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Journal Entry #1- The Office Steve Carell portrays Michael Gary Scott, in the show, The Office. Michael Scott is the Regional Manager of the company Dunder Mifflin Inc, and Michael Scott has multiple egos. Rainn Wilson plays Dwight Schrute and he plays the role of the office “weirdo”. Dwight Schrute is very successful and intelligent. John Krasinski plays as Jim Halpert who is a loveable jokester. He also has a love interest in the receptionist Pam Beesely (Jenna Fischer). Jim Halpert is not very good at his job and is known as the underachiever. Jenna Fischer plays as Pam Beesely. Pam Beesely is known as the attractive receptionist that all the men like. She also spends a lot of time with Jim Halpert. Leslie David Baker plays as Stanley Hudson on The Office. Stanley Hudson plays the role of the hardworking employee, but he does not get the credit he deserves. The general premise of the show is to display the different personalities of people as they clash in an office workplace. The location of the office is in Scranton, Pennsylvania and it depicts the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The purpose of the office is to show the everyday lives of office workers. Syllabus Quiz 1. You do not accept late work. You only accept if the student had prior approval or other serious circumstances. Sometiems documentation is needed for an assignment to be accepted late. 2. After you have responded to everyone’s paper, we will meet in conferences to talk about your feedback and our grade. 3. Peer workshops are peer groups that a formed and we revise our papers together. Our classmates help us to improve our papers. Also they help us to edit our papers. 4. There are three major assignments for the course. 5. All drafts, feedback, and notes are due at the same time as the revised assignment drafts. 6. The attendance policy is basically come to every class. We are allowed to miss three days of class without penalty. After the third absence, our final grade will drop ten points at the 4th absence, and another ten points at the 5 thabsence. If a student misses six classes they automatically fail the course. 7. Six absences will result in failure of the entire course. 8. The assigned reading will be posted on Moodle, and we must have a copy or electronic access of the reading in class. We will be expected to discuss it in class. Also, written annotations with bibliography information are due after each reading. 9. The best way to get caught up after missing class is to check Moodle for work and assignments.
10. You do not like reading quizzes, but if we are not prepared you will assign them.
The Office- Response the pilot episode 1. To my surprise, I actually liked the Pilot episode of The Office. I thought it was very funny, and Michael is a strange boss. While I was watching it I felt like I knew the characters personally. It stood out to me how close the office was and how fast news spread.
2. Many different things have importance to the show and to specific characters. Paper is a major object in the show. Dwight’s personal space is very special to him. Michael cherishes his “ World’s Best Boss” mug. Jello is a personal item that connects to Jim.
3. The major relationships I see forming are Dwight and Michael, Pam and Michael, Michael and Jim, and Jan and Michael. I also see the love relationship between Jim and Pam, and also the relationship between Roy and Pam. There is also a hate relationship between Dwight and Jim.
4. The show portrays the office as a small place. Also the office is a very humorous environment. News is spread very fast around the office, and everyone seems to get along. Certain characters such as Michael, Jan, and Dwight have higher powers than others and it is shown in some cases. “Theorizing The Space For Literacy Practices” HW Response 1. The authors define actor as someone who expresses various identities and they also do different actions. Actors do different actions and identities based on how they are perceived in a group. Artifacts are defined as social products of human activity, and they can become tools used in the processes of cultural production. Figured Worlds are defined as being populated by a set of acts who engage in a limited range of meaningful acts in a particular situation. 2. Bartlett and Holland define a literacy practice as a way of thinking about
something that can be accepted by our society. Literacy can count as anything that can teach a person something, and they can apply it to real life. Many people have different interpretations of literacy. 3. Figured worlds contain both artifacts and actors. Figured worlds are populated by a set of acts who engage in state changes or actions in a particular situation. Also, in figured worlds people use artifacts to act out things, and some artifacts symbolize different things in figured worlds. 4. How do discourse communities and figured worlds relate? How can a person measure another person's sense of literacy if everyone is different? Do all artifacts have importance in figured worlds? Barlett and Holland HW Response 1. I believe Bartlett and Holland describe discourse communities in terms of actors, figured worlds, and artifacts because those words make up discourse communities. Also, they can easily describe one, and they are essential in discourse communities. Discourse communities are defined as a group of people with a common goal or interest that adopt certain ways to communicate. Actors act out a certain role and they play a crucial part to figured worlds and discourse communities. Artifacts are social products of human activity that make it possible for actors to act out their roles. Figured worlds are a place where actors act and they are culture and social aspects of a community. These words make up a discourse community.
