Yancey and Joe, the plumber
Yancey’s article made me really reflect on composition. Her comparison of what is happening now with writing (that it is increasingly becoming a public, or mass, activity) to the 19th century development of a reading public really hit home for me. However, this nicely aligns writing technologies with the average “Joe, the plumber,” the underdog hero of an American (Dream, or wishful thinking) metanarrative, which appeals to us socially-construct-ed/-ing academics who believe in the power of the Word (not John’s, of course—that of the de-voiced, or muted, marginalized) to redeem the world dispatching the Beast (i.e., the Hegemony) to its eternal grave which will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven (i.e., socialism or some other new world order that is more just).
Yancy makes the point that technology is where the people are by quoting Elizabeth Daley saying, “the screen is the language of the vernacular” (305). Even though access to computers and internet is (rapidly?) changing, there are still many that would be considered on the lower end of the digital divide. Joe, the plumber, himself may be such an individual. Certainly, many of the women (and men) I taught at Brown Mackie college (demographically 80% female) many of whom were in Section 8 housing and survived off of state-issued food cards did not have computers in their home. These women may be a statistical anomaly or the self-report data I received was unreliable. Nonetheless, it gives me pause (a cognitive dissonance, a felt difficulty) when I read this article. It may be no surprise that many of the women who did not have computers in their homes were African Americans.
As Gee repeatedly points out in his book Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourse, the distribution of “social goods” is an ethical (he says “moral”) issue. Technology is a social good that is unevenly distributed. Still, change is coming (if not for everyone at the same rate). University Heights up in Cleveland near Case University is one of a growing number of cities to offer free community wi-fi. I’m certainly not raising the digital divide as a red herring to avoid discussion of the changing face of composition. However, an untempered optimism concerning this shift continues to gnaw (maybe that’s too strong of a word; nibble, perhaps) at me. Or, maybe I’m just being the self-righteous white knight of liberatory pedagogy and its correlative ideology that we discussed in literacy class.
Moving from Joe, the plumber, to Sarah (pseudonym), the Sky-Way cook
This is the point in the semester of my 21011 course where I assign the visual argument, which I use as a way for students to build toward their final research paper. I ask them to develop one reason that their target audience would find appealing (through ethos, logos, pathos) and would lead them to more likely accept the position of their paper in this assignment using images and words together. I also ask them to write a short (1-2 page) composing choices reflection to explain the functions of their design. They submitted these on Vista Wednesday and we talked about them on Thursday.
The collective response was a writing teacher’s dream! The following are not their exact words but what they amount to through a writing teacher’s lens: “It helped me focus on my topic.” “The pictures made it easier to be more specific.” “The pictures gave me new ideas about my topic.” “The pictures helped me to think about my audience and why it is important to have a particular audience.” “It was different and fun (i.e., engaging).”
Sarah is a quiet and brilliant student. Her first paper (a work literacy narrative) focused on how being at work (a forced social environment) helped her to open up and talk to people, to come out of her shell, just a little bit. Part of my comments on that paper encouraged her to continue to participate in class, which she does on rare occasions. I see the strain in her face and hear it in her voice when she does participate. Nonetheless, she made the comment above about audience—something she had been struggling with when we did an audience activity in class.
The response of this class (the most vocal response I’ve ever received from this assignment) illustrates Yancey’s discussion of remediation. She argues that students should practice using different media for the same message because it helps develop students’ ideas and brings an awareness of the affordances of each medium: “As they [students] move from medium to medium, they consider what they move forward, what they leave out, what they add, and for each of these write a reflection in which they consider how the medium itself shapes what they create” (314). Now, I’m thinking of using visuals at different points in the semester to generate new ideas and consider audience in different ways. I’d also like to incorporate her suggestion about using power point as a drafting and organizing tool (319). Since I use these blog posts as a way for me to organize my thoughts and to remember key ideas that may be useful later in my understand of writing (an act of envisioning ☺), I want to note her quotation of Prior and Shipka on revision and laundry.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
4C's thoughts
I will preface this by saying that I have only read the two 4C's position statements, but (as what normally happens when I reflect on teaching and research) I had this list of questions in my mind. I am curious as to how all of you use technology in the classroom or are thinking of using technology in upcoming semesters? I am in the process of completely revamping my syllabus, so all of this is at the forefront of my mind. I also fall into the category of hating vista (or blackboard, though I hear the new blackboard platform is suppose to be really good), so much that I haven't used it in the past year and a half and instead have a course website and course blog, and the all my students have their own blogs. One thing that I am really interested in hearing from you is about online office hours. On Wednesday I do office hours via an aim widget on my website, and I haven't had any students this semester.... which is a huge change from last semester at Ball State where I would have so many chat windows open that I thought I was going to lose my mind. I know a few posts below was there a discussion on teaching students to do movies and such, and I do do that. The final project is a movie (and there are mini other technology projects or components working up to that). But I am curious to see how you are integrating it.
