Katie Couric talks About Internet Slang

Those darn kids and their slang!

Favorite internet videos: 2 and 1

My favorite genre of video is "Crazy People." The age of YouTube and ubiquitous personal cameras has lead to a proliferation of people acting batshit crazy videos. I love being able to watch these people without actually being present, some of these people are terrifying.


Crazy lady screaming at skateboarders


Yes, she does accuse these people of peeing on her. She also accuses them of "illegal photography" in a parking lot that she has no association with. There is something immensely hysterical about a woman screaming at people for no reason, and then demanding that they call the police.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a Rogue Helicopter Pilot


My absolute favorite video ever; nonstop and unadulterated crazy. I can't really add any commentary that would make it any better. Watch it all!

Favorite internet videos: 4 and 3

Cautionary Tales of Swords


"Swords will cut your fucking throat wide open" - Trip Frisk. This is a lowbudget internet show that is amazing and hilarious.

Darth Vader being a smartass


This may only make you laugh if you are a Star Wars nerd like myself.

Top ten internet videos: 5

This video is from the "Animals" genre. Be glad that I didn't post more of these, I am a sucker for cute birds.



Snowball has better rhythm than I do.

Top ten internet videos: 7 and 6

These two videos can be classified as "Internet videos that mock the internet."

Lasagna Cat: Geocities Page


The premise of Lasagna Cat is simple, yet genius. The creators take Garfield comic strips, reenact them, and then create a music video that incorporates the original strip. This particular clip is mocking second generation websites, such as those that could be found on geocities in the 90s. If you have time, click on this video and watch every single Lasagna Cat video on YouTube.

How is Babby Formed?


This flash animation was created to mock Yahoo Answers thread. For those of you unfamiliar with Yahoo Answers, picture Wikipedia with less strenuous academic standards. Users can post a question, and anyone can post an answer. Some of the answers (such as this one) are incomprehensible.

Top ten favorite internet videos: 10, 9 and 8

I decided to compile a list of my favorite internet videos. I imposed the limit of ten, which meant I had to take out a lot of videos that I really love, but I didn't want to list to be too long. I've also tried to present videos that I feel represent their genres. Except for the number one video, this list isn't really in order; I have attempted to group the videos based on their types.

The following videos can be classified as "People hurting themselves." The timeless glee of schadenfreude has found a fruitful home on the internet; sites such as Youtube are full of videos in this vein.


Katana Slip-up


The accident shown in this clip inspired another one of my top ten list, the internet TV show "Cautionary Tales of Swords." This isn't the only video that features a QVC host injuring themselves, two other videos highlight ladder accidents. Ladder accident 1. Accident 2.

Kid falls off a Bridge


This video is a lot funnier if you understand some Spanish. Google pinche pendejo if you want. I love the cameraman in this one, "Te bañaste!" means "You took a bath!"



My favorite people getting hurt video, mainly because I have no sympathy for the asshats who are injured. Really, what possible alternative outcome could have resulted from jumping off a roof? Once again, the cameraman adds to the overall video, with his asinine inquiry of "You guys ok?"

The Remix Video

A trend that has become popular on YouTube in the past few years is that of the remix video. A remix video takes fragments of a popular video or audio meme, and sets them to music, usually a techno beat. Remix videos usually appear with surprising speed after the initial video has become popular, the following two remix videos appeared in a matter of days after the original videos surfaced.



In this video from the early 90s, a young(er) Bill O'Reilly (then on Inside Edition) expresses his displeasure with the studio's teleprompter.



The amazing remix followup. I think it's pretty catchy.



This video is very long, the most amusing parts occur near the end. I'm a big fan of randomly taped crazy people; however, this one is not my favorite.



The resulting remix video. It is really good, but we must consider the fact that the source material lent itself to a musical endeavor.

Response to 5/5 readings

Composition at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century
Richard Fulkerson

When I started reading this, I assumed that Fulkerson would take a pretty gloomy view on the state of composition pedagogy, and the debate thereof. In his introduction, he expresses the motivation behind writing this was “frustration”.

