literacy narrative (con't.)

Ok, so now that the semester is over, it is time to recap and reflect. When I think of the question, "What is literacy?," I hesitate to even begin to answer anymore. It is as the cliche goes: the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know. That is now how I feel about literacy. Learning all that I did this semester about computer navigation, rhetorical decision-making within the visual arena (Does it make me a nerd that every time I see, hear, or speak that word, I can only think of the Hunger Games arena??), applications manipulation, etc. has only made me feel more "ignorant" in the sense that, yet again, I learn of more and more that is evolving out there in the big world of technology that has literally transformed our world and with it, our naive understandings of literacy, genres, literary analysis, authorship...I could go on and on, but I think my point is clear. However, my resolve to learn all that I can is not defeated; if anything, I desire knowledge more at the end of each semester.

I pulled out each of our texts this evening to "get re-inspired" about the knowledge gleaned from within their pages.The Palmquist text was probably my favorite because of the direct nature of the text when it comes to how-to skills, my weakness and insecurity when it comes to technology. I appreciate how the author not only laid out the how-to's, but offered up rhetorical suggestions as well. This text taught me that you have to think like a "reader/viewer" in order to be an effective author (is that term still current??). To be literate is to be able to read, analyze, absorb, and engage with a text as not only a reader, but as an author from the perspective of a reader/viewer...if that makes sense. It isn't always about what the author is trying to convey so much as it is about making meaning for the reader (Roland Barthes coming out in me a little bit). The author has, after all, become less than the backdrop for the text as we used to assume. The author and reader are one in the same many times, especially when it comes to multimodal and electronic texts. That concept alone pretty much turns our "old school" definition of literacy on its head.

Bolter...ol' good old Bolter. I will admit that I was quite the skeptic for the duration of his first chapter or two...or maybe more; however, there is much to learned from taking a look back at a scholar's perspective into the future...or where we just were and currently are (I know...it's like a weird time warp/travel-like thing). Some of his thoughts I feel still resonate with our current situation, at least within the Academy (they...I know the infamous "they"...anyway, "they say" that the Academy typically lags about ten years behind the current cultural changes). For example, he states that "Both as authors and as readers, we still regard books and journals as the place to locate out most prestigious texts" (Bolter 3). I feel confident that most scholars vitae  would boast their published books, book chapters, and journal articles before they would list their online publications. He further states that "In this late age of print, the two technologies, print and electronic writing still need each other" (Bolter 46). I completely agree with this statement and feel that literacy demands a mix of the two at times. We still seem to approach most electronic texts with a compare/contrast approach which proves that the two are interdependent in a way. We don't (for the most part) teach kindergarteners to read via Kindle; they still use the cute little paper books with the large print.

The last major text, the sourcebook, is a valuable collection. Stroupe has a compelling opening chapter on the visualization of English in which he quotes one scholar as claiming that "'People will not stop using print any more than they stopped talking when they became literate. But they will use it differently--will speak and write differently within the frame of electronics'" (Stroupe 24). That is what the late age of print is all about, an exploration on both the part of the reader and the author to learn to use resources differently to ultimately expand literacy to infinite bounds. I believe that we will never truly grasp the concept of literacy again. It is evolving at such a rapid rate that our definitions and understandings are obsolete nearly as soon as we come upon them...well, maybe not obsolete but rather incomplete. That is why this time, this late age of print, is so exciting! We are a part of a movement, a cultural revolution!

Reflection on Multimodal Narrative

                While iMovie was not quite a brand new application for me for this project, it still required quite a bit of searching and re-familiarizing as I ventured into the narrative. The topic seemed to demand more thought as well as research on the front end, which is the reverse of my initial reaction to the two multimodal projects. It took more research to find “just the right” song that I wanted to narrate and then at least twice the amount of time searching for images and video clips. Once I got the narrative in my head, it was very hard for me to picture it any other way, but when the images in my head were not available, new directions became necessary despite my reluctant nature to yield. This is probably why it took me so long to track down all of the “stuff” necessary to create my narrative.