2. A discourse community from The Office would be the “jokesters”. The jokesters consist of Jim, Michael, and Dwight. The artifacts would be Jello, Michael’s mug, Dwight’s personal space and pepper spray. Also, Michael’s personal relationship with Dwight and Jim is an artifact. The figured world would be their office, and they have found a way to communicate through pranking and joking.
3. Is Brazil similar to any other countries relating their culture? Why was this research done, and what did it need to prove? Can discourse communities and figured worlds be found anywhere? Assignment 1: Summary- Student Union The figured world my group intends to observe is the circle in the Campus
Student Union. The purpose of the Student Union is to be a place for students to do many activities. Students go to the circle in the Student Union to do homework, eat, talk to friends, relax, or even talk to their professors. Many different crowds frequent the circle in the student union. We may see classes, friends, or even families’ of students. Many different activities can be going on at the same time. A student organization might be doing an activity in the Student Union while students or studying for a test. There are not many rules in the Student Union. People can do what they please as long as it does not become a big disruption. Many different activities are acceptable like studying, talking, eating, and sometimes break dancing. The forms of communication that are mostly used are texting and talking. It is expected for the Student Union to be loud. It would be rare for the Student Union to be super quiet. Inappropriate behaviors would be yelling or obscene behavior. The different discourse communities that we might see are a group of students, staff, students and professors, student organizations, and Greek organizations.
Homework Response to Workshop Preparation I took English 1101 last semester, and we did many workshops. Every time I wrote a paper I had to workshop. I have received very positive feedback while workshopping. I like to workshop because you get chances to make your paper better. Also, you can help your peers make their work better. In the workshopping process you are working to edit and revise your paper. Editing is very different from revision. Editing often means to check for grammar and look over a paper for grammatical errors and other errors. And revision means to change your paper. The revision process should be one of the last processes in workshopping. I think it is necessary to edit and revise a paper. By, editing and revising a paper a writer can change their mistakes and make the paper better. The only concerns I have about peer workshopping are that I will not know what to say to my peers. Often during workshopping I do not know how to critique my peer’s writing. I find it challenging to critique other people’s work because I do not want to be too harsh. Straub explains to write full statement comments instead of writing short brief comments by writing long comments on your peer's paper you can go back and talk about it later with them. (Straub, R. (1999). RespondingReally Responding-to Other Students' Writing. The Subject is Writing, 2, 140) And also, Straub challenges the reader to write as much praise as Criticism. (Straub, R. (1999). Responding-Really Responding-to Other Students' Writing. The Subject is Writing, 2, 141) I can do both of the suggestions that Straub mentions in the article. During workshops in class I will write the same amount of Criticism and praise, and I will write long comments I can expand on later. Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices- Annotation
In the article, “Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices” Lesley Bartlett and Dorothy Holland explore different literacy studies and practices and how they are formed. They use different concepts trying to explain literacy studies. Bartlett discusses her findings while conducting a study in Brazil. She relates their practices and traditions to the idea of literacy practices defined earlier. In Brazil, there are two kinds of “educated” people. The first are educated in books and knowledge, while the others are educated in manners. This is a different idea of education that many people would not think of. These manners include speaking correctly, manners of eating, and one’s overall presence of self. Due to the fact that Brazil is a different culture, it is normal that they possess these different views of what it means to be educated. However, there also exists a tendency to look down upon those who are not as educated as a particular individual, this is known as “literacy shaming” and exists in every culture. Even in the USA, the idea of literacy shaming is prevalent, people of lower education, and even lower class are both shamed and blamed for being below the social “norm”. Bordieu's social practice theory investigates the ways in which social environments shape actors and practices. In his theoretical frame, Bordieu highlights the concept of habitus. Habitus is a result of one's disposition because of previous interactions within social structures. The theory declares us to analyze literary events from a historical perspective, and consider the social forces that have molded one's action in a particular situation. However, Bordieu's theory also fails to examine the significance artifacts created by culture, and the authority these artifacts