However, after this initial negativity, Fulkerson appears to refrain from pessimistic language when chronicling the past decade’s developments in composition. One quote from Fulkerson that I thought odd was his statement that “It’s important to emphasize that in CSS the course aim is not ‘improved writing’ but ‘liberation’ from dominant discourse” (Fulkerson 660) Uh, why can’t we do both? Does liberation from dominant discourse necessarily mean that the resulting writing will be bad?

Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories
James Berlin

Berlin’s essay was incredibly helpful in understanding the origins and applications of composition pedagogy. Berlin describes Neo-Aristotelians (Classicists), Positivist (Current-Traditionalists), Neo-Platonists (Expressionists) and New Rhetoricians. Seems like everything is new and shiny, eh?

One of the reasons I love Berlin so much is his honesty. He comes right out and says “My reasons for presenting this analysis are not altogether disinterested. I am convinced that the pedagogical approach of the New Rhetoricians is the most intelligent and most practical alternative available, serving in every way the best interests of our students” (Berlin 766)

Neo-Aristotelians believe that truth is inherent from the senses; the main issue is communicating this through the limits of language. Positivists hide beneath the shield of “scientific truth”, which reminded me of earlier readings discussing how research defined fields of learning. Unlike neo-Aristotelians, neo-Platonists do not believe that truth is inherent from the senses, as the world is undependable. Instead, they seek the truth inside, a truth that cannot be communicated or taught. New Rhetoricians rely on communication and discourse to discover truth.

Post-Process “Pedagogy”
Lee-Ann M. Kastman Breuch

Breuch writes that“[p]ost process scholarship is shortchanged by the continued emphasis on process in that the broader implications of post-process theory have very little to do with process […] That is, process as it is cast by post-process scholarship is the scapegoat in an argument to forward postmodern and anti-foundationalist perspectives that are critical to post-process theory” (Breuch 98)

One of Breuch’s main points is that post-process theorists are undermining their own efforts by defining themselves in opposition to the process theory. Of all the post-process theorists that Breuch discusses, I found Thomas Kent to be the most persuasive, in certain respects. As Breuch says, “Kent suggests that writing is not a system or process and therefore cannot be taught as such. Consequently, he does not suggest that teaching writing is impossible; he suggests that teaching writing as a system is impossible” (Breuch 101). I also liked Irene Ward’s functional dialogism, which seems to correlate with Berlin’s much loved New Rhetoricians.

Douglas Downs and Elizabeth Wardle

Downs and Wardle envision a freshman writing course that focuses on “improving students’ understanding of writing, rhetoric, language, and literacy” (552). Although I have yet to teach ENG 101 or 102, I will be next semester. As a result, I found this article insightful and far-reaching in its ideas. As Downs and Wardle point out, “good” academic writing is not universal across various field, and what a student learns in ENG 101 and 102 may not transfer to other classes.

The authors’ pedagogy relating to FYC would seem to prepare a student better for writing in many different contexts. I think that this type of FYC would be much better suited for non-English majors, as well as being more feasible than having major specific required FYCs.

My website

Here is a link to my website draft. I had planned on doing more this weekend, but Staphylococcus aureus had other plans for me.

I wanted to create a website that reflected my professional and academic career (which is lacking in terms of teaching experience). Eventually, I would like to add relevant course information for my classes, much in the same way Dr. J adds information to our course blog.

In which I add content to YouTube

Response to 4/28 Readings

The Adult Literacy Process as Cultural Action for Freedom
Paulo Freire


Although Freire wrote his landmark article in a very different environment from both us and many of the authors who build on his writings, much of his advice and observations remain relevant. One aspect of this article in particular attracted my attention, in which Friere discusses methods of using culturally pertinent prompts in regards to writing. I feel that this is a wonderful way of getting students interested in what they are writing, and if my experience in the writing center is any indication, that is a tough task.