I heart technology. I hate it at times, but all in all I love trying new things, playing around with programs. So, after reading these two 4C's positions I was thinking of how am I going to capture that within a "please hire me" document. I don't want to print off pages of my course website for teaching, nor do I want to print off of my profession website/webfolio. If and when I ever get something published on Karios or Computers and Composition, how is that document going to look printed and in a folder? Do we send youtube links with our movie compositions as examples of work? And even outside of the WPA or Writing Center listserve, there are all the 4C's/NCTE/IWCA facebook groups, twitters, Ning sites... where would those fall in, if at all? At what point will that just become a part of professional development?
And final 4C's thought of the lunch break. Does anyone know more about the computer scoring in Writing Centers? I am just curious.
"We understand that machine-scoring programs are under consideration not just for the scoring of placement tests, but for responding to student writing in writing centers and as exit tests. We oppose the use of machine-scored writing in the assessment of writing." (CCCC Postion Teaching, Learning and Assessing...)
I heart technology. I hate it at times, but all in all I love trying new things, playing around with programs. So, after reading these two 4C's positions I was thinking of how am I going to capture that within a "please hire me" document. I don't want to print off pages of my course website for teaching, nor do I want to print off of my profession website/webfolio. If and when I ever get something published on Karios or Computers and Composition, how is that document going to look printed and in a folder? Do we send youtube links with our movie compositions as examples of work? And even outside of the WPA or Writing Center listserve, there are all the 4C's/NCTE/IWCA facebook groups, twitters, Ning sites... where would those fall in, if at all? At what point will that just become a part of professional development?
And final 4C's thought of the lunch break. Does anyone know more about the computer scoring in Writing Centers? I am just curious.
"We understand that machine-scoring programs are under consideration not just for the scoring of placement tests, but for responding to student writing in writing centers and as exit tests. We oppose the use of machine-scored writing in the assessment of writing." (CCCC Postion Teaching, Learning and Assessing...)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
relevance?
I’m going to respond to one of the comments I received on my presentation. In doing so, I hope to think through my project a bit further and deal with problems I don’t want to deal with later in the semester.
Barbara asked a great question: “What will this tell us and why is it valuable?”
I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer this fully right now, but the question encouraged me to develop a more concise reason (and tweak my project to clear up its relevance). Usually when I decide on a topic, because it seems valuable to my personal academic work, I forget that I need to articulate its value to the field in general. Well, I guess I don’t really forget this, but sometimes it’s put on the backburner because of other concerns... Hence my need to work it out here.
Since I’m primarily using Kress (Kress and van Leeuwen, sometimes), it is important to note the publication dates of the three texts that I have references in my presentation. Reading Images, 1996; Multimodal Discourse, 2001; Literacy in the New Media Age, 2003. The comment that sparked my interest in this particular project was from Kress. He argues, “the affordances and the organisations of the screen are coming to (re)shape the organisation of the page. Contemporary pages are beginning to resemble, more and more, both the look and the deeper sense of contemporary screens” (2003 p. 6). When I read this, I thought to myself, “well that’s obvious; I can see that happening all over the place.” The question is, how can I really prove that it happens (at least in a certain situation) beyond mere assumption?
After finishing Literacy in the New Media Age, I felt that while Kress’ theoretical suggestions were fascinating, his examples left me wanting more. The earlier texts (with van Leeuwen) do set up a framework for performing the sort of analysis I plan on doing, but that earlier framework/visual grammar seems a bit brushed aside in Literacy in the New Media Age. I don’t know if he had textual length constraints or that simply Kress assumed the reader would be familiar with the earlier texts. Anyway, LitNMA sets up some really heavy theory without the kind of examples I had hoped would accompany those theories.
