Using a controlled-temperature shear cell mounted on a polarizing microscope, we observe the behavior of nematic 4,4＇-n-octyl-cyanobiphenyl (8 CB) during start-up and reversal of shearing in a torsional parallel-plate geometry and correlate this behavior with rheological measurements. During the startup, a sequence of birefringent rings, or ＇＇twist walls＇＇, are observed that originate at the sample edge and propagate radially inward. Each twist wall is a thin region in which the director is twisted out of the plane of the velocity and velocity-gradient directions. The radial variation of in-plane orientation can be explained by the variation of strain in the parallel-plate device. A high-Ericksen-number solution of the Leslie-Ericksen equations predicts a damped oscillatory shear stress response which agrees quantitatively with the measured stress oscillations out to an edge strain of around 50. The damping of the stress oscillations is due to the nonuniformity of strain in the parallel-plate geometry. On reversal of the flow, if the strain, gamma, is smaller than about 500 units, the damping of stress oscillations is reversed; this correlates with an outward radial migration of twist walls. When gamma > 500, disclinations nucleate and spoil the reversibility of stress damping.