the lack of reliability. Anyone can post diagrams and information on the internet, the diagram may be meant as a spoof rather than presenting fact. The diagram that I selected functions as a learning device by presenting the names of the parts of dairy cows and the relative location of those parts. The diagram can accomplish this for nearly any audience because it includes an actual image of a cow with the parts clearly labeled. In an audience that has no prior knowledge about the shape or structures of a dairy cow, it would take thousands of words to describe the shape of the parts and their relative location as effectively as the diagram. Now that the diagram has been removed from its original context, it merely shows the parts of a cow. The diagrams original intended purpose was to help the reader understand what area of the cow was being looked at while trying to judge a cow. As a writer, you are responsible for giving credit to the original composer of the diagram you are using. You should let your audience know if you are using it in a factual way or as a spoof. The details of the diagram that are important are the location of the individual parts of a dairy cow. They are labeled with lines pointing to the general location on an image of a cow. To improve understanding, I would have outlined the actual shape of each particular part of the cow to express its actual size and shape rather than only the location.
