chubby heroines

so, besides austen biographies that are missing important social issues that i feel should have been included, i also finished Wallflower (The Old Maids Club book 1) by Catherine Gayle.

Overall the book was pretty good.  a meh++

the hero was so sweet, the grand gestures he made to win her over was fantastic.  the problem was tabby's reticence to marry besides a pact made was not explained until 3/4 of the way through the story.  there were some major plot details thrown in and randomly thrown out at the hero that came way too late for me to not be annoyed with her self-hating.  once those stories were told, and some of her past details came out, much of her reluctance to believe our dashing hero made more sense.  but, some readers might not make it to that point because they get annoyed with poor tabby first.  i'd suggest sticking with it, the end is out of control!!

my problem is all the little details that went no where, just little mysteries included as ways to prepare the reader for the next books.  they felt to set-upish,  and so disconnected that i was distracted at those moments in the story.  these details for future books could've been introduced in a smoother manner so the story was more seamless, but alas, the great difficulty in romance novels is introducing multiple strong heroines to develop an entire series without overshadowing the heroine being featured in the current book.  parts of this book did not do that well.  i'll still read the next two, however, so they aren't that bad. 

jane austen biography

started reading a biography about jane austen by Peter Leithart.  it's part of the 'christian encounters' line of books trying to tell the 'truth' about authors, etc.  the first part makes jane seem like a pop culture phenomenon because we are currently a godless society, hmmmmm.  the second part is detailing the access to religious men in her life, to ultimately discuss how christian austen was and why that's important.  i find it very odd that the authors, leithart, spends so much time detailing the current austen craze, fanfic, movies, etc, and poinitng out all the ways a less christian  more godless society idolizes authors/authoresses like austen, then moves on to a 'true' account of her life and her christianity.  what about the social implications of her christianity, the social causes of her practicing christianity?  has he not read the opening line "it is a truth universally acknowledged."  biographies are never without social influence, leithart claims the christian influence as his, but then holds austen's current popularity against the godless fans currently worshiping her, while completely leaving out the societal influences of austen's christianity and claiming his retelling for the closest truth.  how can those two parts exist within the same chapter?  how can current popularity demonstrate unacceptable hero worship, being traced to less than ideal (according to leithart) christian practices, while social influences are not at all discussed when detailing austen's christian practices?  granted i'm not done with the book, but i'm already really taking issue with the methodology of this biography.  in my book you can't be up front with your influences (in this case christianity) then try to pass of different types of methodology in different era's as 'truth' about a long dead author.  reading austen fanfic should label me as an austen worshiper.  leaving out the social influences of attending church, some of the social reasons small communities attend church services beyond just worship is missing all the important social influences on religion that influenced the cultural practices of religion in austen's time period.  not being seen at church services would have made you a social outcast in a small community, your place, your pew, your practices, who you sat with said a lot about your position in the society.  this still holds true in many churches today, so why was this aspect of religion completely ignored?

austen work for sale

while it is exciting than a hand written version of The Watsons, see this article, is up for sale in London, the focus in this article on Austen's writing and editing style is particularly interesting to me.  to begin, a senior book specialist for Sotheby's highlights writers who edit versus writers who are inspired.  i'm constantly trying to correct the incorrect assumption that good writers don't revise, they just write (the way a poet just spits out poetry - which of course is not what really happens).  having jane austen as an example, with a very particular way of folding the paper to write her story, then cramming her editing into it, that's just amazing.  the next time i have to edit a paper for the hundredth time (oh, that will happen several times this summer) i'll have to channel austen and all her corrections so i can create an academic article as well dialogued as P&P.

letters versus email

my dissertation topic is online English 101 classes.  i'm most interested in how instructors and stud nets create, or try to create a sense of classroom bonding through the digital space provided.  do all instructors take a more hands off approach (i've certainly see this)?  do all students take online thinking it will be easier?  these and many more questions fuel my research.  when i explain to ludite, i'm often forced to provide evidence of connections being made online, and of senses of bonding in digital space.  my membership in fan communities and facebook usually serve as those examples.  but for extreme ludites like my dad i bring up letter writing.  prior to the 1960's, and maybe even later, many people were building lasting friendships on nothing more than postal letters.  i just finished watching season 1 of Downton Abbey and the letters being written and delivered in the early 1910's were amazing.  gossip traveled through letter, news about the continent, the impending war, politics, all traveled via letter.  lasting connections were forged in gossip, and credibility was built through news.  these were rhetorical moves created and discussed by early epistolary authors (many of whom wrote to improve the minds of women, blah).

