Real live thoughts on chapters and work

I feel like I've got a few chapters of academic work in me. Whether it's a real live dissertation or not is still to be determined, but the thoughts are there.

I'm thinking lately about how we create and define our social selves. I'm thinking in the social ecology sense, where everything somehow interacts to make us who we are. This is coming out of the paper I'm currently working on, which traces the changing ethos, and therefore connection to "people" of Captain America. Don't laugh. My brother said, "I guess you write what you know". I hope he's right.

I've been in love with comics for a long time. I've also come to love the way people work together (or don't). It's what I think is, as grad schoolers are saying, is "so interesting". This course on Rhetoric and Poetics is making me see that these things can go together, with problems of their own, sure, but together nonetheless. So I want this project to end up as a chapter, I think, in a tentatively titled, continually revised, dissertation about the way we revise and reform our ideas about the social and our place in it through different conduits.

Some of these are what I've recently seen coded as "Imaginary Worlds". And it's all rhetorical--which I think means I can talk about it in rhetorical terms. Captain America changes with our culture, but never ceases to be connected to what Americans (a problematic term..but) see as patriotic. In some of the same ways, people (real ones) interact in MMORPGs in ways they never could in real life. Our newly found connectivity via new technologies means that it's a very different world (an imaginary one, in some cases) that we have to interact in.... and I think there's plenty to be said about the (rhetorical) choices that folks make when they log in to a game next to someone from across the world.

Changing courses slightly, I also want to write about music--my students have trouble doing so, but I'd like it to get easier for them. I'd also like to write about the pedal steel--not only an overlooked instrument, but an overlooked topic in academe, as far as I can see. The pedal steel's been synonymous with what "folks" would refer to as "real country" music for a long time. As "country" moves away from the twang of Hank Williams, et al, though, the instruments (IMO) are still being used to sort of "namecheck" the old styles, so as not to lose fans. No one's going to argue that country radio has and will continue to change--and I don't have a particular beef with that. I do, however, take note that the steel guitar still pops here and there where it really doesn't, for lack of better word, "fit" in the more rock sounds of present country radio.


All of these topics trace networks of association, which while I may be joining the bandwagon too late, as least I'm still on it....and they all link back to what I would consider my main research interest, "how can i get my students to learn"? I taught a class on what it means to be a student, and it seems like looking at the ways that the social (community?) can be created could certainly link up with how to create those communities in the classroom, for better learning, better etc etc.

Now, though...it's off to actually doing it.

Aa...

And crastination yet again

I don't write enough. I keep things in my head too long.

Maybe "representations of the social"... that's what I'm thinking now.

Procrastination...

My writing class this semester has a different population than before. I do, to some extent, miss the younger students, but having the insights of students who have been here for awhile helps a lot. I haven't been thinking dissertation in a while, and I'm still nagging at myself to bite the proverbial bullet and start work on a "the social" vs. "mmorpg's" work.

More work later.

Discussion posts...

Purged from the lovely land of Blackboard, these are the posts that, for better or worse, I asked students to respond to this semester. Always room for improvement, yeah?

"Im a gud riter becus I rite gud seds"
--This bit came home from my son's Kindergarten class. Properly translated, it reads:
"I'm a good writer because I write good sentences."
--Well? True? Yes? No? (a more nuanced answer perhaps?) Some places you can go with this discussion--

What makes good writing? What is it? Have you done it? How do you know when it's not? What makes a good sentence? Take these things as far as you can--respond to your classmates, or start your own thread. Feel free to link us to examples, if you find it useful in making your point.

____________

This week is the Peer Review for the first paper. In honor of that, I'm going to ask for your thoughts on the social aspects of writing.
First things first: Is writing a social act(ion) or is it purely an individual task? How, why, or why not?
Second: What sort of issues does either of these views bring up? If writing IS social, how do we deal with issues like ownership, grades, etc.? If it's individual, how do we justify things like peer review, or co-authored books, movies, songs, etc.?

____________

Rhetoric.

From the little discussion on Friday, it seems like some defining is necessary. So, for this post, find (re: Google, etc) a definition that seems to apply to rhetoric as a term. Copy the link in your post, but put the definition in your own words as well. It, like several of the ideas we'll encounter this semester, is a pretty abstract concept, so it will also help to ground your definition in some concrete action or issue.