“Only someone with a mechanistic mentality, which Marx would call “grossly materialistic,” could reduce adult literacy learning to a purely technical action. Such a naïve approach would be incapable of perceiving that technique itself as an instrument of mean in their orientation in the world is not neutral.” (Freire 617) This profound statement can be applied to other areas of learning across the board, and even reminds me of the article we read that chastised those who refer to computers merely as “tools”, and not instruments of learning.

Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class
James Berlin

Berlin points out an aspect of rhetoric and composition instruction that many other authors have noted “any examination of a rhetoric must first consider the ways its very discursive structure can be read so as to favor one version of economic, social and political arrangements over other versions […]A rhetoric can never be innocent, can never be a disinterested arbiter of the ideological claims of other because it is always already serving certain ideological claims.” (717-718)

It follows then, that no professor can be completely impartial, a fact that I’m sure we can all attest to. The question then, is what type of rhetoric to use? Berlin discusses three types of rhetoric: cognitive psychology, expressionism and social-epistemic. Of the three, I think a hybrid of expressionism and social-epistemic would be the best approach, as they both acknowledge biases, and provide strategies for overcoming them.

Response to 4/21 Readings

Protean Shapes in Literacy Events: Ever-Shifting Oral and Literate Traditions
Shirley Brice Heath

Shirley Brice Heath begins her essay by cautioning readers against relying on literacy theories. She goes on to define what a literacy event is; any occasion in which a piece of writing is integral to the nature of participant’s interactions and their interpretive processes. Heath takes this theory, and investigates its veracity in the context of a particular community, Trackton.

In exploring the applications of literacy in Trackton, Heath lists the following as purposes for writing in Trackton: instrumental, interactional, news-related, confirmation, provision of permanent records, memory supportive and as substitutes for oral messages. Most of these purposes are supplemented by oral actions.

Heath also notes that “individuals saw literacy as an occasion for social interaction.” (Heath 451) ; she provides ample examples of this, from church activities to porch discussions. Even the usually literary act of completing paperwork for school or work is intertwined with social discussions, as townsfolk share information.

I liked Heath’s example of the written version of a prayer verses the oral result. I saw a few devices that reminded me of oral epics, such as the use of formulaic voices, and expression of personal involvement.


Hearing Other Voices: A Critical Assessment of Popular Views on Literacy and Work
Glynda Hull

I think that Hull does an excellent job debunking current myths and views surrounding worker illiteracy. Hull questions both the relevancy of literacy in specific work situations, and the burden that is shifted onto the worker, rather than the employer. My favorite example that she gives is “[t]he years of picky hiring are over. Vicious competition for all sorts of workers – entry-level, skilled, seasoned – has begun. Employers must look to the nonmale, the nonwhite, the nonyoung. There may be a push for non-citizens as well: over the next 10 years …only 15% of work force entrants will be native-born white males.” Aw, poor native-born white males! Whatever will they do?

I found the personal accounts that Hull uses a sad indicator of current government programs. Jackie was trying her hardest to get off government assistance, but it seems to me that the government provides little assistance or incentive to do so. In addition to this, as Hull points out, some of the programs that involve workplace training are merely training for tests that have little or nothing to do with actual tasks.

As I had previously been unfamiliar with Taylorism (it is a pity that it is so negative), I read Hull’s section relating the effects of Taylorism with great interest. As anyone who has worked in retail, manufacturing, or many other fields knows, workers are still accorded very little trust, with most of the responsibility and training given to managers. However, workers still seem to be given a fair share of the blame when something goes wrong.


Sponsors of Literacy
Deborah Brandt

I though Brandt’s essay does an adequate job explaining the discrepancies between teaching methods used and methods that work, and the underlying politics motivating those choices. Brandt looks at the sponsors of literacy programs, and investigates their intentions. I have to admit, I had never considered the politics behind academic programs such as literacy, this article really made me think.