so i know all this, however, when faced with odd real world news of something similar i immediately cringed.  someone was recently telling me they met someone online, and formed a lasting bond he expects to turn into marriage with a girl in russia.  she is quite a bit younger than him.  i immediately found myself questioning this completely unknown girls motives.  i questioned the possibility of a bond through these means.  however, i'm usually pro-this type of communication/interaction.  so what's the difference?  why are we still so turned off by the idea of a mail-order bride, a bride who in many cases is volunteering for the job?  cities that have legalized prostitution have found the prostitute has a better life, less disease, more choice, more money, less harm done to her because she has more control, doesn't have to hide everything.  so choosing to enter the mail-order bride market provides these women with choice.  providing them the opportunity to converse regularly provides the potential couple more interaction than some arranged marriages have now.  so i guess  my real issue is that i can teach the idea that many people enter marriage for business arrangements, less for love, but i can't act out that understanding in real life.  whether the couple-hood is mediated through paper and pencil, or computer and internet, the business aspect that started that potential match is still there.  so where would a site like match.com fit into my completely arbitrary scale?  when people sign up for these sites are they looking for love? companionship? partnership?  in any case, all of these emotions, values, lifestyles are now being mediated through a computer screen.  do we truly know how to tell the difference?

Dissertation reading: Professing literacy in composition studies

Goggin, P.  (2008).  Professing literacy in composition studies.  Cresskill, NJ:  Hampton Press.

Goggin looks at the various definitions of literacy, specifically tracing how they are applied and used with computers and composition studies.  Mapping the definitions of literacy shows changes in definitions and applications over time, as well as places where changes need to occur, or disconnects exist.  Focusing on Goggin’s mapping of the various definitions of literacy as they apply to computers and composition is an important way to understand the applications of literacy in pedagogy, and how digital literacy functions in classroom space.  The map becomes a way to understand applications of literacy in current scholarship of digital classrooms, digital literacy and composition pedagogy.

the title becomes catchier after you've read the book and really let it all sink in.  being literate about literacy is what so many literacy scholars profess, without realizing the many different ways they use the word, define the word, apply the word.  One of the hardest spellings for many children to learn is their, there and they're.  All three words sound exactly the same, but have very different meanings.  Goggin is arguing literacy has the same problem.  we think it can apply to everything and anything, but that also means its hard to define, so we assume everyone knows what it means when we use it in a given context.  at the beginning of the semester i gave my freshmen composition 101 students and extra credit assignment, as 5 people "what is literacy?" write it down.  When they came in to class and we discussed the assignment some were amazed at my mind reading skills, i could guess a lot about the age, education and SES about a person based on how they defined the term and what they knew, or at least what aspects of it they cared about, which again points to SES.  In describing all the various ways computers and composition specifically apply the term literacy, and all the skills, applications, pedagogy, reading and writing implications one little concept has needs to be fleshed out so we don't accidentally use the literacy version of they're when we really mean their. 