                As far as technical skills go, I had to do much more manipulation of video clips for this project. I of course had to crop each one down to the applicable and appropriate segments of video that I needed and then also had to go in and slow video clips down to just the right speed so that the clip would align with the words of the song. I did a lot more with speed control throughout the making of the narrative and also had to save at least twice as many images and videos as I did for the essay. The zoom focus (I believe it is called Ken something…that shows my ineptness with Mac applications) for each image required some tweeting to end on the focal point that aligned with what I felt the focus of the narrative song was at that point. Volume ducking was also another technical skill that I used with each video clip.

                In terms of rhetorical decisions, I tried to decide what the author was trying to convey within his song because I wanted to create a narrative that would do justice to his song creation. I wanted to find all blond girls to hopefully look like it could be the same girl throughout and also because blond seems to be the stereotype for the classical Cinderella stories that we are familiar with. I wanted it to be a narrative that was relatable. I also wanted the end to stick with the viewer and make an impact. I was not pleased with the final clock clip as it does not actually strike midnight; it stops just short. I wanted that to be a moment of impact, the moment that the whole narrative built up to, the moment when the clock strikes twelve and I could freeze the frame for just a moment to leave the viewer hanging and asking, “So what happens in this narrative when the clock strikes twelve??” But, no project can be the perfect portrayal of our minds’ creations, so while I do not feel that I “nailed it,” I am satisfied with the outcome.

Multimodal Narrative Storyboard

Multimodal Narrative

                                                                         "Cinderella"

McCloud and Arnheim

These articles both address pictures, symbols, and signs but in different manners. McCloud presents his argument in a completely visual way laying out his points through a comic strip narrated by an iconic cartoon. Arnheim follows a more traditional route in laying out his argument via discourse with a couple of illustrated figures. I found myself floundering about in confusion hoping for a visual example to aid my understanding while reading arnheim's article. McCloud's article, on the other hand, was just as in-depth but much easier to understand as there were plenty of visual examples to aid a reader. Is that a signal that we truly have shifted into a visual argument era where images hold higher value as they contain the argument of hundreds of words in a single image? The cliche statement "A picture is worth a thousand words" is so true with the proper interpretive context. Perhaps that is the new role of words, to provide context. Does that in turn lend room for a very slippery slope? I'm reminded of the scene in the movie Idiocracy when the main character goes to the hospital and the receptionist has a completely visual keyboard with pictures of the patient's injury. While visual images are helpful, they have a place and need boundaries...who knows? Our society could one day look like that within the movie completely dependent on visual stimulation to function. Scary thought!

Lanham's "The Implications of Electronic Information for the Sociology of Knowledge"

Lanham poses some interesting concerns and questions regarding the effect of digital communication on humanistic knowledge. Today, we are already seeing many of the things he discussed in his 1994 article being implemented and actualized. Take the electronic classroom for example. Online education has erupted over the past decade. Discussion boards, e-books, and video conferencing have enabled almost all of the elements of the traditional classroom to be translated into an electronic classroom. Now, students from all over the world can take the same class and contribute their varying worldviews and perspectives to broaden the scope of class discussion. Another example would be libraries. I no longer have to physically drive to a library to ask if they have a certain book. I can check their online catalog and check out an e-book at 2:00 am from my couch. Research has become easier to manage and I can access more research to broaden my research scope.

While our culture and society have seemingly adapted quite well to the rapidly evolving digital age, some terms have rightfully come into question. Terms such as author and intellectual property must be redefined to fit within the context of our digital era. Lanham remarks that "After books have been printed and bound, they are unchangeable. Thus the idea of a single author can be protected. Because books can be physical property, they can be intellectual property, protected by some version of copyright law. Thus the career of authorship becomes possible" (455). I do think the career of authorship is still possible once we establish a newly adapted definition of the terms in question. Change is part of everything and usually brings with it better things for society. The highly debated SOPA and PIPA bills, in my opinion, at least recognized the need to look at the definitions of copyright and author and made an attempt to protect intellectual property. While these bills may have been prematurely brought up, it is clear that the need to address these things is evident.

Consider the following article in which a young author hit the best-seller's list with her first novel, later discovered to be largely plagiarized. She claims that it is not plagiarism but "mixing." Obviously, we need to redefine some terms to protect the works of our authors, but this does not necessarily mean that the overall digital communication change is not beneficial to our society. Like Lanham states, "as we have now discovered, the protective carapace of copyright law simply cannot apply": we need to redefine the law to adapt to our digital society (456).

interesting article...

Is the World an Idea?