In the final chapter (“Some items for an agenda of further thinking”), Kress posits that “the major task is to imagine the characteristics of a theory which can account for the processes of making meaning in the environments of multimodal representation in multimediated communication, of cultural plurality and of social and economic instability” (2003 p. 168). He then briefly discusses design. I really hoped he would theorize about design’s importance much more than he actually did in LitNMA. I’m glad we read the C&C issue on Kress, because he talks more deeply about design there than in the 2003 text. Anyway, while he and van Leeuwen cover design as a part of a multimodal analysis, it is in a text that is seven+ years old with a framework that needs updated examples/research. Because, as Kress notes, we live in an unstable world that is constantly in flux, I think my project might be able to address his theories as they relate to present ways of making meaning.
What I want to do is look at design in relation to Kress’ argument about the screen influencing the page. While I think it’s an obvious relationship, I want to move beyond mere assumption and actually find out if this is the case. Any thoughts?
Barbara asked a great question: “What will this tell us and why is it valuable?”
I’m not sure I’ll be able to answer this fully right now, but the question encouraged me to develop a more concise reason (and tweak my project to clear up its relevance). Usually when I decide on a topic, because it seems valuable to my personal academic work, I forget that I need to articulate its value to the field in general. Well, I guess I don’t really forget this, but sometimes it’s put on the backburner because of other concerns... Hence my need to work it out here.
Since I’m primarily using Kress (Kress and van Leeuwen, sometimes), it is important to note the publication dates of the three texts that I have references in my presentation. Reading Images, 1996; Multimodal Discourse, 2001; Literacy in the New Media Age, 2003. The comment that sparked my interest in this particular project was from Kress. He argues, “the affordances and the organisations of the screen are coming to (re)shape the organisation of the page. Contemporary pages are beginning to resemble, more and more, both the look and the deeper sense of contemporary screens” (2003 p. 6). When I read this, I thought to myself, “well that’s obvious; I can see that happening all over the place.” The question is, how can I really prove that it happens (at least in a certain situation) beyond mere assumption?
After finishing Literacy in the New Media Age, I felt that while Kress’ theoretical suggestions were fascinating, his examples left me wanting more. The earlier texts (with van Leeuwen) do set up a framework for performing the sort of analysis I plan on doing, but that earlier framework/visual grammar seems a bit brushed aside in Literacy in the New Media Age. I don’t know if he had textual length constraints or that simply Kress assumed the reader would be familiar with the earlier texts. Anyway, LitNMA sets up some really heavy theory without the kind of examples I had hoped would accompany those theories.
In the final chapter (“Some items for an agenda of further thinking”), Kress posits that “the major task is to imagine the characteristics of a theory which can account for the processes of making meaning in the environments of multimodal representation in multimediated communication, of cultural plurality and of social and economic instability” (2003 p. 168). He then briefly discusses design. I really hoped he would theorize about design’s importance much more than he actually did in LitNMA. I’m glad we read the C&C issue on Kress, because he talks more deeply about design there than in the 2003 text. Anyway, while he and van Leeuwen cover design as a part of a multimodal analysis, it is in a text that is seven+ years old with a framework that needs updated examples/research. Because, as Kress notes, we live in an unstable world that is constantly in flux, I think my project might be able to address his theories as they relate to present ways of making meaning.
What I want to do is look at design in relation to Kress’ argument about the screen influencing the page. While I think it’s an obvious relationship, I want to move beyond mere assumption and actually find out if this is the case. Any thoughts?
Pictures worth a Thousand Words
REALLY cool projects by students at Georgia State. Images made out of words with regard to the presidential race. Reminded me of Kress.
The words become the image...
The words become the image...
Web 2.0 Dance Party
Here's my proposal, in case you were dying to see it again.
I have to admit, this was fun to put together. As you can see, I had to find ways to entertain myself during all of the work a video proposal requires, but I am interested in doing more stuff like this in the future--hopefully with a more robust program than Windows Movie Maker. I've been told that iMovie is much, much better, but I lack the money and elite status to become a Mac owner.
The construction of a video proposal--again, something I had never done before--also got me thinking about multi-modality in my own classroom. I would love to make my students do something like this, but they groan at even the most rudimentary forms of multi modality: "Do we HAVE TO use pictures in our papers?" Not to mention the whole computer literacy problem I've been seeing in my students since I started teaching; they already have contempt for me for making them use Vista, so if I told them they had to learn an entire program and produce something with said program, they would circle me, beat me to death with their laptops, and carry my head around like a trophy.