have in altering habitus. A figured world is viewed as a “realm of interpretations” that is tainted by society and culture, with the contribution of actors and characters that partake in momentous acts. Actors are also utilized with the help of artifacts that symbolize a more significant situation. Artifacts can pose as an actual physical object or an idea or aspect. Artifacts are products of human action, and as a result may become the essential instruments in the procedure of cultural manufacturing. Artifacts are then used to signify a figured world, and are detrimental to the creating and remaking of actors. A member of the cultural historical schooled imposed a new way of envisioning actors and artifacts by infusing the two. This new vision suggests that an actor’s frequent use of an artifact can cause the practice to become “fossilized”.
Bartlett, L. and Holland, D. (2002). Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices. In Ways of Knowing, (pp.10-22),2(1) Brighton: University of Brighton Bartlett, L. and Holland, D. (2002). Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices. In Ways of Knowing, (pp.10-22),2(1) Brighton: University of Brighton In the article, “Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices” Lesley Bartlett and Dorothy Holland explore different literacy studies and practices and how they are
formed. They use different concepts trying to explain literacy studies. Bartlett discusses her findings while conducting a study in Brazil. She relates their practices and traditions to the idea of literacy practices defined earlier. In Brazil, there are two kinds of “educated” people. The first are educated in books and knowledge, while the others are educated in manners. This is a different idea of education that many people would not think of. These manners include speaking correctly, manners of eating, and one’s overall presence of self. Due to the fact that Brazil is a different culture, it is normal that they possess these different views of what it means to be educated. However, there also exists a tendency to look down upon those who are not as educated as a particular individual, this is known as “literacy shaming” and exists in every culture. Even in the USA, the idea of literacy shaming is prevalent, people of lower education, and even lower class are both shamed and blamed for being below the social “norm”. Bordieu's social practice theory investigates the ways in which social environments shape actors and practices. In his theoretical frame, Bordieu highlights the concept of habitus. Habitus is a result of one's disposition because of previous interactions within social structures. The theory declares us to analyze literary events from a historical perspective, and consider the social forces that have molded one's action in a particular situation. However, Bordieu's theory also fails to examine the significance artifacts created by culture, and the authority these artifacts have in altering habitus. Bartlett and Holland seek to strengthen and specify the domain of literary practices by investigating artifacts and identities in the figured world of literacy. A figured world is viewed as a “realm of interpretations” that is tainted by society and culture, with the contribution of actors and characters that partake in momentous acts. Actors are also utilized with the help of artifacts that symbolize a more significant situation. Artifacts can pose as an actual physical object or an idea or aspect. Artifacts are products of human action, and as a result may become the essential instruments in the procedure of cultural manufacturing. Artifacts are then used to signify a figured world, and are detrimental to the creating and remaking of actors. A member of the cultural historical schooled imposed a new way of envisioning actors and artifacts by infusing the two. This new vision suggests that an actor’s frequent use of an artifact can cause the practice to become “fossilized”. Responding Really Responding to Other Student’s Writing Annotation In the writing, “Responding Really Responding to Other Student’s Writing”, Richard Straub illustrates to students effective ways to revise and edit their peer’s papers. The main focus of much of his work is on reading, evaluating, and responding to student writing. Straub takes a different approach in the introduction, and he points out what most students do wrong when they revise their peer’s paper. He proceeds to tell the readers that they should consider themselves to be a friendly reader. Straub tells the readers to constructively point out problems and areas for improvement. According to Straub the reader should point out problems, ask questions, offer advice, and think out loud with