Romance Review: Challenge to Honor

Challenge to Honor
By: Jennifer Blake
Review: another meh

Unfortunately i think the meh review is more due to my raised expectations than the book itself.  i read a lot of regency romance and contemporary romance, and LOVE Gone With the Wind, so i feel that middle period is often missing from romance settings.  several austen fanfic writers are taking on WWI and WWII, a few have taken on the Old West in its various stages, but 1800's American New Orleans is such a mystical mix of creoles, spanish, french, americans, slaves and free slaves that still influence so many of its traditions today that the setting is ripe for culture.  i've read lisa kleypas' When Strangers Marry which is set in New Orleans and LOVED the story.  so when i saw a whole series (recommended through amazon's listmania which is awesome, i love the idea of recommending books based on categories that you self design.  its so interesting to see how people categorize, list and describe their own reading) about 1800s New Orleans i was super excited, so i bought the first one (YAY Kindle).  i had a really hard time liking the characters.  the culture, and the honor duels, and the training of swords men for honor duels, the lack of access to anything including money and choice of husband that the women had, the issue of slavery and the impending war with mexico for control of the south were amazing.  but the hero and heroine were so annoying and they just kept lying to each other.  fine, don't put your heart out there, by all means take a risk with losing your virginity outside of marriage in a time where your bride price is based on the existence of a hymen, but don't go so far as to tell that man you actually like him.  definitely get naked, and lie, always a good idea.  or just a way to annoy the reader.  so it took me forever to get into the story, i was about 75% done according to the kindle before i started to like them.  then there was a fire, the whole story came out, there was a kidnapping, sneaky maids, more sword fights, guns, parents standing up for their daughters, then it was over.  so i really liked 25% of this book, but the first 75 was a struggle.  the scenery, the food, the rituals and history of the area kept me reading the 75% because they really were amazing, but the hero and heroine were so blah and liars to boot.

Romance Review: The Baby Project

The Baby Project
By Linda Susan Meier

score: meh

I recently attended a Linguistics conference where my co-presenter discussed repetition in arabic, especially the Quaran, the the helpfulness in teaching language and culture when repetition occurs in a language.  He did note, however, that repetition in the English language is less common.  I don't say "my mom said x" over and over, i would typically switch to "she said" assuming listeners/readers were following my train of thought.  in general terms, its seen as rude to not assume the reader/listeners are paying attention, and to keep repeating the subjects instead of pronouns.

Unfortunately Ms Meier was not aware of this when she wrote the baby project.  overall the story is interesting, heartbroken female lead who suffered a ridiculous tragedy, abandoned male lead who is forced into fatherhood after never having a father in his life.  he quickly forces joint living, attraction is everywhere, baby is adorable, hearts are mended and we work toward HEA.  fairly basic set up.  HOWEVER, the tragedy that broke our dear heroine's heart is AWFUL, just awful.  to make matters worse, Ms Meier tells us the tragedy over and over and over again.  i was never sure if she assumed we readers had already forgotten the horrific tragedy after 5 pages, or she was trying to make us really really sad so we would identify with the humanness that our heroine presented.  either way, the repetition became tedious and was more distracting than an actual reminder of events in the plot line.  unlike the linguistic practices of languages like arabic, english speakers find it annoying to be repeatedly told the same thing, it feels like you're assuming we're not paying attention.  if you're worried we're not following your story, telling us a horrific plot device will not fix the overall problem. 

so, overall, fairly predictable plot line.  adorable baby that is underplayed.  lots and lots of repetition to be sure you don't forget the backstory of our dear female lead.  making the story meh. 

Romance Review: BDB Lover Eternal

many JR Ward fans were eagerly anticipating this latest installment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels.  the injury to payne ending the previous installment left much to be desired, however, the follow up story did not meet all my expectations.  introducing xcor and his misfit gang as same species rivals, instead of the baby powder smelling lessers was a very interesting twist, focusing on the relationship of paynes brother v with his shellan and the cop was also interesting, but the denouement left much to be desired.  this felt too much like a transition novel, moving away from the stories of the brothers we were introduced to in the first novel, and opening up the JR Ward vampire-verse for as many more stories as she can come up with, which seems like unfair treatment of all that payne went through in her life.  her separation from her twin, her valiant defense of him, and her imprisonment as a result were strong back stories that needed to be explored with her healer much more.  instead, the happily ever after came way too quickly with the couples of this novel, and the progression into stories of new characters was left wide open.  i  hope with the snippets of quinn and blay lead to a full on book about them!!! and quinn's site, and Layla.  tell us more about them!! i don't care so much about xcor and his misfits - if the new brothers can get over their treatment by the glimera then the old misfits need to grow up.  hello you're hundreds of years old, don't try to depose a king for the glimera's shortcomings. 