One of my office mates is having similar problems, which he summed it up with a simple quote: "I don't want to waste half my time doing tech support." I've found similar problems with wasting time on troubleshooting with both Vista and even simple things like saving and sending files. Sometimes, I feel like the approach to my next class should be, "Fuck it, everything's gonna be on paper." I don't know anyone who uses Vista to the extent I do, and they don't seem to have any problems getting by. Hell, my professors barely use it; in one of my classes, our prof. wanted all of us to be able to read each other's papers, so she engineered a complicated e-mail scheme involving file attachments and the "reply to all" option. People don't even want to use Vista for the one thing it's good for.
It may seem like I have a bone to pick with Vista--and I do--but this all falls back on the resistance to technology I'm seeing in the classroom. I'm thinking that, for my classes' next big assignment, I'm going to force multi-modality on them, instead of just making it optional. I've been a little wary about doing something like that, but maybe it's time to completely disregard the future and try something new. All of my students have been writing about and responding to multi-modal things throughout the entire semester (video games, tv shows, blogs), so I think it's a bit hypocritical of me to demand only text from them.
I guess, for now, I'm still trying to figure out all of this stuff, but I think the creation of this proposal really gave me a taste for multi-modal projects. As far as the methodology goes, I'm still a little unsure, as my single rhet/comp class didn't give me a foundation I remember particularly well. But, I plan on doing some research and returning to this blog with some ideas. Wish me luck.
I have to admit, this was fun to put together. As you can see, I had to find ways to entertain myself during all of the work a video proposal requires, but I am interested in doing more stuff like this in the future--hopefully with a more robust program than Windows Movie Maker. I've been told that iMovie is much, much better, but I lack the money and elite status to become a Mac owner.
The construction of a video proposal--again, something I had never done before--also got me thinking about multi-modality in my own classroom. I would love to make my students do something like this, but they groan at even the most rudimentary forms of multi modality: "Do we HAVE TO use pictures in our papers?" Not to mention the whole computer literacy problem I've been seeing in my students since I started teaching; they already have contempt for me for making them use Vista, so if I told them they had to learn an entire program and produce something with said program, they would circle me, beat me to death with their laptops, and carry my head around like a trophy.
One of my office mates is having similar problems, which he summed it up with a simple quote: "I don't want to waste half my time doing tech support." I've found similar problems with wasting time on troubleshooting with both Vista and even simple things like saving and sending files. Sometimes, I feel like the approach to my next class should be, "Fuck it, everything's gonna be on paper." I don't know anyone who uses Vista to the extent I do, and they don't seem to have any problems getting by. Hell, my professors barely use it; in one of my classes, our prof. wanted all of us to be able to read each other's papers, so she engineered a complicated e-mail scheme involving file attachments and the "reply to all" option. People don't even want to use Vista for the one thing it's good for.
It may seem like I have a bone to pick with Vista--and I do--but this all falls back on the resistance to technology I'm seeing in the classroom. I'm thinking that, for my classes' next big assignment, I'm going to force multi-modality on them, instead of just making it optional. I've been a little wary about doing something like that, but maybe it's time to completely disregard the future and try something new. All of my students have been writing about and responding to multi-modal things throughout the entire semester (video games, tv shows, blogs), so I think it's a bit hypocritical of me to demand only text from them.