Brandt looks at the reasons people seek literary education, the foremost motivation being upward mobility. She does this by looking at two specific individuals, Raymond and Dora. Raymond enjoyed a childhood full of technological advantages, while Dora grew up as a bilingual minority in a Midwest town. Although Dora and Raymond find themselves in very different literacy environments, they both have the desire to learn more.

I appreciated the amount of real life examples Brandt uses in her essay, I found most of them relevant, and all of them interesting to read. Given the examples, there is a great deal of truth in Brandt’s statement that “the course of an ordinary person’s literacy learning – its occasions, materials, applications, potentials – follows the transformations going on within sponsoring institutions as those institutions fight for economic and ideological position.” (Brandt 177)

Strangers in Strange Lands: Student Writing Across Curriculum
Lucille Parkinson McCarthy

McCarthy’s introduction to “Strangers in Strange Lands” is an accurate portrayal of advice that I myself have been guilty of giving: write to your professor. I often tell students in the Writing Center “Well, I personally think this…but you need to check with your professor”, or something similar.

McCarthy draws from the works of two noted sociolinguists, yet another indication of the connections between composition, writing pedagogy, and linguistics. McCarthy does an adequate job explaining her data, but I felt that she should have given more contextual information. I did like the quote from Dave, where he explains that he sees writing as a tool. I felt that this highlights many students view of writing not as a learning process, but as a tool to be acquired and wielded. This mindset parallels Dave’s desire to find on “right” interpretation of a poem for his poetics class. McCarthy call this being “tied to the concrete material”, a problem that many students face.

By looking at what classes Dave does well in, McCarthy construes Dave’s intent and perceived benefits from each class. In classes that he sees as vital to his career and further academic success, he does better. In a class such as poetry, which is only tied to a grade, Dave doesn’t do as well. This may seem obvious, but I think it is important for instructors to keep in mind, so that they might find ways of linking a particular class to a students aspirations.

The truth behind the McCain girls

So it ends up the McCain girls were a comedic hoax all along! This news article has some pretty good quotes about it, I think the most telling one is:

"That video recorded more than 1.6 million views and earned mentions on CNN and on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” with people alternately mocking it and wondering who was responsible. The singers seemed intentionally bad, which led many bloggers and YouTube commenters to assume that it was meant to insult Mr. McCain. The liberal blog Eschaton put it this way: “I believe the YouTube era begins the age when it is impossible to tell parody/irony/performance art from completely sincere product."

Apparently it was created to mock the candidate video phenomena, they did a good job making it look home made. I love the fact that they went to the lengths to do a response to the haters video too.

Walk it Out: Assemblage?

This video is a 1960s dance number by Fosse set to a modern rap song. It is eerie and humorous how well the two sync up; would this be considered assemblage?

Here is the original version for anyone who is curious.

Texting practices on cellular phones and in online instant messaging

“Wat r u doing?”
Texting practices on cellular phones and in online instant messaging

Over the past decade, the popularity of cellular phones has increased dramatically. At the same time, in developed nations, computers now exist in the majority of both home and educational environments. During this time period, text messaging has evolved from a lingo used by a minority to a dialect used worldwide. As our society becomes more technologically saturated, it is important to understand the text making practices that constitute text messaging, as well as the cultural and educational impacts.

In my paper, I propose to first examine the various methods text messagers utilize when composing messages. These include: spelling variations, creative acronyms, abbreviations, and alternative grammar. Although it may seem like an unstructured form of communication, text messages actually follow rules and conventions, which I believe qualifies it as a dialect.

In addition to looking at the mechanics of text messaging, I will also look at the cultural impact, as well as implications in educational settings. Cell phones have become an integral part of everyday life in many countries, and text messaging is one of the preferred methods of communication among youths. The response in the media to texting lingo has been largely negative, as Carmen K. M. Lee notes in his article “Text-making practices beyond the classroom context: Private instant messaging in Hong Kong.” The response in regards to education has been mixed; some educators feel it sullies student’s academic writing, while others maintain that students can code-switch between text speak and scholarly language. Lee argues that some students have constructed methods of learning via online instant messaging through the use of code-mixing. As distance education becomes more commonplace, instant messaging may find a more secure footing in the academic realm. Therefore, it is important to understand the forces behind students’ composition process, as well as recognizing the validity of text practices.