This seems to be a cyclic ontological argument...does the world exist as we think we know it or is it merely a construct of our minds?

National Grammar Day

Happy National Grammar Day! This "music video" is a little painful but good for a laugh...are all of us English folks this nerdy???

Examples of Bernhardt's on-screen text trends

While reading Bernhardt's article on on-screen text and the characteristics of on-screen text, I kept thinking that our blogs represent many of the 9 characteristics. For example, they are to some degree interactive. A viewer can click on my screen name on the left to view my complete profile or they can click on my "Fun Links" to connect to another site. They can click on "comments" to respond to any post or they can click on my multimodal video that's posted. Our blogs are also modular. The main posts are chunked in the middle with our profile info. on the left and other information on the right. They are graphically rich with a picture as the background, our logos, and the many imported pictures and screen shots that add representations to our postings.They are also customizable, publishable texts in that we decided how our blogs would look as we made a series of decisions about layout, colors, themes, and visual images. These decisions can be changed with the simple click of a mouse at any time. We can also edit our posts and remove posts at any time. Our blogs are also spacious texts. We can add to our blogs an infinite amount of information, links, postings, etc. The links are really what make the space infinite. With one line, we can connect our blogs' viewers to entire sites with an expanse of information without having to copy it all onto our blogs.

This screen shot is a Word Document with a professor's comments in the margins.

This represents several of the characteristics. Firstly, it is customizable, publishable text in that any aspect of the document can be altered quite simply. A professor can add comments directly on the document and the student can then go in and edit without having to retype the page. Font sizes, themes, and colors can be changed with one click and images can be placed directly into the document with text in front of it or around it. Word is also graphically rich. Look at all the icons along the top of the screen that will enable a writer to manipulate the appearance of the document.

My last example is our very own school's home page.

 Many of Bernhardt's characteristics can be found on UTC's home page as well. First of all, it is a spacious text. Nearly every word is hyperlinked to take a viewer to another page filled with more information. It is situationally embedded. No one (I hope) sits and clicks on each link in order and reads all the information contained within the newly directed page. We consult the page and the links based on the need of the situation. The page is completely interactive in that a viewer can clink on dozens of links and icons at any time. The page is functionally mapped with visual clues for viewers such as the facebook and twitter icons along the bottom and the arrows along the right side. While it is not in this screen shot, there is also a search box at the top of the page to allow viewers to find exactly what they need. This page is modular with essentially three columns of information, each chunked accordingly. It is also navigable with icons, hyperlinks, arrows, a search box, etc. It is hierarchially embedded with layers of text, each layer containing yet another layer. Finally, it is graphically rich with pictures (along the top although I did not capture it completely), icons, hyperlinks, etc.

storyboard for multimodal essay

Multimodal Essay

Future Learners?
This video traces the technology used by learners throughout the years.

Reflection on Multimodal Essay

This project was definitely outside of my technological comfort zone as I am just familiarizing myself with a Mac this year at my new job and iMovie has been nothing more to me than the star on my desktop screen. I found that once I became comfortable with downloading movies, saving pictures properly, and using iMovie, I actually kind of enjoyed putting this essay together. While my project turned out far from perfect, this is something that I would like to incorporate into my classroom to allow my students to begin practicing with visual argumentation.

                As for technical skills, I had to become familiar with navigating on a Mac and utilizing the features of iMovie. I had to go to “Add-ons” to install a program that would allow me to download youtube videos. I also had to know which types of pictures to save that would be compatible with iMovie and the project. Finally, I had to import a song and save the project as a work in progress. I did find iMovie difficult to manipulate once I went back into the project to edit some things. Once the items are pieced together and no longer individual elements, they are not as easy to move. One of the things that I am not pleased with is the abrupt entries of the song/speech of the movie clips within the essay. They seem to break the natural flow.

In terms of rhetorical skills, I had to play the role of both the author and the viewer to make sure that I created the right context to allow for interpretation as I intended. According to Lemke, “the meanings of words and images, read or heard, seen static or changing, are different because of the contexts in which they appear…” (72). I tried to focus the zoom of each picture to land on the exact element that I wanted to the viewer to focus on (ie. the iPad in the hands of a young learner). I also wanted to make sure that the ending slide landed on a specific phrase in the background song to create the final thought-provoking effect upon the viewer that I had in mind.

visual argument

1) Argument by Definition

The argument behind the comic lies with an argument of definition surrounding the loose use of the word "art." The website I pulled this photo said this: "First of all, I think it’s crucial to clarify what it is we’re actually arguing over [stasis theory]...It isn’t because people are really passionate about their particular definitions of the word “art”. It’s because we have culturally come to use the word art to talk about something higher, something refined."
"Art" naturally lends itself to mean different things to different people at different times; we must yield to the advice of Birdsell and Groarke here and acknowledge "the importance of context" (314).

