Sunday, November 20, 2011
MINI PROJECT #3
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Damn It.
After watching these two videos, I had some great thoughts. But I realized that my underdeveloped brain couldn't handle these thoughts, and I'm simply too narrow-minded and my intellect is too supremely average to make any real impact on the interpretation of these great sources on networking. Damn it.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
interTHEFTuality
All I really gathered from these two articles on intertextuality was the notion that no work is original anymore. So, in honor of the time-honored tradition, I will shape this post by "borrowing" one of my classmate's ideas. I feel this is the best way to demonstrate this principle. Oh, and I'm feeling really lazy. On this subject, RhetoRickMightSay might say "It's more than halfway through the semester and I finally think something is getting through my thick skull: the question is not What counts as writing? but What doesn't count as writing? Johnson-Eilola talks at length about Web Logs (blogs), and particularly on pages 216 and 217 about one called "Plastic", and as I was reading that section, I just got overwhelmed with the enormity of the different kinds of writing all going on all over this website, and how--as he says--none of it fits within the traditional rules of citation and authorship.
It seems like, when talking about writing or teaching writing, so many people focus most on issues of plagiarism, proper citation, and all that jazz. (Like the most important thing about writing is scaring people into being afraid to have any ideas based on other writers' ideas because that might be plagiarism...grrrrr--but I digress.) So, I'm wondering, if much of the writing going on in our world today doesn't even have the ability to fit into the very broad category of author and citation--if there are not even clear traditional roles in the field of writing (like editors and publishers), as we experience it today, how important are the ideas that are being harped upon that all have to do with those roles?
And yet I have to go back to what Johnson-Eilola says in the beginning, "exploring contradictions as necessary conditions of existence" (200). I can't say I grasp all of what he says throughout his article, so maybe he says this and I just can't grasp it yet, but I'm stuck on the question of how to make money as an author in a world where one doesn't just write old-fashioned, paper-and-bound books? I know he's talking about people being charged a lot of money to use tiny parts of texts, but we're talking about websites here--and I don't mean like Google. To bring it closer to home, I'm a blogger. I've written at least as much as a good-sized book in my posts. Do I make money off it? No. But without being a shameless advertisement whore, I don't know how (I can't bear the idea of whatever the Adsense Google app is that is supposed to earn me income off my blog--it just seems like so much salesmanship on writing that wasn't meant to be that; like putting coupons in a research book...). But Web Logs are such a media of the now--what I write wouldn't even go in a book--how do I further my writing career, not just my writing hobby? Looking forward to this conversation in class so I can understand more what J-E was talking about in terms of the money aspect of this.
Returning to my original question, What doesn't count as writing? I am toying with a kinda radical thought (to me): writing is every kind of human interaction we use, aside from face-to-face interaction. Ya think? And if that is true (I'm not sure that it is, but it's seeming plausible), then we don't use rhetoric in our writing at all: writing is rhetoric. If rhetoric is basic human interaction at its core (that is, we can't interact without using it), and writing is every kind of interaction we do other than in person, writing has to be rhetoric.
My head is spinning a little at those thoughts. I'd love to hear your thoughts for or against this craziness."
HOORAY FOR INTERTEXUALITY!
It seems like, when talking about writing or teaching writing, so many people focus most on issues of plagiarism, proper citation, and all that jazz. (Like the most important thing about writing is scaring people into being afraid to have any ideas based on other writers' ideas because that might be plagiarism...grrrrr--but I digress.) So, I'm wondering, if much of the writing going on in our world today doesn't even have the ability to fit into the very broad category of author and citation--if there are not even clear traditional roles in the field of writing (like editors and publishers), as we experience it today, how important are the ideas that are being harped upon that all have to do with those roles?
And yet I have to go back to what Johnson-Eilola says in the beginning, "exploring contradictions as necessary conditions of existence" (200). I can't say I grasp all of what he says throughout his article, so maybe he says this and I just can't grasp it yet, but I'm stuck on the question of how to make money as an author in a world where one doesn't just write old-fashioned, paper-and-bound books? I know he's talking about people being charged a lot of money to use tiny parts of texts, but we're talking about websites here--and I don't mean like Google. To bring it closer to home, I'm a blogger. I've written at least as much as a good-sized book in my posts. Do I make money off it? No. But without being a shameless advertisement whore, I don't know how (I can't bear the idea of whatever the Adsense Google app is that is supposed to earn me income off my blog--it just seems like so much salesmanship on writing that wasn't meant to be that; like putting coupons in a research book...). But Web Logs are such a media of the now--what I write wouldn't even go in a book--how do I further my writing career, not just my writing hobby? Looking forward to this conversation in class so I can understand more what J-E was talking about in terms of the money aspect of this.