my new favorite paragraph i've ever written

In classroom with videogame playing students, discussing the proper usage of “pwnd” (there are several other spellings) in a videogame is a good way to discuss insider and outsider status based on language usage.  In a videogame, when a player obliterates or decimates their opponent, quickly defeats, or in many various ways beats their opponents (the actual activity really depends on the game) the winner will taunt the loser by saying “you got pwnd,” or simply “pwnage.”  In some videogames, “pwnd” is simply “owned” misspelled and popularized amongst videogame players.  Misusing the term signals your status as a new player to that game.  Correctly using and defeating an opponent show your advanced status.  Correctly using terms in academia signal membership in similar ways.  As instructors, we’ve all read the paper where a student used a thesaurus to increase the syllables of every other word in their paper.  Having a thesaurus tool available through word processing programs is detrimental to the writing of some students, especially when they believe increasing the syllables is all that is necessary to increase the level of argument in their paper.  Instead, as instructors, we see their usage of terms as demonstrating their novice status within the community, just like misusing “pwnd.”  Discussing the proper usage of terminology, the proper use of applications within word processing programs, and the proper layout for papers and how these skills make up practices within academic digital literacy can all be bridged from discussions about “pwnage.”

romance reception

Romance Reading on the Internet


Nicole Pfannenstiel







Often referred to as bodice rippers, the Romance novel genre continues to be one of the bestselling book genres in the US. The genre is overlooked at best, and maligned at worst, especially by critics. As so many books continue to sell, how do romance readers find the books they want to read, and what do they do once they’ve read them. In the age of new media, romance readers no longer have to find their bookstore version of Dot (Radway), they can now scour the internet to find a community that meets their romance reading needs. Looking specifically at a GoodReads (goodreads.com) Romance reading community, this paper will discuss how moderators and participants create and sustain community within the subgroup to encourage connections through internet technology. To discuss how GoodReads romance readers simultaneously try to find satisfying books and rescue a genre, current theories of audience receptions (Mailloux, Bratich and Jenkins) will be used to discuss the ways readers of romance approach the texts and discuss the texts. Within this discussion, participants and moderators inhabit contested space simply based on the genre they choose to read. The ways participants reconcile their participation in that space creates complex interactions that ultimately deal with the love of a heroine and hero. The ways participants discuss romance novels, their reading of romance novels, and their reception of romance novels will be discussed as the key elements that create and sustain a complex virtual community on GoodReads.

literacy examples

for a paper i'm re-writing, trying to provide more concrete examples of academic literacy and the way it presumes understanding of how to 'act' literate.  that theoretical discussion goes first, more new media examples will go after this section.  hopefully it sounds good.

Seeing literacy as tied to action as well as reading and writing is important. My mom tells a story of eating breakfast with an Uncle. He sat down at the restaurant, picked up the menu, appeared to peruse it. He then ordered the same meal as someone else at the table, which did not seem odd. It wasn’t until a few days later that she learned he was illiterate. Instead of drawing attention to his inability to read the menu to select a meal, he simply followed the traditional actions, then ordered the same meal as someone else. My mom had no idea he was illiterate.


This example doesn’t help with freshmen college students, who should be more literate. I have a friend who completed an online course recently. The course consisted of reading text books, notes provided by the professor, completing online quizzes, and then two major exams. The professor asked a lengthy (expecting a 5 page response) quiz question, then re-asked the same question on the exam. Every student who re-used their quiz answer received a zero. At no time during the semester were academic integrity issues discussed, the professor assumed students understood self-plagiarism, so felt it was fair to reuse a test question. In this case, students became victim of the problem with how academic integrity is approached in college classes today. Instead of devoting online space to discussing academic integrity, the professor assumes students are aware, and then punishes students by giving them zero’s when they exhibit the wrong behavior. There is no way for students to simply order what someone else is, and pretend to read a menu to pass the literacy test in academia. Instead, they must always present the correct identity when displaying their literacy surrounding academic integrity at the college level.

rewriting . . . . again

new focus . . . hopefully it makes sense


To better understand how fans of videogames participate in play, two online game fan communities will be discussed as literate spaces that provide additional space for fans to explore game play.  