the writer about their ideas. Richard Straub states that prior to reading their peer’s paper the student should make a mental checklist about the background of the writing. Straub recommends that the readers use marginal comments and not to sound like a judge or teacher while revising. He also expresses to the reader that they need to be very supportive even though they are correcting their peer’s work. Straub continues on to tell the readers to write full statements when commenting, and to explain their interpretations, problems, advice, and questions. Then Straub challenges the readers to write as many praise comments as criticisms. Straub put illustrations in his writing of the correct and incorrect ways to revising and commenting paper. The figures of the different comments help the reader to see what Straub was explaining in his writing. Homework Response to Gee The first thing that I noticed was the Trajectory Approach to reading. The Trajectory Approach is based on the child’s ability to handle every complex language in context areas as school moves on. I liked this approach to reading because it looks forwards and backwards. The second thing that stood out to me was when Gee stated that he believes textbooks should be replaced with texts more specially tied to activities and practice. I agree with Gee because I think it is pointless to read a text if activities and practices are not involved. On page 106, when Gee says that every child develops a perfectly complex and adequate oral language, and that is called the child’s “native language”. That statement stood out to me because I never knew that and I was intrigued by it. The forth thing that I noticed was the introduction of Informal SpecialistLanguage Lessons. These lessons involve teaching and cognitive learning and interactional moves in specialist domains. These lessons stand out to me because I think it is a very detailed approach to learning. The last thing that stood out to me was when Gee was talking about seven year olds and Yo-Gi-Oh cards. Also, this part of the text is starred, so I think it may be important. In his writing, Gee uses vocabulary and vivid images of the seven year olds playing with the cards, so that the reader understands. 1. What is the informal way of teaching? 2. What are the two underpinnings of a trajectory view of reading? 3. What is the phenomenon that all gamers are well aware of?
Gee Homework Response 1. On Page 114, Gee states that “game like” learning through digital technologies can facilitate situated understandings in the context of activity and experience grounded in perception. Also, when children can spell out information in situation-specific games, it helps them to learn better. It could harm their learning because if they do not read the manual, or they have not played the game before they will not know what to do. 2. On Page 105, Gee states that specialist varieties of language are critically and integrally tied to the workings of specialist domains and access to those domains is severely limited without such language and representational systems. . So specialist varieties of language are connected to literacy because it is the fore ground to literacy. Also Gee says, “ We cannot just move on to reading instruction of the decode and literally comprehend” sort as if it just doesn’t matter that these children have missed out on early specialist language learning. (109) 3. Gee identifies informal specialized- language lessons and practices built around lucidly functional language as the two underpinnings that Gee identifies of a trajectory view of reading. Another trajectory view of reading is situated understanding. Situated understandings are the norm in everyday life and in vernacular language. (113)
Possibilities and Restrictions to Assignment 2 Some ways in which we can go above the stated guidelines include: We have the freedom to choose whichever community we are interested in, we are not limited in selection of location. We can format the finalized assignment in any way we want, being creative and adding extra visuals or whatever we choose. We can add in a map similar to the one we did for Bartlett and Holland, to guide people through the steps of our assignment. Some constraints in this assignment include: We must observe three different times, and witness different groups of people. There has to be at least two interviews with two separate “actors”. There needs to be a summary beforehand stating the characteristics of the figured world and the conventions or rules. We have to add a reflection of the assignment as a whole, these needs to be at least 500 words long. A narrative is required as part of this assignment, and of course we are required to complete all this by the given due date. It is being valued to connect vocabulary used in previous assignments such as the Bartlett and Holland article and Gee’s article. It is also valued to go above and beyond the expectations of the assignment. Also, we have to connect ideas to this assignment to our portfolio. The forum posts we completed on Gee’s article
will help us to complete the assignment. Another value is going beyond academic restraints with our choice of figured world. In this way we will broaden our horizons and discover that we are involved in more than we thought. Assignment 2 Summary Draft The figured world I intend to observe is the Concord Mills Mall located in Concord, North Carolina. Concord Mills is a1.4-million-square-foot shopping mall, and it is one of the largest malls in North Carolina. Concord Mills has over 200 stores to shop in, and the stores range from retail outlets to specialty stores like a perfume store. I decided to observe this figure world because I love to shop. I think shopping is very therapeutic, and it is fun to do. Concord Mills is a busy place of business, and many different people frequent the mall everyday. From businessmen and women to families and even couples there are several different crowds that frequent the mall. Multiple activities such as shopping, eating, talking, and walking can take place at the mall. Also people can go to the spa, go a Nascar