More Reading

"Cyberliteracy Toward a New Rhetorical Consciousness" - Laura J. Gurak

Discussion of various literacies involved when communicating online. Gurak believes that it has taken people back to a more oral discourse, and that combined with reading and writing, has completely changed how we communicate. Gurak also discusses these changes to our society and our new instincts in how we communicate and how most of us aren't able to be critical when thinking about our online and communication behavior.

"Keeping Users at the Center: Developing a Multimedia Interface for Informed Consent" - Loel Kim, Amanda J. Young, Robert A. Neimeyer, et. al.

A case study of how technical communicators, working on an application for a mobile device for people to learn more about diseases their children (involved in pediatric research trials) and their rhetorical process in creating the tool. It had to be able to explain complex information, but also be usable. They also mentioned, and this surprised me, that the people using this tool actually preferred that method of receiving information. After some explanation it made more sense - these users sit around hospitals without access to computers, so being able to do this research on their phone is important.

"Music, Trasntextuality, and the World Wide Web" - Anne R. Richards

Richards argues that more attention should be paid to music as a mode when technical communicators work with websites. She offers examples of when it would be appropriate to use in business situations and describes possible audiences that would enjoy it.

Been Doing Some Reading

"The AIDS Memorial Quilt and the Contemporary Culture of Commemoration" - Carole Blair and Neil Michel

Explores the issue of public vs. private commemoration (especially in terms of government sanctioned and grass-roots supported memorials). The most interesting and most important for me in this article is Blair and Michel's discussion of how the AIDS quilt and the VVM are multimodal memorials that invite audiences (users) to interact with the memorial itself. The AIDS quilt has panels that are made with various materials and often not made by family members or those one would think would be responsible for doing the memorial. The VVM, although linear and simply lists names, visitors often leave momentos behind that are for commemoration. This allows those if grief more agency in commemorating those they have lost.

"Transcendance at Yellowstone Educating a Public in an Uninhabitable Place" - Gregory Clark

Clark discusses the educational possibilities of a "public experience," much like visiting a national park. What makes this interesting is the discussion of a collective public experience. People from all over the world, with varying backgrounds and experience come together to experience the same thing, but obviously in different ways. Coming together actually allows people to move past their differences.

Movement

My comps questions went out to my committee today. This is like, a whole 2-3 weeks ahead of my timeline, which feels really good. I guess now, I just await the comments and requested revisions. Ever since I've sent them out, anytime an email pops up, I keep hoping it is one of them with comments. I guess maybe this is the hard part - waiting.

It still feels like a weight off for right now.

The final questions that went to the committee are as follows:

Composition Core
Since the advent of the computer in the classroom, the impact of technology on student learning has been widely discussed in the field of computers and writing. In her text, (Selfe, 1999) notes the importance of educators “paying attention” in order to integrate computer technology in the classroom in socially viable and critically engaged ways. In your response, consider the issues of access and power relations evident in using technology in the writing classroom. Then, take this issues under consideration, as well as the work of prominent scholars in the field (Gee, Hawisher, Yancey) to create a teaching philosophy specific to using computers in the classroom.

Cultural/Critical Studies Core

The concept of culture and cultural differences is popularly used in modern scholarship in a variety of disciplines, including rhetoric and professional communication. To understand the undeniable influence of critical/cultural studies in our and other fields, it is useful to first clarify the troubled and troubling term “culture.” Citing theorists and critics in the field, offer your own definition of culture. In crafting this definition also consider competing voices in this debate. What resistance might one find to labeling certain people or traditions as one culture or another?

Technical/Professional Communication Core

New technologies for writing and communication have radically changed the ways in which professional communicators interact and the ways in which work is composed. A number of scholars (e.g. The New London Group, iText Working Group, Cargile Cook, Wysocki, Yancey) argue that being literate in today’s society requires and ability to read and compose in a multitude of forms and media. This is particularly true of those responsible for developing texts on complex subject matter that are aimed at large and diverse audiences. Drawing on the relevant literatures, your coursework, and your own experience, address the various ways multimodal communication affect traditional notions of texts, literacy and communication and what are the most significant implications for technical and professional communication?