cooties . . thats right it all started with cooties

Today I went to an organic farmer’s market on campus, part of the green initiative at ASU. While there my friend and I purchased a tamale boat to share. When we mentioned we would be sharing, the seller offered to split it for us. We declined saying we don’t have cooties, we’ll be fine. At this point it became apparent that the seller was not a native English speaker because he became confused by the term ‘cooties’ thinking we were saying ‘cuties.’ He then said that was a new word, what did it mean. So there the two of us stood trying to explain cooties. We said it’s like an imaginary germ, often seen between five year old girls and five year old boys. This confused him even more, so he asked his young assistant to explain it to him. She struggled just as much, also saying it’s a way of referring to germs.


With a word like cooties, the word looses all meaning out of context. To children on the playground, the word has HUGE significance. To non-native English speakers communicating with adult native English speakers, the word seems out of context, out of place, and just confusing. Idioms, sayings, quotes, all have the same contextual tie, and when used out of context or with individuals who can’t make the connection back to a previous context the terms lose all meaning. This is one of those cases where our brains process so much information in such a short period of time that we never have to consider context when placing word definitions. We run through all the possibilities subconsciously and adjust our definitions of words while the speaker continues to add context through language.

virtual reality

My problem with virtual reality, and movement in 3 dimensional space is the loss of game and play we experience when the space is moved more toward reality. The point and purpose of games is the play aspect. Even when playing dominoes or scrabble there is play at work, we know we’re playing a game, with rules that don’t match real life. Even in games that involve monetary bets like poker and blackjack that affect reality, the moment of betting and gaming is still play. Until we’ve won big or lost big, the actual cards represent play. The after effects are the reality.



So when we discuss virtual reality games that would require a player to move to model the movements into the game world, real life physicality becomes an issue. With the new Tony Hawk game where a player uses a skateboard type remote control to play, the player must learn to make the skateboard movements on the remote control, but they must be more physically fit and capable than a player with a traditional console controller. Instead of allowing the suspension of disbelief like a skateboard game does (the gamer controlling the action does n ot need to be able to complete any of the actions) a more based on real life controller requires the player to know more about actual, real life skateboarding. We’ve begun to move game space toward reality, like the poker player who loses their life savings. The virtual reality game space no longer allows for suspension of disbelief because the player must be able to make all motions very similar to how they would in real life. Therefore, an important aspect of play is lost in the physicality of the game design.

ahhhh football

school is back in session for college students.  YAY!!!! so this morning we had a discussion about culture, how to define culture, what makes up culture, how it gains power.  all i asked was "what is culture" and early in the morning my students came up with great examples of how to provide examples and ideas about what makes up and defines culture.  a sometimes difficult task.  one of the examples that really struck home was sports.  americans are one of the only countries who love football, and have all sorts of ideas, practices, identities, beliefs, and values surrounding sports.  my students were able to enumerate many of these things, and how they felt about them.  i then brought up videogames, of course.  as my husband plays madden, he often complains about the lack of fan presence at milehigh stadium whenever there is weather.  denver and green bay are well known for their fandom, their sold out stadiums for decades, their love of their teams.  however, they are represented completely differently in the game.  for a true fan, without recognizing the slight against their form of fandom, they are offended by how they are represented in the game.  the complaints voiced by my husband are legitimate concerns about how a game is representing the fans of a team he loves.  how could a videogame franchise so ingrained in game play botch up fandom so bad????

ahhhhh romance, its totally research

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


really solid heorine and hero, madness and religion issues. just a great story!




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goodreads review

An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method, Second edition by James Paul Gee


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


very useful. helps provide tools and questions for when looking at language and language usage




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Lets liven up with literature

Ok, I saw these lists on another blog (blog browsing again) and I thought the list was terrible. Sorry to the person who created the list, but they were trying too hard to pick controversial characters they had to defend or that made them look literary cool. So, I give you my list and reasoning.
Top Ten Picks: Favorite Female Literary Character

1. Elizabeth Bennet – contemplates ideas of marriage and love in a time where women had no power, control, they weren’t even considered human, and she wanted love to dictate her life choices. That’s pretty progressive, and she was written by a woman. A classic example of culture affecting literature, and standing the test of time.

