10/28/13

Kohl

"Besides the generally perceived new possibilities of searching (and finding) as well as the distribution of information, the World Wide Web (WWW) opens new possibilities for the construction of knowledge (166)". I agree with this quote that with the internet and the advancement of technology the way we learn and the possibilities in which we gain new information has completely been revolutionized. We no longer need to stand over an encyclopedia and flip through the pages to find information on a word/idea.

We now put the word in google and find hundreds of thousands of articles, many peer reviewed and many are not, on this concept. New information is now in the palm of our hand, but having this information so readily available can definitely make it less credible. Now, we needs to hone in on the skill of being able to separate (essentially) bullshit from actual correct and legitimate information. Whereas years ago, students and other people never really needed to do that, nor did they have a means to.

Society appreciates interactive programs and that is what makes Wiki systems successful. Everyone is allowed to participate in this simple program. It provides people a way to be an active learner and teacher, too. Wiki systems provide a history of a continued, unfinished learning continuum like no other encyclopedia forum before.

Johnson-Eilola

The problem with Wiki systems is found in the first paragraph of this piece. We are comfortable with an unreliable narrative. By using Wikipedia, we are not sure what we are going to get, but yet we use it anyway. Johnson-Eilola goes further to say "we're at ease with Postmodernism." I, for one, am certainly not at ease with this, but I do think that is an accurate generalization.

Meaning is nothing without connection. We wouldn't know what anything meant if someone showed it to us 200 years ago. We would have to be taught, for example, that a pen is something you use on paper to write with. We would then have to be taught what paper is, and how it is made. I definitely agree that contemporary intellectual property law is catching up to postmodernism. A few years ago, my parents and I were at a flea market in DC and my dad took a picture of a booth in which a vender had cool photos in frames. The vender proceeded to freak out at my dad for taking the photos, yelling about my dad about not knowing/respecting the importance of intellectual property. Well, turns out (my Dad knew this) the photos were not even originally his. They were famous photos that he had just reprinted. Clearly, the spirit of IP had been tattered.

Infographic

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9W7Sk_kutMNVVuQjBDTGFQQkk/edit?usp=sharing

10-14

Kress

With Kress’ opening question, as I read the first page of this article, I came with the understanding and belief that genre is a category that applies to all forms of representation and communication. Before reading this article, genre has always been an ‘umbrella’ term. My goal by the end of this article is to be able to decide if genre should be a term used for areas other than linguistic subjects.

I agree that distortions can be caused when terms that are mode-specific be transported into different fields. You lose the origin of the theory when it is used in different fields that can be vastly different. By using the term, ‘genre’ in other fields, are we assuming that these other subjects have linguistic undertones or origins? For example, with photography, don’t we take photos to tell a story that the written word cannot in the same light?

If Genre is a category which realizes the social relations of the participants involved in the text as interaction, than surely we can use the term genre to cover an array of modes because each mode that uses genre has in some way, social relations.

 Bernhardt

I work part-time at a law firm, so when Bernhardt states “Legal writing also displays a “tendency to make more and more use of layout and other graphitic and grapholigical devices as a means of revealing structure, content, and logical progression.” I definitely agree with this, as most of my job is consumed of typing out briefs and other legal documents. My boss is a stickler to keeping a format in which there is a lot of paragraph breaks. Every few sentences I make a new paragraph, and after having this job for over three years, this rule has crept into my classroom writing.

For me, I now like writing with a paragraph break every 3-4 sentences. I think it is clear, and encouraging to read, rather than getting muddled in a huge paragraph with little awareness of what you are reading or the significance of it. When a lawyer spends a week on one, 40-page brief for example, they really want the judge and counsel to read every word of the brief. By breaking it up into small paragraphs, it is a way in which to not make it too overwhelming or visually too intense so that everyone reads every single word.

Wysocki

Wysocki states that “visual arrangements do some of the work of the genre.” I agree with this, because usually the visual element of the work is what can set it apart from another work. For example, it probably takes less than 5 seconds for our brains to distinguish a comic strip from a research paper, an advertisement to a news story, etc. So much study and analyzing goes in to the many facets of lay out; font size, font type, organization of page, etc. 

I would argue we are becoming a more appearance-obsessed society and that goes a lot farther than people and places. Teams of people are in charge of designing apps, blogs, online stores, social media layouts, etc. and the appearance of those things is of high importance to us. How this came to be I am not sure, but a well-thought out, visually stimulating presence is what can make or break your online persona, and thus, your persona as a whole (as sad and scary as that is). 

10/7

This piece makes me question what the real definition of observation. If many early philosophers had a problem with the microscope as a way to observe, than surely we must look closer at what observation really means. To me, there has to be a point in which two people look at something and see the exact same thing. For example, if a book is on the table, and nothing else. Two people should be able to say exactly that. However, images are often the way we identify so many things in our lives, yet if we observe them incorrectly from day one, we are often unable to thing of them any differently. My example for this is a traditional world map. There is distortion involved when looking and creating a 2D map. Whether they are emphasizing or exaggerating certain areas or landscapes we are manipulated in believing areas to look how they are in the map, size-wise and in location to other areas. Here is a good article on whether maps create or represent reality:

http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ucmaps.htm

When we think of science, pictures/illustrations might not come to mind. Often I think of data, charts, and hypotheses. However, when thinking back to my geology 101 text book, I remember a lot of illustrations, at least one per page. As McLuhan says, “The art of making pictorial statements in a precise and repeatable form is one that has long been taken granted for in the West.” Without these things, modern science and technology wouldn’t exist. We as a society are lucky we can rely on images to more simply and easily understand often complex issues. However, the way we perceive plate tectonics for example, is based on the images we have seen in textbooks. These pictures are turned into an artistic image that are not exactly natural. With that, students should understand that, but know that with every different image, plate tectonics will appear different, even if it is just by a little bit. 

AV Project............................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8RYxxx28c0