2) Argument by Comparison

The classic comparison of Coke versus Pepsi has been around for so ling now that it is essentially a commonplace within the realm of marketing and now visual argumentation. It is interesting to think about an ad or a visual argument by comparison affecting our taste buds...do they truly hold that power?

3) Argument by Relationship

I'm not super sure that Aristotle would classify this as argument by relationship or just plain irony of the sign...either way, I thought it was fun. Drinking leads to the need to use that bathroom...pretty basic cause/effect.

Literacy Narrative

Reading and writing have always been stressed as important skills to develop and maintain within my family. My father, being British, was continuously correcting my speech amidst other socially constructed expectations. "No, Sarah. It's Jenny and I...not 'me and Jenny'..." I remember being read to often as a young child, anything and everything. All the adults in my life would graciously take the time to read to me and answer my incessant questions about the plot, characters, setting, etc. I also remember being taught phonics in kindergarten...the rote recitations and the marking of long and short vowels. It was brutal most of the time, but I do feel that it gave me a more firm grasp on the individual components that make up words and ultimately our language. I always loved the library and always participated in the summer reading contests our local library offered. I read lots of mysteries and the American Girl collection and books about other places. Because of this early love, my imagination usually ran away bringing me with it to places new and exciting, places that I felt like my favorite characters would have explored. My childhood dream job was a librarian. I would make my own version of card pockets and cards and tape them into the backs of all my books. My mother being a chef bought me all the kitchen play stuff, including a shopping cart which became my book cart. People would then have to check out my books. (Almost 20 years later, the books at my grandma's house still boast those little homemade cards.) I would get in trouble at night for staying up to read after I had been tucked into bed. I always had at least 2 books under my pillow. Needless to say, I was quite the little nerd and it is not surprising to anyone that I grew up to become an English teacher. I am still a nerd and pack my books before anything else when planning a trip. McKays is one of my favorite places and my husband and I date at coffee shops with books in hand.

Throughout my rather nerdy experiences, one thing has become evident to me. Literacy is not a clear-cut line but rather something that is a lifelong process. As I read, study, and encounter society around me, I feel that I become more literate and able to analyze and translate various spheres, be it writing or other. Literacy isn't the sole responsibility of classroom teaches, but of all members of society. It's family members who spend hours reading to their kids or younger siblings or friends who introduce another to new online worlds or even TV shows that arouse curiosities and expose their viewers to worldviews outside of one's self. Literacy is one of those terms whose definition changes and expands as our society and culture changes and expands. I no longer feel that it is simply the ability to read and write. It is the ability to translate those skills to all arenas of our ever-changing society to be an active member of our global society. J.L. Lemke said it well when he stated that "literacies provide essential links between meanings and doings...they also provide a key link between self and society: the means through which we act on, participate in, and become shaped by larger 'ecosocial' systems and networks...I do not think we can define it more precisely than as a set of cultural competencies for making socially recognizable meanings by the use of particular material technologies" (71). Based upon this statement, it becomes quite clear that this notion of literacies goes beyond the traditional reading and writing. It encompasses computer navigation skills and visual interpretation skills as well as a vast number of other increasingly necessary skills. The age from which writing and print were the primary means of communicating, learning, and interpreting is behind us and we now live in an age in which "all literacy is multimedia literacy" (72).

Quotes taken from the following source:
Lemke, J.L. "Metamedia Literacy: Transforming Meanings and Media." from Handbook of Literacy and   Technology; Transforming in a Post-Typographic World. Ed. David Reinking, Michael C. McKenna, Linda D. Labbo, and Ronald D. Kieffer. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998. 283-301. Rpt. in Handa, Carolyn. Visual Rhetoric in a Digital World: A Critical Sourcebook. Ed. Lease Burton. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print.

another new start

Spring semester is upon us! Hip hip hooray for academia!