Response to 4/14 readings

Taking Control of the Page: Electronic Writing and Word Publishing
Patricia Sullivan

As it was written in 1991, Patricia Sullivan’s chapter “Taking Control of the Page: Electronic Writing and Word Publishing” provides a glimpse into early reactions and expectations in regards to technology and writing. I absolutely love articles like this, especially when they foresee developments, as Sullivan does.

Sullivan asks, “What will happen in the 90s as the gap between the manuscript and the printed page closes in new and interesting ways?” (Sullivan 44) From our vantage point of over a decade later, we can answer that question, and ascertain whether or not Sullivan predictions are correct.

One aspect of Sullivan’s article that I found both insightful and ahead of its time was her implorations for composition instructors and researchers to integrate computers into their writing studies and pedagogies. We tend to take the presence of computers for granted in our technology satiated society, but this was written in a time when many people viewed computers with fear or mistrust.

Sullivan notes that "[w]riting theories, by and large, have not embraced the computer and woven it into their conception of writing and its teaching." (45) Luckily the majority of universities presently have classes (such as Technical Writing) that do weave writing and computers together; I am sure that a large amount of this is due to the efforts of scholars such as Sullivan.

Throughout her essay, Sullivan integrates composition theory with burgeoning technologies. Her sections on visual aesthetics in electronically composed documents are still relevant, as are her observations on pictures and photographs taking a more active role in persuasive arguments in text.



The politics of the program: ms word as the invisible grammarian
Tim McGee and Patricia Ericsson

Based on the title and subject matter, I really thought I was going to enjoy this article. However, McGee and Ericsson’s condescending attitudes towards technology and computational linguistics really irritated and angered me.

I do agree with many points McGee and Ericsson bring up, such as MS Word’s ubiquity making it an omnipresent grammar instructor, and the fact that many aspects of its programming are flawed. However, I think they belittle computational linguists, many of whom have had years of linguistic and writing courses before focusing on programming.

There was one quote in particular that made me question the research put into the technological and societal aspects of this piece. “Although some users may have doubts about artificial intelligence after seeing the Spielberg/Kubrick film, AI, the intelligence built into the MSGC isn’t nearly as ominous as that in the movie, but does lend another invisible force to the program.” (McGee and Ericsson 462) Ominous? What the hell are they talking about? Have they even seen this film? Humanity is the villain in this case, not artificial intelligence. A more apt movie to name would be 2001: A Space Odyssey; perhaps the authors feared such a reference would date them, and imply they were technophobic old people. Or maybe they just did a google search for “ai and film”, and AI was the obvious result.



The Internet-Based Composition Classroom: A Study in Pedagogy
Leslie D. Harris and Cynthia A. Wambeam

This article was amazing, reading it brought me back to when I was twelve, and the internet seemed immense, and full of many incredible opportunities. Leslie D. Harris and Cynthia A. Wambeam strike me as way ahead of their time, many of the ideas they implemented in their classroom have appeared in online classrooms such as WebCT.

In regards to them using MOOs as online classrooms, I thought that was fantastic. When I was ten, my brother introduced me to MUDs and MOOs. I loved the vividly described rooms and environments, the sense of actually moving around in a physical location, and of course, the social interaction. Although the MUDs I partook in were all games, they still taught me a lot about programming, typing, social interactions in a non-verbal environment and processing text.

I would be interested to see how the authors would react to an application such as Second Life. Although I have played many MMORPGs (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games), I had avoided Second Life because I associated it with fetishists (I won’t go into detail here, but I might mention some of them in class.) After reading this article, I logged onto a couple MUDs that I had characters on, as well as LAMBDA MOO. Sadly there are not that many users on anymore, I believe that many instead log onto MMORPGs or Second Life.