2. Kit Tyler – I know, I’ve written about her before, but she’s just so fun to read about. Completely out of her element in clothing, understanding, culture, weather, you name it she does it different. But she makes it work, teaches people reading, is tried as a witch. Classic American literature.

3. Anne of Green Gables – she’s a spirited, adopted red head who causes childhood problems, and drama. Just SO fun to read.

4. lyra belacqua – another children’s book. Through the trilogy you get to watch lyra grow up and figure out the world. It’s quite a journey, and the ending is so bitter-sweet it’s hard not to love lyra.

5. Margaret Hale – sent away from her family to be raised by an aunt in London, then upon her return she’s uprooted to a whole different life in the north, Margaret works through the culture shock and forces other characters to confront ideas of class and religion. She also rejects a lot of marriage proposals.

6. hermoine grainger – she makes being a nerd cool again!

7. Anne Elliot – forced to give up her beloved, she is the anchor of her family, and the most walked upon. Then she is forced to watch her love flirt with another woman while he’s still in love with her.

8. Elphaba – born to crazy parents, she struggles with water, rain, and fights for the rights of Animals. The loss of love that causes her ultimate break is so touching. You really can love the wicked witch.

9. Elinor Dashwood – the quietest of the dashwood sisters, elinor suffers heart break privately while working to keep her sister in one piece, and her family safe and comfortable.

10. Scarlett O’Hara – she’s tough, always pining for what she really doesn’t want, but when taxes are levied and need to be paid, Scarlett steps in and gets the bills paid, delivers babies, kills ravaging soldiers, and makes a dress out of curtains.



Top Ten Picks: Favorite Male Literary Character

1. Fitzwilliam Darcy – he may not be in book that much, but anyone who antagonizes a woman because he loves her is amazing. It really helps that he puts aside all pride and helps her family, and still wants her to accept him because of love, not what he can offer.

2. the dad from The Road – ok the world is shambles and he works hard through the whole novel to protect his son, provide him with necessary skills, and teach him to read as they have time.

3. Rhett Butler – another character who just doesn’t quite understand how to woo his woman. Eventually he catches her, and delivers one of the most poignant lines “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” ahhhhhhhh.

4. Will Parry – another children’s book. Will is in 2 and 3 of His Dark Materials trilogy. He comes from a difficult home, but he manages to find his path, and love. He works so hard to help lyra on her journey.

5. Mr. John Thornton – he seems all standoffish, and firm, but he’s really a big softie. His father tragically destroyed the family, and he dedicated his life to restoring the family name.

6. Quoyle – a large awkward man who suffers when his children’s mother dies tragically. He uproots his family to Newfoundland and discovers dark family secrets, shipping news, new culture, love and squid pie.

7. Holden Caulfied – teenage angst at its finest with culture critique thrown in for good measure. Holden embodies the outsider in his quest to protect purity.

8. harry potter – its just hard not to love the boy wizard who stumbled into awesomeness.

9. Pi – he survived a boat crash, and then the ocean while living on a life boat with a tiger.

10. Beowulf – after spending a semester translating Old English you develop a real bond for Beowulf of the Geats.

another goodreads

  Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


a bit cheezy, and i figured out the big mystery about halfway through, so that was disappointing.  but its really hard not to love the messed-up but healing omega, and the hit-man alpha who is really a big softie.  reading their love story makes it all worth it!

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Book review from goodreads

Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


the authors defend their position of giving rough reviews to romance novels, grading most at a D or C level with only a handful making it to the A or B level.  given their criteria i want my 5 to be measured on that, i don't like everything i read.

the authors strive to defend the genre to those who also enjoy the genre. their witty banter is enjoyable, and their breaking down of the romance genre useful when looking at the ways cultural times affect the stories. its a cross between a for fun book and an academic book, so beware. most importantly they discuss at length how romance is written "by women for women" so it's always already subversive, subversive to the tune of 65 million books sold to mostly college educated readers. go feminism! :)



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