Specialized

Many scholars (Ochs, Trimbur) argue that rituals of consolation should be viewed as inherently rhetorical due to the various concerns of both the commemorative speaker and the audiences. More recently, Carole Blair has looked at the different modes audiences use to commemorate at both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the AIDS Quilt. Considering this shift to multimodality in memorials, how are these different rhetorical approaches influencing memorials as they move to online spaces and how are people utilizing multiple modes to commemorate those they have lost?

...

Yes, I did just spend time putting together my own banner for this site. Yes, it was time that could've been spent reading.

Whatever.

Had A Week...

I have not forgotten about this place. It's just that this last week didn't have a lot to report on. I did a lot of work, but the reading wasn't as intense as it had been. I've also been keeping annotated bibliographies in several different places and I don't know where to keep everything. Basically, the last week was about getting organized. I shifted focus to my culture question and spent time looking through my textbook from my Cultural Studies class and it was such an amazing text, I've managed to get about 12 sources from it, as well as a great list of sources from those readings to go after. This is the question that I think will be hardest because it will involve some really dense theory, but I can do it. It may need a little more time that the others, but it will get done.

At this point, I have about a quarter of my sources for each of my questions.

Speaking of the questions. I think I am getting a lot closer with my specialized question. I don't have a lot of patience, so I wish it could just be approved, but I realize that each revision is better than the next. It's weird to think I worry about writing a question. Anyhoo, here is the most current revision:

Many scholars (Ochs, Trimbur) argue that rituals of consolation should be viewed as inherently rhetorical due the various concerns of both the commemorative speaker and the audiences. More recently, Carole Blair has looked at the different rhetorical modes audiences use to commemorate at both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the AIDS Quilt. Considering this shift to multimodality in memorials, how are these different rhetorical modes influencing memorials as they move to online spaces and how are people utilizing multiple modes to commemorate those they have lost?

I have a whole list of sources that I will take with me to the library tomorrow. And then I will kick it back into high gear. I fear that my problem, while not really a problem yet, is that I easily burn out with reading. So while I kicked ass reading for about a month, last week was tough to get through. I ultimately took a whole day off from work yesterday. I think it gave me some fresh perspective though.

Wow, I think I might be sounding pretty self-indulgent on this blog, justifying my every move in this process.

Oh well.

Specialized Comp Question 4.0

Many scholars (Ochs, Trimbur) argue that rituals of consolation should be viewed as inherently rhetorical due the various concerns of both the commemorative speaker and the audiences. More recently, Carole Blair has looked at the different rhetorical modes audiences use to commemorate, both in terms of government sanctioned and grassroot supported memorials. Considering this work and the fact that multimodality is changing how people communicate, how do these different rhetorical approaches shape how people commemorate those they have lost?

Got a, "the revision is much better," from a colleague today. Dare I say I am moving in the right direction.

Awesome reading summaries to come.

Specialized Question

I haven't technically been given the go-ahead for three of my four questions (the ones from a large list of questions we have to choose from and revise accordingly), but they appear to be heading in the right direction. My fourth, specialized question was given the very polite comment of,

"There's a lot going on in here."

(Between the lines, I heard, "Wow, uh...wow!")

So, after some discussion with my chair and the fact that I told my comps class I would come with a question to workshop this Wednesday, I went back to the drawing board, figured out what I actually want to say in my response and crafted another question. Here is what I came up with:

Donavon J. Ochs argues, “Rituals of consolation, filled as they are with symbols, used rhetorically, need to be viewed as attempts to persuade. The incredibly heterogeneous nature of those who attend and participate in funeral rituals require more than a eulogy can be expected, realistically, to provide in addressing their individual and collective emotional and cognitive concerns (13).” Considering this argument and the work of others (Blair, Trimbur) in regards to the rhetoric of commemoration and memorial, how are these rhetorical approaches shifting as multimodality is changing the shape of how people commemorate those they have lost?

I don't know why I get so nervous at the thought of sharing this with my peers. But I am. I always, always always feel (and may never quite get over it) that people are like, "How did she get in here." Even now, starting my third year, I get those jitters.

And yet, I am sharing it here for the whole world to see. Weird.

If anyone out there comes upon this and would like to offer up some suggestions - and you can be honest, nice but honest, if I am totally fully of shit.

(I may change the name of this blog to, "Tell Me if I Am Full of Shit: The Life of a Grad Student in Flux During Comprehensive Exams."