In regards to the article, I loved the fact that students were more interested in writing as a result of their interactions. I also enjoyed the addition of guest speakers, and other opportunities that a brick and mortar classroom would not be afforded. This article has made me rethink my opinion of Second Life, I am currently looking at pedagogy research in regards to this environment as an online classroom.

Undistributing Work Through Writing: How Technical Writers Manage Texts in Complex Information Environments
Shaun Slattery

In this article, researcher Shaun Slattery explores and describes the various methods technical writers use to complete projects. These projects use information garnered from various sources; the article highlights the complexity and variety of techniques employed.

Many of the techniques mentioned in this article reminded me of the assemblage essay we read last week. Tech writers often use multiple sources (many of which were created for completely different motives), and must manipulate the information into a coherent form.

I thought the amount of messages and text generated in regards to these project was incredible, fifteen years ago we would have been unable to send constant notifications and updates. My favorite part of this article was the humorous anecdote regarding an item that everyone involved in the project should have been knowledgeable about. Instead, they cannot agree on the simplest of facts, such as the number of cables contained in the box. This really highlighted the hazards of using multiple authors, much like the game of telephone, vital original information may be obscured or lost.

Here comes McCain again

This video was thoughtfully put up by the user "mccaineatsdick". I'm not sure how long it will last on YouTube, given the amount of time the previous one was up. The last minute or so is the best part; it features a ghostly McCain apparition floating around.

More fun from the McCain Girls

Videos made in response to "haters" have a long and venerable history on media sharing websites such as YouTube. These videos are typically created by the original poster as a reaction to negative comments and feedback on a particular video. Some common features include: frequent use of obscenities, questioning why the "haters" are wasting their time posting comments, asserting that said comments have not affected or upset the original poster at all, and on occasion threats.




Here is a "response to haters" video from one of the McCain girls!


I had intended to post the newest McCain girls video, "Here Comes McCain Again", which is set to the tune of (you guessed it) "Here Comes the Rain Again", but it has been removed due to copyright violations! Luckily I had a chance to watch it before it was removed; it was just as good as the last McCain girls video. So instead I will post McCain's reaction to the McCain girls:

Response to 4/7 Readings

This is the spoof trailer referred to in "Plagiarism, originality, assemblage."

“Plagiarism, originality, assemblage”
Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Stuart A. Selber

In their article Eilol and Selber fight for a change in attitude regarding what constitutes plagiarism, arguing that a new context should be defined. They begin their paper by discussing remixing and assemblage, and “the ways that composition might adopt remixing practices common in areas such as music and architecture.” (Eilola and Selber 376)

Eilol and Selber look at commonly held attitudes in the composition field concerning remixing. They believe that instructors look down upon papers that use too many quotes and outside material, which in turn may lead to students hiding their sources. The authors seek to “dispel the romantic image of the writer as a solitary genius.” (Ibid 378)

The anecdote regarding the 2006 CCCC convention made me laugh; I’m sure we’ve all noticed that the same plagiarism warning gets reused year after year. These were used as examples of “ethical plagiarism”, and the presenter, John Porter, “argued for an ethical middle ground that promotes filesharing and fair use rather than surveillance and policing behaviors.” (Ibid 378)

I really enjoyed the section regarding electronic assemblage. I had actually seen (and laughed at) the video they reference. I have to admit, a good portion of scholarly articles dealing with the internet and new technology that I’ve come across while researching seem out of touch. This article was refreshing in that I actually believe the authors understand trends and practices on the internet. In other words, they didn’t sound like aging baby boomers trying desperately to stay relevant.

Another segment of this article that really interested me is the section pertaining to assemblage communities. I am a member of several of these on the internet, or at least I would consider them assemblage communities. Many news websites on the internet either never or rarely write their own news stories, instead they gather related stories from numerous sources.

I agree with Eilol and Selber’s methods and attitudes regarding assemblage, I think that the ability to integrate and synthesize material and information from numerous sources is essential to forming vital critical thinking skills. I also believe that given the ease of accessing information in today’s society, and the different social structure found on the internet, composition courses today need to evolve based on this.