I guess, for now, I'm still trying to figure out all of this stuff, but I think the creation of this proposal really gave me a taste for multi-modal projects. As far as the methodology goes, I'm still a little unsure, as my single rhet/comp class didn't give me a foundation I remember particularly well. But, I plan on doing some research and returning to this blog with some ideas. Wish me luck.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Ponderings on Multimodal presentations…
I finished my project today and I was thinking about how difficult it was for me. It was difficult in a few different areas 1. because I have no real skills or knowledge when it comes to technology and utilizing it and 2. because presenting my “research question” visually was a very complex challenge. When it came to creating my actual project, I found myself panicking because I couldn’t figure out how to use my software or any other types of software…after my panic attack ended I began to think logically and called my cousin who is a tech guy at West Liberty University. Using our Apple computers, he was able to log onto my computer, take it over, and then speak to me via our MACs to help tutor me in the iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand applications…I found this amazing! How cool was it that since I didn’t understand a thing about any of those applications, but suddenly my cousin (who is in West Virginia) was able to come save me through the very technology that I was frightened of. Of course, this was a brief tutorial and I was still left my own for a large amount of the applying the applications, but I did it and it was a wonderful feeling. Now, I’m not really sure what my point is, other than the fact that technology and multimodal tools can work no matter who a person is, and I will remember this lesson when I am teaching multimodal presentations to my own composition class…
My second realization during this project centered around the entire assignment. I had no idea what to do! It was daunting to think that I had to visually represent a topic and also learn how to use the software to make it available for presentation. I never realized how much I relied on the “old way” of teaching and presenting, and how much I have fallen into a comfort zone…I type and discuss teaching with technology and I am almost always an advocate for it, but then when it came time for me to actually apply my skills and do it myself I discovered I was scared and lost. This was surprising to me and I just wanted to make note of it on here because I wondered if anyone else suddenly found themselves in a position like me? I guess I haven’t had a lot of chances to use technology in graduate school, but I definitely find it challenging but also thought inspiring...it made me think about what changes I could make in my own classroom and pedagogy…also, heads up, this is my first movie on a MAC and some of my images are grainy—I just couldn’t figure out how to fix up my pictures in enough time…
My second realization during this project centered around the entire assignment. I had no idea what to do! It was daunting to think that I had to visually represent a topic and also learn how to use the software to make it available for presentation. I never realized how much I relied on the “old way” of teaching and presenting, and how much I have fallen into a comfort zone…I type and discuss teaching with technology and I am almost always an advocate for it, but then when it came time for me to actually apply my skills and do it myself I discovered I was scared and lost. This was surprising to me and I just wanted to make note of it on here because I wondered if anyone else suddenly found themselves in a position like me? I guess I haven’t had a lot of chances to use technology in graduate school, but I definitely find it challenging but also thought inspiring...it made me think about what changes I could make in my own classroom and pedagogy…also, heads up, this is my first movie on a MAC and some of my images are grainy—I just couldn’t figure out how to fix up my pictures in enough time…
I slept through class...
I thought some of you may be interested in this site. Apparently it is starting to hit Ball State since I have gotten a number of emails the past few days looking for students to sign up. Basically students become members of the site, upload their notes, and get paid for uploading notes. Other students search for notes from a class (that they may have skipped or slept through) and I think they have to pay for the notes. I just briefly searched around.
I am interested to see how the professors respond to the site and how other students respond. I'll keep you posted if you are interested.
I slept through class
I am interested to see how the professors respond to the site and how other students respond. I'll keep you posted if you are interested.
I slept through class
"Information Wants to be Free"....The Disclaimer!
Subtitle: Adventures in Technology pt. 2
So, after filming the mockery that is my video at Nikki's house last night, I came home and attempted to edit the various "clips" we had collected. After three hours of making a bigger mess than I had to begin with, something occurred to me: Some of my favorite film makers make some of the shittiest films--Jon Waters...Ed Wood...
So, rather than polish a turd...I think it fits what I want to do with this project to keep these videos choppy, disjointed, and jumpy. The other week in class, Jon and I had a very brief side conversation about one of the problems with new media forms of textual distribution revolving around market distribution, etc. Leading out of this, my very next concern is exactly what gets distributed over technologies such as the internet. For example: reallllllly bad home movies. Poorly conceived notions of social-construction. Unarticulated political rants...just for some examples. As a motif, I began to like this more and more for this mini-project.
The heart of my seminar paper is going to revolve around how the internet (and perhaps other technologies...digital cameras and camcorders...) have in some ways kicked open the doors and broken down some of the gates that keep fringe/outlaw/"subversive" ideas at bay. However, if I don't take a closer look at the concerns/dangers of these new technologies...I am only doing half of my job as a researcher.