themed fun park arcade, and go to the movies. Concord Mills has a lot of activities that can keep people entertained. Appropriate behaviors in the mall can range from walking around to eating in the food court. People come to the mall to have a good time and relax. Acceptable behaviors would be to shop and browse different stores. A loud volume of noise would not be a distraction; it would be expected because Concord Mills is loud. In a mall, multiple people are having conversation, music is sometimes playing, and little children are running around. The forms of communication that are acceptable are talking, using a cellphone, or maybe signing in some cases. Inappropriate behaviors might be yelling, fighting, swearing, or being naked. I expect to see many different discourse communities such as families, business people, college students, high school students, children, and many others in Concord Mills Mall. Assignment 3 Response In assignment three you can go beyond the guidelines by designing your documentary however you want too. You can also pick any type of figured world of your choice. This is a very good assignment to show your creative side to your peers and teachers. The constraints with this assignment are that it has to be 7-10 minutes. Then, you have to conduct an interview with one actor of that community. Also, you have to include vocabulary and phrases from the readings in classes and incorpate it in with our documentary. The reflection has to be done and it has to be 500 words. We also need to have 2 academic journals that relate to our figured world in our documentary, and we have to get them approved. Another constraint of this assignment is that we have to take a stand, and make a statement about the figured world we are observing and documenting.
Personal creativity is being valued in this assignment sheet. Also the assignment is asking us to connect our observation of this figured world to the readings we have done in the class. We have to include specific language from those readings into our documentary. Also going beyond the guidelines and not just doing something related to academics is being valued in this assignment.
10. You do not like reading quizzes, but if we are not prepared you will assign them.
The Office- Response the pilot episode 1. To my surprise, I actually liked the Pilot episode of The Office. I thought it was very funny, and Michael is a strange boss. While I was watching it I felt like I knew the characters personally. It stood out to me how close the office was and how fast news spread.
2. Many different things have importance to the show and to specific characters. Paper is a major object in the show. Dwight’s personal space is very special to him. Michael cherishes his “ World’s Best Boss” mug. Jello is a personal item that connects to Jim.
3. The major relationships I see forming are Dwight and Michael, Pam and Michael, Michael and Jim, and Jan and Michael. I also see the love relationship between Jim and Pam, and also the relationship between Roy and Pam. There is also a hate relationship between Dwight and Jim.
4. The show portrays the office as a small place. Also the office is a very humorous environment. News is spread very fast around the office, and everyone seems to get along. Certain characters such as Michael, Jan, and Dwight have higher powers than others and it is shown in some cases. “Theorizing The Space For Literacy Practices” HW Response 1. The authors define actor as someone who expresses various identities and they also do different actions. Actors do different actions and identities based on how they are perceived in a group. Artifacts are defined as social products of human activity, and they can become tools used in the processes of cultural production. Figured Worlds are defined as being populated by a set of acts who engage in a limited range of meaningful acts in a particular situation. 2. Bartlett and Holland define a literacy practice as a way of thinking about
something that can be accepted by our society. Literacy can count as anything that can teach a person something, and they can apply it to real life. Many people have different interpretations of literacy. 3. Figured worlds contain both artifacts and actors. Figured worlds are populated by a set of acts who engage in state changes or actions in a particular situation. Also, in figured worlds people use artifacts to act out things, and some artifacts symbolize different things in figured worlds. 4. How do discourse communities and figured worlds relate? How can a person measure another person's sense of literacy if everyone is different? Do all artifacts have importance in figured worlds? Barlett and Holland HW Response 1. I believe Bartlett and Holland describe discourse communities in terms of actors, figured worlds, and artifacts because those words make up discourse communities. Also, they can easily describe one, and they are essential in discourse communities. Discourse communities are defined as a group of people with a common goal or interest that adopt certain ways to communicate. Actors act out a certain role and they play a crucial part to figured worlds and discourse communities. Artifacts are social products of human activity that make it possible for actors to act out their roles. Figured worlds are a place where actors act and they are culture and social aspects of a community. These words make up a discourse community.
