“gains and losses”

Kress outlines his multimodal theory, tracing the differences between a web page and a book. For him, these two forms are representative of a modal shift, one informed by economic, ethical, and political positions. He points to two central assumptions: Communication is always multimodal Modes provide specific limitations for communication (see: Alexander and Rhodes) Mode:… Continue reading “gains and losses”

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writing new media

Wysocki -> “Opening New Media to Writing” The need, in writing about new media in general, for the material thinking of people who teach writing New media needs to be informed by what writing teachers know; new media needs to be opened to writing A need to focus on the specific materiality of texts we… Continue reading writing new media

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on multimodality: new media in composition studies

Alexander and Rhodes argue that by adopting multimodality – by including multimodality and new technologies – the field norms those technologies and has flattened the nuances of multimodality. Namely – for the sake of clarity and modularity – the field calls everything writing, disregarding the specific affordances, constraints, logics, and histories of modes. Further, the… Continue reading on multimodality: new media in composition studies

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the available means of persuasion

The authors argue that we have not fully realized the full potential of multimodal public rhetoric, and realizing that potential brings up a handful of issues: What should teachers teach? As an example case study, the authors consider 3D printers, questioning whether or not composition and rhetoric should take up 3D printing as a possible… Continue reading the available means of persuasion

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“digital rhetoric and the digital arts”

“digital rhetoric and the digital arts” Lanham argues that digital texts fulfill the expressive agenda of postmodernism and classical rhetoric better than print. Namely, that electronic texts make the expressive surface opaque, refashioning the word into an icon/word interaction (read: verbal and visual interaction) indicative of oral culture. Computers are logic machines o   “This oscillation… Continue reading “digital rhetoric and the digital arts”

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“the movement of air, the breath of meaning: aurality and multimodal composing”

Selfe notes that multimodality challenges the tendency of composition studies to focus on access and electronic composing environments (Faigley). Selfe goes onto suggest that students care about their “sonic environments” (read: orality). But when confronted with a context that prescribes to the primacy of text (like the college classroom), there is silence. Selfe notes that… Continue reading “the movement of air, the breath of meaning: aurality and multimodal composing”

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“politics of the interface”

In contrast with Faigley who argues that computer systems provide for the enactment of postmodernism, Selfe and Selfe identify the computer interface as a site for the reification of boundaries. They express this idea through the concept of a cultural map: a representation of a computer system, a kind of cultural information, through a “coherent… Continue reading “politics of the interface”

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“why technology matters to writing”

Assuming that technology matters to writing, Porter teases out the varying ways that technology matters by considering the role of particular technologies, the habits and attitudes surrounding a particular technology, and the context of learning and use. Handwriting: Porter traces the ways that he was taught handwriting, and how those kinds of handwriting instruction shaped… Continue reading “why technology matters to writing”

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the new work of composition

The New Work of Composing Forward – K. Hayles This book teases out the ways that “the work of composing must be entirely rethought in the digital domain.” The re-imagining of composition includes: how we think about books; the function and status of digital works in the academy; the value of experimental scholarship; whether or… Continue reading the new work of composition

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on the blunt edge

Borrowman’s collection explores the relationship between pre-PC technologies and writing instruction: “I offer the essays that follow as both introductions to the varied field that has come to be known as “technology studies” and as launching pads for futher study – study, in some cases, of technologies that came onto the cultural scene, flourished within… Continue reading on the blunt edge

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