Intertexuality and the Discourse Community
James E. Porter

When I started reading this, and noted the author’s name, I realized that it was the same author (or maybe someone with an identical name) referenced in “Plagiarism, originality, assemblage”, the one who had noted plagiarism is rampant in plagiarism warnings. So when I started reading this, I already liked the author.

Porter’s paper discusses the fact that all texts rely on previous texts, and indeed, that all text is interrelated in some way. As Porter puts it “[t]he traditional notion of the text as the single work of a given author, and even the very notions of author and reader, are regarded as simply convenient fictions for domesticating discourse.” (Porter 35)

Porter separates intertextuality into two types: iterability and presupposition. Iterability includes allusions, quotations, clichés and traditions. Presupposition is the conjectures that a text or author makes in regard to the readers.

The segment regarding “discourse communities” interested me, and I saw many new areas it could be applied to. Internet forums and blog communities came to mind immediately after I read this section. Internet forums have very specific (and often times unstated) rules of conduct that new users have to ascertain through trial and error. Older forums and communities often ignore “unqualified” new users, that is until they have established they possession the knowledge necessary to converse in that particular discourse community.

"The Writer's Audience Is Always a Fiction"
Walter J. Ong

I was happy to see we had another Ong article to read this week, I learned a lot from the assigned article last week. In "The Writer's Audience Is Always a Fiction", Ong addresses the common advice given to students, to write for their audience.

Much like in "Writing Is a Technology that Restructures Thought", Ong's article that we read last week, Ong shows his immense range of historical knowledge. As before, Ong spends a large portion of his essay looking at oral traditions, and chronicling the evolution of both written and spoken rhetoric.

Ong outlines the differences between writing and speaking, the foremost being that "[f]or the speaker, the audience is in front of him. For the writer, the audience is simply further away, in time or space or both." (Ong 57) He notes that often, success in writing is due to the writer’s ability to fictionalize his/her audience. I thought Ong’s section on Hemmingway’s writing style was relevant by outlining methods of creating a close relationship between reader and writer.

I wonder how Ong might revise his statement “[w]ritten or printed narrative is not two-way, at least in the short run. Readers reactions are remote and initially conjectural [..]” (Ong 66), given the blogs and message boards of today. Comments tend to be almost instantaneous, and authors can immediately revise their writings.

“Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind’”
Kenneth A. Bruffee

Bruffee discusses the effectiveness of using collaboration as a learning tool. He argues that it “engage[s] students more deeply with the text […]” (Bruffee 415). Bruffee discusses various methods of collaborative learning, and lists peer tutoring as one of the most effective methods.

One of the aspects of this article that I found applied to my current work at the writing center was the segment concerning mandated programs. Recently, the lab coordinator for the Biology 100 labs made it compulsory for all of the students in the labs to attend the writing center twice. Many of the students who are forced to attend have been unresponsive and rushed through the session. In addition to this (although it is unrelated to the topic at hand), we do not have the manpower to service all these students (over 250 students, attending twice, over the span of three weeks); many of them who are unable to make an appointment are bitter and facing a grade lowered by 30%.

Another area that Bruffee addresses is that of the academic communities. He maintains that collaborative learning teaches students the methods and practices they will need, should they enter academia, or a scientific community. I agree with this, as social discourse and appropriate interactions are a vital part of the community.



Consensus and Difference in Collaborative Learning
John Trimbur


Although I found this article somewhat verbose, it definitely does a great job summarizing both conflicting and agreeing schools of though in collaboration. Trimbur investigates two schools of thought regarding consensus in collaboration: those who argue it is dangerous (and fascist apparently?), and those who believe it produces and validates knowledge.

One aspect of Trimbur’s argument that I agree with is that of “organizing students non-hierarchally so that all discursive roles are available to all the participants in a group […]” (Trimbur 476). Although I have yet to teach a class, as a student I have often seen domineering personalities in group exercises take control, all the while insisting that only they have the correct answer or viewpoint.