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Works Cited/Secondary Texts
1990-1992: books banned in schools and libraries in the US:
1. Impressions Edited by Jack Booth et al.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
7. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
8. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
10. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
11. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
13. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
14. Blubber by Judy Blume
15. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
16. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
18. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
19. Christine by Stephen King
20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
21. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
22. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
23. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
24. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
25. Night Chills by Dean Koontz
26. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
28. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
30. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
31. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
32. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
33. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
34. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
35. Cujo by Stephen King
36. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
37. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
38. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
39. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
40. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
41. I Have to Go by Robert Munsch
42. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
43. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. My House by Nikki Giovanni
46. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
47. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
48. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
49. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
50. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/most-banned.html
http://classiclit.about.com/od/bannedliteratur1/Banned_Books_Censorship.htm
(reference site asking for commentary on banned books)
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2008/09/23/list-of-25-banned-books
http://degreedirectory.org/articles/25_Banned_Books_That_You_Should_Read_Today.html
(top 25 banned books you should read)
---
“Howl”
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19132
Books seized, Ferlinghetti and Gisberg tried for obscenity
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6393328
(NPR looks back)
http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100083370
(Book review of Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression: CityLight’s involvement and what was gained from the obscenity trial)
----
Dubliners introduction by Brenda Maddox: the curious publication history of the novel
Images:
Bookburning: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://isurvived.org/Pictures_Isurvived/Book-burning.gif
on 10/25/2008
Galileo on Trail: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://faithjustice.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/galileo_facing_the_roman_inquisition.jpg
on 10/25/08
Traffic Anarchy: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.graphicreflections.org/wp-content/uploads/traffic_anarchy.jpg
on 10/25/08
Lorem Ipsum: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fontstock.net:83/images/Anarchy-Mono_big.jpg
on 10/25/08
------
Song
"Room Without a Window" by Operation Ivy. From the cd _Energy_. 1989 Lookout! Records.
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Antagonizing Nikki and Courtney aside (I can do that whenever I want!)...this was a lot more fun than I expected, and I might add...I walked away with an extra piece of technology...woot!
Elliot
So, after filming the mockery that is my video at Nikki's house last night, I came home and attempted to edit the various "clips" we had collected. After three hours of making a bigger mess than I had to begin with, something occurred to me: Some of my favorite film makers make some of the shittiest films--Jon Waters...Ed Wood...
So, rather than polish a turd...I think it fits what I want to do with this project to keep these videos choppy, disjointed, and jumpy. The other week in class, Jon and I had a very brief side conversation about one of the problems with new media forms of textual distribution revolving around market distribution, etc. Leading out of this, my very next concern is exactly what gets distributed over technologies such as the internet. For example: reallllllly bad home movies. Poorly conceived notions of social-construction. Unarticulated political rants...just for some examples. As a motif, I began to like this more and more for this mini-project.
The heart of my seminar paper is going to revolve around how the internet (and perhaps other technologies...digital cameras and camcorders...) have in some ways kicked open the doors and broken down some of the gates that keep fringe/outlaw/"subversive" ideas at bay. However, if I don't take a closer look at the concerns/dangers of these new technologies...I am only doing half of my job as a researcher.
-----
Works Cited/Secondary Texts
1990-1992: books banned in schools and libraries in the US:
1. Impressions Edited by Jack Booth et al.
2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
7. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
8. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
10. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
11. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
13. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
14. Blubber by Judy Blume
15. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
16. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
18. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
19. Christine by Stephen King
20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
21. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
22. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
23. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
24. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
25. Night Chills by Dean Koontz
26. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
28. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
30. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
31. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
32. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
33. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
34. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
35. Cujo by Stephen King
36. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
37. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
38. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
39. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
40. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
41. I Have to Go by Robert Munsch
42. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
43. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. My House by Nikki Giovanni
46. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
47. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
48. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
49. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
50. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/most-banned.html
http://classiclit.about.com/od/bannedliteratur1/Banned_Books_Censorship.htm
(reference site asking for commentary on banned books)
http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2008/09/23/list-of-25-banned-books
http://degreedirectory.org/articles/25_Banned_Books_That_You_Should_Read_Today.html
(top 25 banned books you should read)
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“Howl”
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19132
Books seized, Ferlinghetti and Gisberg tried for obscenity
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6393328
(NPR looks back)
http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100083370
(Book review of Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression: CityLight’s involvement and what was gained from the obscenity trial)
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Dubliners introduction by Brenda Maddox: the curious publication history of the novel
Images:
Bookburning: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://isurvived.org/Pictures_Isurvived/Book-burning.gif
on 10/25/2008
Galileo on Trail: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://faithjustice.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/galileo_facing_the_roman_inquisition.jpg
on 10/25/08
Traffic Anarchy: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.graphicreflections.org/wp-content/uploads/traffic_anarchy.jpg
on 10/25/08
Lorem Ipsum: taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fontstock.net:83/images/Anarchy-Mono_big.jpg
on 10/25/08
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Song
"Room Without a Window" by Operation Ivy. From the cd _Energy_. 1989 Lookout! Records.
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Antagonizing Nikki and Courtney aside (I can do that whenever I want!)...this was a lot more fun than I expected, and I might add...I walked away with an extra piece of technology...woot!
Elliot
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