Returning to my original question, What doesn't count as writing? I am toying with a kinda radical thought (to me): writing is every kind of human interaction we use, aside from face-to-face interaction. Ya think? And if that is true (I'm not sure that it is, but it's seeming plausible), then we don't use rhetoric in our writing at all: writing is rhetoric. If rhetoric is basic human interaction at its core (that is, we can't interact without using it), and writing is every kind of interaction we do other than in person, writing has to be rhetoric.
My head is spinning a little at those thoughts. I'd love to hear your thoughts for or against this craziness."
HOORAY FOR INTERTEXUALITY!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Change of Plans
Now, I know these blog posts are supposed to be used to analyze and discuss the readings we're assigned, but I'm just not going to do that this week. I've slowly been noticing, thanks to this class, how much digital writing influences the lives of the young people of my generation, especially through Facebook.
It's fascinating. I see people I grew up with getting engaged, getting married, dying, going to jail, getting pregnant. You know, shit like that. I wonder, would I know any of these things without constant exposure to digital writing? Would I even keep up with the lives of these people? Furthermore, how many of these events were caused by digital rhetoric?
I could analyze events that were digitally recorded on Facebook just this past week to show how incredibly influential this phenomena of digital writing has become.
Scenario #1: Relationship Status Change
"Kristian R******* is engaged to Amanda J****."
My buddy Kristian, a kid I met while swimming for Old Dominion Aquatic Club, is from Sweden and is easily one of the funniest people I have ever met. I'm not necessarily saying there's a connection between his hilarity and his home country, but whatever. The point is, Kristian was one of the last people I would have expected to get married at this age. But there it was, spelled out on my News Feed, the little pink heart denoting a change in relationship status staring me right in the face. I was curious as to what the circumstances of this relationship were, so I contacted Kristian, using Facebook Chat.
Hm. Sounds familiar, right? I found out about this change in my old friend's life through the usage of digital writing, and decided to contact him through the usage of a form of digital writing. Here's the catch. When I finally did get in touch with him, he told me how they first started talking. On Facebook Chat. How fitting. It seems they were too nervous to begin speaking directly to each other, so they used a form of digital rhetoric to jump-start their relationship.
Even though Kristian is a good friend of mine, we don't call each other, and there are almost never occasions where we catch up on each others' lives. Unless I physically encountered him, there would be absolutely no contact between us without digital writing. Digital rhetoric informed me of this event, kept me "in-the-know" with regards to my old friend's life, and even played a major role in the formulation of his relationship.
Scenario #2: Status Update
"Brittany F*******: My doctor said, 'when one of the babies get in your ribs, get on all fours...' I was like, 'ahh that's how i got pregnant.' haha she probably thinks I'm crazy."
Brittany is completely different. I don't believe I have ever spoken to this girl. Ever. Not in person. Not on the phone. Not through texts. Not through emails. Not through Facebook chat. But through exposure to her life through accepting her friend request on Facebook, I was able to use her constant digital writing updates to stay dialed in on her life, how I know her, and how I perceive her and her life.
Through this digital writing, I have found out that she was in my graduating class in high school, she's currently pregnant with twins, and her (recent) fiancee is in jail. Now, how would I know these things without digital writing? And why would I care?
Well, I wouldn't.
And I don't.
But through the aforementioned exposure to her constant stream of digital writing popping up on my News Feed, I still stay informed on her life. As for the influence of digital writing on these events occurring (pregnancy and boyfriend in jail), I can only imagine. I'm sure, to some extent, digital rhetoric had a hand in both.
Scenario #3: Status Update
"Casey S***: Grillin out at my house today at 1, all friends of Bill, Chris and the bros are welcome. Call/text for directions (***)***-****"
This particular scenario has a place close to my heart. First let's get the names straight. Casey is the older sister of one of my closest friends, Chris (who is also mentioned in the status). Bill is an acquaintance of mine. Let's just say we've had quite a few beers together. Chris recently went to jail for driving while drunk, crashing his car, injuring one of his passengers, and killing another (which happened to be his good friend Bill).