Response to 3/31 readings

“Writing Is a Technology that Restructures Thought.”
Walter S.J. Ong

I really enjoyed this article, especially the section pertaining to oral traditions. Ong’s paper has numerous ideas that are new to me; I look forward to discussing them in class.

Ong maintains that writing is immensely more complex than the mechanical skill many people make it out to be. As Ongs says “[t]he fact that we do not commonly feel the influence of writing on our thoughts shows that we have interiorized the technology of writing so deeply that without tremendous effort we cannot separate it from ourselves or even recognize its presence and influence.” (Ong 19) Ong follows this significant statement by giving examples and historical situations.

In his section discussing oral tradition, Ong surprised me with his extensive knowledge of mnemonic techniques in oral epics. After giving historically relevant data, Ong goes on to describe situations in which writing separates and divides. Among them are: logic and rhetoric, dialect from standard language, the past from the present, and academic learning from “wisdom." This last reason echoes the “gatekeeper” mentality we have read so much about.

I found Ong’s section on print and electronic relevant to my interests, as well as insightful. Ong contrasts the act of writing with the complex processes a computer undertakes even when performing a seemingly simple action. It is unfortunate that Ong ends his paper before fully exploring how the effects of electronic composition varies from those of writing. He hints at the distance imposed by computers, and the possible impact on the human thought process.

“A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing”
Linda Flower and John Hayes

In their essay, “A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing”, Flower and Hayes seek to tear down the commonly held theory that “composing process as a series of decisions and choices” (Flower 273). Flower and Hayes attempt to construct their own model; one not based on stages, but instead a process model.

Using “thinking outloud protocol,” Flower and Hayes attempt to scrutinize the methods writer use when approaching a task. Given that this essay was written in 1981, I can’t help but wonder what changes or improvements computers and technology has contributed to these types of research. Would a writer’s typed “thoughts” be as accurate as those spoken out loud? Does the act of typing rather than speaking cause self editing?

Flower and Hayes present their model as a “tool for researchers to think with” (Flower 284). I would be interested to read more studies using this tool, especially current studies.

Although I feel that Flower and Hayes certainly outline and describe their model in great depth, I’m still not convinced of its usefulness. Before I make my decision, I would like to see more evidence supporting “thinking outloud protocol” as a genuine representation of thought.


"Cognition, Convention, and Certainty: What We Need to Know about Writing."
Patricia Bizzel

Patricia Bizzel investigates the link between writing problems and thinking problems, and argues that a writing problem is a thinking problem. Bizzel looks at how composition specialists regard both writing problems and composition itself. She separates these specialists into two camps, inner and outer-directed theorists.

According to Bizzel, inner-directed theorists believe that there are writing processes “that are so fundamental as to be universal” (Bizzel 389) It would appear that this school of thought shares a lot with Chomsky’s linguistic theories of universal grammar. Inner-directed theorists also hope to isolate these processes in a context devoid of societal influences.

On the other hand, outer-directed theorists do not believe that these structures “can never occur free of a social context that conditions them” (Bizzel 390). Although I tend to agree to some extent with both of these schools of though, I think that Bizzel is correct when she draws from both theories; her ability to integrate these two seemingly incongruous theories is impressive. Bizzel's model strikes me as more accurate than the Flower/Hayes model, I am interested in what everyone else thinks about it.

"Distributed Cognition at Work"
Patrick Dias, et al

According to Dias, et al, distributed cognition is the intellectual interaction between numerous people; more specifically, the fact that "people appear to think conjunction or partnership with others and with the help of culturally provided tools and implements" (Dias 136).

Dias, et al, provides an example in the form of the Bank of Canada. One aspect of this paper I found interesting was the different distributions of intellectual contributions. In some hierarchical situations, such as school, the contribution is skewered, yet in the workplace it is not.

I found this article insulting in its implication for universities. According to Dias, et al, a university's goal is to prepare students for "real" jobs. Their assertions that demand should skewer writing also irritated me.