____________

he paper we're currently working on deals primarily with using outside sources. In fact, today (Wednesday) in the library, the reference folks gave you presentations on some sources--we'll talk about that later.

But what makes a good source? What makes it useful? When do you cite it? When do you not "have" to? All of these questions we can answer in class, actually, but what I want to focus on is a particular source.

Wikipedia. The name alone brings tremors to the college instructor.

So, what do you know about it already? What have you used it for? Why should you use it? (if you think you should) Why should you not? What have you heard? Good? Bad? etc.

____________

o, your task for this week is to discuss the meaning(s) of, and sort out the fallout from a term which tends to rear its head in my courses every semester. I'm not going to push you in any direction (at first). You may choose to use online resources, as well as your own opinions (pun--you'll get it in a sec), as well as each other's responses. You should consider what the term means, what it might possibly mean to others, what connotations (or rhetorical meanings and usages) it might have. And finally, what does it have to do with composition, argumentation, etc?

That term is "opinion". See? Pun.

____________

I've heard the following from old and somewhat crotchety teachers: "It's hard to get students to look at popular culture in critical ways".

So A: is it true, for you as students? When we think about advertising fads, television shows, movies, songs, etc... is it harder to look at these items in the same way that we might dissect a more formal argument? If so, what prevents us from doing so?

And B: a possible issue is that once you begin to dissect popular culture issues, you can no longer "enjoy" them in the same way. As in, because I know enough about music to write it, I hear the songs differently. (or) As a film critic, I "see" films in much different ways. Is this really a problem that you see?

____________

The Writing Center.

So, once you meet with them, use a post to "process" what happened. What did you do? Was it helpful? Did you hate it? Were you so impressed that you couldn't believe I haven't sent you there already? THEN, tell me why. What happened that was helpful, unhelpful, good, sucky, boring, stupid, etc?

Good luck. I'm actually very interested in what you have to say, as we just hired a new director over there, and I've only worked for the old one. Oh, and if I share anything you say (which I might) I will of course not mention names or identify you in any way.

____________

Course Retrospective.

As you might remember, this response should be a page long retrospective of the course. You'll print it off and add it to the process folder which is due Tuesday, before 3pm, on my desk. It will replace the lowest grade that you received on a Style response.

Option A: Just like the Style responses, produce a Summary, Analysis, and Personal Response paragraph. Feel free to be critical in the analysis, as it gives me feedback on what could be done to better the course.

Option B: Still a page long, but dealing with 3 issues that the class brought up, and their importance (or lack of importance) to your upcoming courses and career.

Option 3: A page long, dealing with something that you personally learned (or hated) from each of the 3 paper cycles.

Good luck.

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Lessons learned? Yep.

Sometimes things go poorly.

Suffering from stress, sickness, and the time suck of thinking.

Also, thanks to some brilliant advice, this dissertation appears to be headed in the multi-disciplinary direction. I hope things work out like I hope they do.

titles.

Towards a Social Pedagogy: Student Ecologies and Why You Should Give a Crap.


hmmm... I think there's still something needed. Too much work to worry about such things.

Cultural Literacy...

So, as of this instant, I'm designing an almost paperless course for First Year Composition based on Cultural LIteracy. I'm also winding my way (wending?) through literary criticism on the X-Men for a project in the realm of Transnational Rhetoric. This idea of looking at our own world critically (or being able to at least) is what it seems I've always wanted to do. It's where I've hinted at in prior courses that I've taught, but I've never been ... gutsy? enough to attempt it in courses I was taking, or projects I wanted to finish for real live "grades".

I really thought Cultur(al) Studies had sort've been done, and that no one gave a damn any more. Was I wrong? Where did such an idea come from? At any rate. I'm thinking I'll declare it as my secondary area for the PhD. Is it a "real" area?

It is if I say it is.

Oh, and my initial line for the X-Men paper? "Does it matter that Magneto's a Jew? Of COURSE it DOES.

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

http://www.swinmc.net/documents/facebook.pdf

The Benefits of Facebook ‘‘Friends:’’ Social
Capital and College Students’ Use of
Online Social Network Sites
Nicole B. Ellison
Charles Steinfield
Cliff Lampe
Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media
Michigan State University
This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social
network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to
assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital
that assesses one’s ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited
community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on
results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association
between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship
being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to
interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide
greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

for later.

http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Social-Networking-is-it-making-you-anti-social/

Problem Bubble

This post deleted, because I can't find the picture, or the reasons I need to keep it.