Without digital writing, I would feel lost. This all happened back in Virginia, and without Facebook and the space it provides for digital writing, I would be out of the loop. But with this digital rhetoric, I have been able to stay up to date with all of the happenings back home, without the hassle of phone calls and texting.
The coolest part about this situation is how Casey was able to reach out to all of those suffering, bringing them together to suffer together. It's almost poetic.
Through the examination of these scenarios, it is clear digital writing brings people together and keeps certain relationships healthy, even starting new ones. It is incredible to watch my generation mature and grow older on Facebook. I know I didn't provide examples of digital writing going wrong, but that's a topic for another day.
It's fascinating. I see people I grew up with getting engaged, getting married, dying, going to jail, getting pregnant. You know, shit like that. I wonder, would I know any of these things without constant exposure to digital writing? Would I even keep up with the lives of these people? Furthermore, how many of these events were caused by digital rhetoric?
I could analyze events that were digitally recorded on Facebook just this past week to show how incredibly influential this phenomena of digital writing has become.
Scenario #1: Relationship Status Change
"Kristian R******* is engaged to Amanda J****."
My buddy Kristian, a kid I met while swimming for Old Dominion Aquatic Club, is from Sweden and is easily one of the funniest people I have ever met. I'm not necessarily saying there's a connection between his hilarity and his home country, but whatever. The point is, Kristian was one of the last people I would have expected to get married at this age. But there it was, spelled out on my News Feed, the little pink heart denoting a change in relationship status staring me right in the face. I was curious as to what the circumstances of this relationship were, so I contacted Kristian, using Facebook Chat.
Hm. Sounds familiar, right? I found out about this change in my old friend's life through the usage of digital writing, and decided to contact him through the usage of a form of digital writing. Here's the catch. When I finally did get in touch with him, he told me how they first started talking. On Facebook Chat. How fitting. It seems they were too nervous to begin speaking directly to each other, so they used a form of digital rhetoric to jump-start their relationship.
Even though Kristian is a good friend of mine, we don't call each other, and there are almost never occasions where we catch up on each others' lives. Unless I physically encountered him, there would be absolutely no contact between us without digital writing. Digital rhetoric informed me of this event, kept me "in-the-know" with regards to my old friend's life, and even played a major role in the formulation of his relationship.
Scenario #2: Status Update
"Brittany F*******: My doctor said, 'when one of the babies get in your ribs, get on all fours...' I was like, 'ahh that's how i got pregnant.' haha she probably thinks I'm crazy."
Brittany is completely different. I don't believe I have ever spoken to this girl. Ever. Not in person. Not on the phone. Not through texts. Not through emails. Not through Facebook chat. But through exposure to her life through accepting her friend request on Facebook, I was able to use her constant digital writing updates to stay dialed in on her life, how I know her, and how I perceive her and her life.
Through this digital writing, I have found out that she was in my graduating class in high school, she's currently pregnant with twins, and her (recent) fiancee is in jail. Now, how would I know these things without digital writing? And why would I care?
Well, I wouldn't.
And I don't.
But through the aforementioned exposure to her constant stream of digital writing popping up on my News Feed, I still stay informed on her life. As for the influence of digital writing on these events occurring (pregnancy and boyfriend in jail), I can only imagine. I'm sure, to some extent, digital rhetoric had a hand in both.
Scenario #3: Status Update
"Casey S***: Grillin out at my house today at 1, all friends of Bill, Chris and the bros are welcome. Call/text for directions (***)***-****"
This particular scenario has a place close to my heart. First let's get the names straight. Casey is the older sister of one of my closest friends, Chris (who is also mentioned in the status). Bill is an acquaintance of mine. Let's just say we've had quite a few beers together. Chris recently went to jail for driving while drunk, crashing his car, injuring one of his passengers, and killing another (which happened to be his good friend Bill).
Without digital writing, I would feel lost. This all happened back in Virginia, and without Facebook and the space it provides for digital writing, I would be out of the loop. But with this digital rhetoric, I have been able to stay up to date with all of the happenings back home, without the hassle of phone calls and texting.
The coolest part about this situation is how Casey was able to reach out to all of those suffering, bringing them together to suffer together. It's almost poetic.
Through the examination of these scenarios, it is clear digital writing brings people together and keeps certain relationships healthy, even starting new ones. It is incredible to watch my generation mature and grow older on Facebook. I know I didn't provide examples of digital writing going wrong, but that's a topic for another day.
Monday, October 24, 2011
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