BE: Composing the Digital Self

We covered a number of items during last Thursday’s class discussion that spoke directly to your writing. I thought I’d post a number of them here as a reminder and as an assistance to those working to improve their writing. Here are some of the highlights:

• PROOFREAD by reading aloud. Many errors left on a page can be found by the writing when the “distance” created with voice is added.
• CAPITALIZATION can be a problem for those of us writing in an age of IM. Check sentences (of course) for a capital letter at the start, and check names of people groups in particular.
• ONLINE: Insert an image on the front page of your Blogger writing space, edit any links there that still read “edit me,” add an email link to the front page of your Blogger writing space, and, when composing your post, incorporate links to external sources as part of the text.
• PARAGRAPHING = “doing your laundry”
• HARVARD COMMA is still standard: __________, _________, and _________ .
• TITLES: Underline (italicize) all titles unless the title is “inside” an already titled work – then use quotes: the title of the CD is underlined, but the title of the song is in quotes; the title of the book is underlined, but the title of the chapter is in quotes; or, the title of the conference is underlined, but the title of a particular presentation is placed in quotes. Gettit?
• APPOSITIVES: … a new word for you? The word doesn’t matter as much as the function in writing. It works like this: I had a date with Harry, the rat-fink, and it stood me up once again. Or… The State of the Union Address, President Bush’s sixth, left the majority of Americans with a large number of questions. … The “rule” directs along these lines: when a noun or noun phrase is place as an explanatory equivalent (a restated equal), the restated noun or noun phrase is set off by commas. See how it goes?

I’ll try to put notes up here from time to time that will help you in composing your “lists of ten.” Be watching for updates.

technorati tags: Purdue English 106, list of ten

I have just finished reading through weekend writing on the class blogs, and I’ve enjoyed the variety of ideas found among us about which we wrote: color, grammar, choices, and more.  Let me make note, however, that I have seen little or no address made of the reading missed in class discussion last Thursday.  Topics addressed in “The Read-Write Web” about which you might write include: the distinction between one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many modes of communication;the variety of devices and services available for composing ourselves in the 21st century; and, the rate of change taking place, noting, for example, types of functionality that may have become available since the article was written in 2003. 

Note, too, that the email sent last Friday included an assignment for updating your Blogger writing space by thoroughly completing your profile do as to include an image, compose an intentionally written “about me” section, and edit links in such a way as to include an “email me” link on the front page as well as replacing/removing links that currently read “Google news” or “edit me.”   Many have overlooked Friday’s email; I encourage a return for another read and attention given there. 

My English 106 course sequence at Purdue has basically one standing assignment: improve your writing skills.  You’ll have many opportunities each week to address yourself to that work; my expectation is to see you do so at least three or four times a week.  Let one of those times this week be a response to last Thursday’s writing.  I’ll check again for that by 9:00 p.m. on Monday night.

In the meantime, any response to the discussion about a use of color in composition?  

We talked briefly on Thursday about the rhetorical value of color in the work of composing a message. Think of “rhetoric” as the many intentional choices of presentation (word, image, sound, and others) we make to shape a message in such a way as to get maximun “control” over the meaning it carries and the response it will receive. As we begin to see how far the notion of “text” and “message” can reach (for example, self as “text”), the attention given to a more purposeful use of rhetoric can begin to make more sense.  

Follow this link to Claudia Cortes’s work on color for a look at the meanings with which color invests inself – the meanings at play when color contibutes to the message.

Then, for those with an interest in seeing color “put to work” in fashion, you might enjoy this Cathy Horyn (NYTimes) report on the latest of Paris fashion, “Haute Couture 2006.” How does color contribute here to the composition of message/meaning?

technorati tags: Purdue English 106, rhetoric and color

We’re been thinking about ways in which the digital 21st century is writing our lives, and here’s one more: PodDating – the next generation of online dating now in video.  Now you can subscribe to feeds and sync your iPod for automatic updates on singles in your area.  

There are just about 300 million people in the United States: sales for iPod are approaching 42 million.  The promotional materials for PodDating offer the service as a time-saving, relationship management tool. I post mention of it here as yet another example of the emerging digital landscape.

For those of you who tried your hand at reorganizing the sentences of a paragraph given with its sentence order in confusion, here is that paragraph with the sentences set in order as the authors arranged them. Leave a comment, and let me know how you did!

paragraph corrected to order as published:

In an article describing the preparation of a dictionary for schoolchildren, Alma Graham recounts the imbalance discovered in schoolbooks in all subjects in use in the early 1970’s. In general, the pronouns he, him, and his outnumber she, her, and hers by a ratio of four to one. Not only are women put off, they are also put down, numerically and otherwise. In the real world, women slightly outnumber men. The numbers alone tell us a lot: men outnumber women seven to one, boys outnumber girls two to one; girls are even in the minority in home economics books, where masculine pronouns outnumber feminine ones two to one. But the world created for American schoolchildren presents a different picture. A computer analysis of five million words in context revealed many subtle and not-so-subtle clues to the status of women in American society.

Frank, Francine, and Frank Ashen. “Of Girls and Chicks.” Argument. Ed. Christy Desmet, Kathy Houff Speak, and Deborah Church Miller. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2005. 27,28.

We’ve discussed Creative Commons, OurMedia, and the issues of ownership: Take Back TV is another effort moving in the direction of reclaiming the culture. You may find the list of artists currently participating with the effort to be of particular interest. It’s like Lessig says: these efforts aren’t about taking down the notion of “property” or “ownership” as much as they are an effort to navigate the changing currents of the day in directing the focus of the law to protect a nation’s heritage as well as a nation’s future. Take a look at Take Back TV here, and if you have an interest in seeing the concert mentioned on their front page, you can get a direct link from JAVA here.

technorati tags:

PurdueEnglish106, free culture

We’re opening the second half of the semester with a focus on Podcasting, creating content, and the issues surrounding shared culture.  We’re getting a lot of help from many “friends” across the Blogosphere.  Here (via Hillary at Podcrawl) is Roger Smalls in an informative and fun listen about podcasting “on the cheap.”  Don’t miss it for the tips or the laughter.  And check out some of the other locations I’ve bookmarked in de.licio.us to point you in the direction of improved publishing with this emerging form of composition.

David Weinberger sits on the Board of Directors for Technorati and was recently invited to speak with the National Public Radio folks about “Tagging” as a new way of organizing our sense of being human. The piece is about 3 minutes long and makes a nice follow up to conversations we’ve had in class. Here’s the link.

technorati tags:
PurdueEnglish106, tagging

FYI … Friday, September 16 is Constitution Day at Purdue University. There will be exhibits and activities throughout the day (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) in Stewart Center, room 314. At 1:30 there’ll be a “Celebrity QuizOff” to test knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Prizes will be given away throughout the day and refreshments are being provided as well.

Strolling between classes? Stop by.

technorati tags: PurdueEnglish106, ConstitutionDay

The joint is jumpin’! Google has launched their new (beta) Google blog search engine. If you haven’t already heard, you need to expand your blogroll. This is news!! Give it a try.

Over at Technorati Dave Sifley is joining in on the celebration, basking in the flood of affirmation it is to have Google finally come on board in acknowledging (as this move certainly does) that blogs are future of internet. Sifley posts in cautionary notes, however, and the links he provides give you a handle on what “Beta” on Google’s new blog search move is all about. Enjoy the Google celebration – the more the better when it comes to shining a light on the many-to-many network, but for keeping a finger on the pulse of the blogosphere, turn to Technorati.

technorati tags: PurdueEnglish106, BlogSearching