Fake Plastic Trees

I wish my camera phone still worked, then this post would be littered with shots of the following outing.

Tonight, I was, as apparently, most dad's in our fair city were, of the mind that "McDonald's Playland on Clark Ln. sounds GREAT!"

I was right. It WAS great, and if you've ever been there, you understand about the trees.

But here is what it "connected" for me. (I know I know--you're thinking, maybe he could post MORE about connectivity today. Sue me. You'll get everything, which is nothing.) My son is 4. And as we might rhetorically say, "fairly kinetic". He eats (some) and then says, "I'm going up". I quickly take stock of his face, and after making small touchups, send him to play. This is how it works. He climbs the first two steps, is met by a little girl, who says, "Want to be my fwend?" He's all, "Yes" And it occurs to, me--that was JUST like a social networking site! It DOES happen in real life (presentation fives all around) perhaps it just doesn't happen for adults like it does for kids.

BUT, it gets better. And this is where I'm pretty sure I'm the only dad (and I'm not kidding about it being dad's night--there were lots) in the place thinking about social networking. He asks the girl her name, she says something... and she says, "What's yours?" And he says, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter." For the next hour, he is Harry, and she is his friend, and they make other friends, and don't seem really broken up when they separate to go back to their dads and their homes.

Maybe this is all a stretch, and I just wanted to post the neat link;) HOWEVER, I THINK that it's meaningful, given our prior discussions about the way Web2, the network, and our interactions seem to be different in terms of those same issues.

Day 4, sortve.

I missed Monday. Not like, "lost time" in the Fox Mulder fashion, but I didn't blog. I read some. "Connected". Form=Content.

Day 3...

god. Well that went as well as could be expected, given that I didn't prep them with an actual definition of rhetoric.

I had a single student, out of 40ish, that seemed to "get" it without me preaching.

However, what I also learned, prior to class, was that Heidigger (spelling...:(...) seems to have things to say about this idea of the social effecting everything we do. I should look into that. Thanks Todd.

Day 2

I was thinking today... about how my students didn't understand what I meant by "social" and how they are at the center of their giant networks, but don't see that as social, and thus don't see their writing as inherently so. I'm going to try to break them in during class in the morning. We'll see how that goes.

I'm also thinking a sociology of writing course would be a nice topics course for the coming semesters...

Past...

God...What seems like ages ago, I wrote this. It was purged for awhile, but it's in my head again, every day as I walk to teach or walk to class. The thesis that it came from was...well, it's done. This is where I think things are headed, if you're keeping track.


"What this study has done for me—in retrospect—is to highlight a part of a network, where our students find themselves at the nexus. I have said at multiple times throughout this process, that I was interested in their navigation, the navigation of the network that is their college experience. While compositionists and rhetoricians are turning towards networks as a way to educate students, to understand behaviors, to produce writing, and to generally better understand the environment that we, in our many roles (writers, teachers, scholars, humans) live in (Edbauer, 2005, Phelps, 1998, Shaviro, 2003), educational studies are highlighting networks as critical to student success (Bain, 2004, Light, 2001, McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006, Kuh et al, 2005). Again, in retrospect, Pintrich’s claim that context, including social and cultural forces, should be considered when looking at student motivation mirrors what composition theory is moving toward. At the beginning of this study, I only saw my desk in the Writing Lab, and later my classrooms, where this fluctuating population of students came and went, and I wondered how successfully they were able to make their transitions through later courses. These preliminary ideas led to a research project that seems to have led to more questions. At this point, I see the time that it took to complete this study, as well as the stumbles, trips, and falls that occurred along the way as stepping stones, rather than wasted time. While this was never meant to be a longitudinal study, I believe that research like this, in order to be truly successful, needs to be longitudinal. It also still needs to be focused on the students’ navigation—perhaps over their college careers, from their initial day in First-year composition, through their Writing Lab usage, through their WI courses, and finally, as they enter the job markets in their chosen degrees."

It felt really strange to just put quotation marks around something I wrote...