cultural literacy

I’m reading Convergence Culture and the chapter on Photography and Democracy because I think it will assist me in learning the language of the space I’m joining. So, I’m reading The Matrix chapter just because it is SO interesting.

On page 101 of my copy Jenkins discusses the meaning of the numbers in the movie, and how they also tie into the video games. He talk about Neo’s apartment number 101 being the same number used by George Orwell in 1984 (is it strange that this discussion occurs on page 101 . . . . .oh Jenkins, you’re so sneaky, or super lucky). A paragraph earlier Jenkins talks about the license plates DA203 and IS5416 referring to Bible passages (David 2:3 and Isaiah 54:16). So what this immediately brought to mind is the literacy debate brought on by E.D. Hirsch with his book Cultural Literacy (which has been rewritten a couple times I believe). In basic literacy classes in this department, and in other courses that touch on literacy, Hirsch is dismissed SO quickly, and the elitism that is the cultural literacy that he promotes is completely bashed. But, as I’m reading Jenkins I’m starting to think that a level of cultural literacy needs to be present for television and movie shows that have the cult following like the Matrix. I think Lost fans are very similar, with Dharma from the Dharma project being dissected as a term and a word, and the time travel and all it’s relevant authors being highly discussed as literary (also talked about by Jayne in class on Tuesday). So, participatory culture seems to require an entrance level literacy level for participation to occur. There also seems to be a lot of overlap with Hirsch’s list of things we need to have read to be culturally literate. This access to hidden nuggets in movies and television shows requires us to have exposure to so much, not just other groups that figure it out, but to the original reference as well. Are we seeing a return to Cultural Literacy ala Hirsch to fully participate in some of these cultures?

reading about writing

in one class we're focusing on learning about the writing process(es). It's so strange to read articles from the 1980's where we were still debating whether the culture we were raised in impacted our writing. then as colleges became more racially diverse we realized that different cultural backgrounds created writers with access to different writing styles. it was such a novel concept. today it seems so obvious. now, we see writing as still evolving, as becoming a way for writers to organize ideas, to think out ideas, to participate in their culture, to learn about other cultures, to critically engage. writing has taken on a participatory tone, again making it more difficult to teach the importance of situational writing, especially academic writing. what's really important in all this, though, is thinking of blogging. bloggers are not just putting content out there into infinite cyberspace, they are thinking through ideas, working through culturally based language, separating themselves even further from academic writing. the imagined audience we're writing to as bloggers really is imagined. so how do we try to teach real audience to freshmen composition students who have only been imagining audiences as bloggers?

SNS and the law

The internet raises tons of questions about privacy rights, and keeping personal information private. when Google really took off employers began googling potential employees. Now that everyone has social network site profile pages, employers are accessing MySpace and Facebook profiles while screening applicants for positions. law professors are beginning to write on the ramifications of this type of applicant screening. unfortunately their position is not very hopeful for all us social network site users, and bloggers. it all comes down to an individuals' (because they will not make mass claims for all users) perception of their own right to privacy when using these sites. in f2f situations, if i tell 1 person a big dark secret and a week later the news is running my terrible story, i can sue, i had a reasonable expectation that my secret would be kept. if i post that secret to my facebook page, and only 5 people have access to that part of my facebook page because i've done a stupendous job with all my security settings, i'm covered. if i thought i set my security settings, but now everyone knows my secret, i have no rights. so the law can't necessarily protect the users of these sites when it comes to privacy. but, the sites protect the user from employers in a way. the popular SNS require log in, and if you create a log in you must confirm you won't violate the terms of use, which prohibit misuse of the pages. if a particular person has privacy settings, and a potential employer finds a way around those privacy setting, the employer is violating terms of use of the website. of course proving any of this in a court of law has not happened yet, and will be incredibly difficult. so remember kids, what you put out there stays out there forever, for everyone, and so far the law isn't planning on protecting us.

history

i'm reading several articles on the history of rhetoric and composition, and the split between speech departments and English departments over rhetoric. these articles are pointing out various histories and historical developments that ultimately led to the modern conception of the mandatory composition course. what is most interesting about them though is the idea that histories can be written so differently. that historians in liberal art fields can search the margins for those left out to tell their story to enrich our overall understanding of history. but most importantly that history is written based on the materials immediately available to the historian. if i have a different composition textbook from 1900 than you do, i've got an entirely different history to write about.

the golden compass

I'm not reading for enjoyment, a luxury not afforded during the school semester. I began reading the Golden Compass series. I blazed through the first book, and have now begun the second. I saw the movie first, but luckily the book is so different and so much better than the movie. I'm completely addicted to reading these books.

children's books

i don't think as children we totally appreciated just how fabulous children's books are. the young kids i'm teaching love reading about Amelia Bedilia, and find the pictures of her antics funny, but they don't get the word play, they're too young. but those books are hilarious. one i recently rediscovered is the paper bag princess. not to spoil it, but in the end she decides she doesn't need to marry a stuck up, materialistic prince, she defeated a dragon. talk about teaching feminist ideals to kids while they're young. i loved that book when i was little. i'm not passing it on to the next generation.

bookstores

i don't understand why corporate bookstores consider some books written by professors textbooks, and other books not textbooks. if a book deos well with the general population will the bookstore reclassify it to sell even more copies thinking the general population would be turned off by the textbook classification???

why is it so hard to find the book i need. it's just cultural discourse analysis, not rocket science.