2. A discourse community from The Office would be the “jokesters”. The jokesters consist of Jim, Michael, and Dwight. The artifacts would be Jello, Michael’s mug, Dwight’s personal space and pepper spray. Also, Michael’s personal relationship with Dwight and Jim is an artifact. The figured world would be their office, and they have found a way to communicate through pranking and joking.
3. Is Brazil similar to any other countries relating their culture? Why was this research done, and what did it need to prove? Can discourse communities and figured worlds be found anywhere? Assignment 1: Summary- Student Union The figured world my group intends to observe is the circle in the Campus
Student Union. The purpose of the Student Union is to be a place for students to do many activities. Students go to the circle in the Student Union to do homework, eat, talk to friends, relax, or even talk to their professors. Many different crowds frequent the circle in the student union. We may see classes, friends, or even families’ of students. Many different activities can be going on at the same time. A student organization might be doing an activity in the Student Union while students or studying for a test. There are not many rules in the Student Union. People can do what they please as long as it does not become a big disruption. Many different activities are acceptable like studying, talking, eating, and sometimes break dancing. The forms of communication that are mostly used are texting and talking. It is expected for the Student Union to be loud. It would be rare for the Student Union to be super quiet. Inappropriate behaviors would be yelling or obscene behavior. The different discourse communities that we might see are a group of students, staff, students and professors, student organizations, and Greek organizations.
Homework Response to Workshop Preparation I took English 1101 last semester, and we did many workshops. Every time I wrote a paper I had to workshop. I have received very positive feedback while workshopping. I like to workshop because you get chances to make your paper better. Also, you can help your peers make their work better. In the workshopping process you are working to edit and revise your paper. Editing is very different from revision. Editing often means to check for grammar and look over a paper for grammatical errors and other errors. And revision means to change your paper. The revision process should be one of the last processes in workshopping. I think it is necessary to edit and revise a paper. By, editing and revising a paper a writer can change their mistakes and make the paper better. The only concerns I have about peer workshopping are that I will not know what to say to my peers. Often during workshopping I do not know how to critique my peer’s writing. I find it challenging to critique other people’s work because I do not want to be too harsh. Straub explains to write full statement comments instead of writing short brief comments by writing long comments on your peer's paper you can go back and talk about it later with them. (Straub, R. (1999). RespondingReally Responding-to Other Students' Writing. The Subject is Writing, 2, 140) And also, Straub challenges the reader to write as much praise as Criticism. (Straub, R. (1999). Responding-Really Responding-to Other Students' Writing. The Subject is Writing, 2, 141) I can do both of the suggestions that Straub mentions in the article. During workshops in class I will write the same amount of Criticism and praise, and I will write long comments I can expand on later. Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices- Annotation
In the article, “Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices” Lesley Bartlett and Dorothy Holland explore different literacy studies and practices and how they are formed. They use different concepts trying to explain literacy studies. Bartlett discusses her findings while conducting a study in Brazil. She relates their practices and traditions to the idea of literacy practices defined earlier. In Brazil, there are two kinds of “educated” people. The first are educated in books and knowledge, while the others are educated in manners. This is a different idea of education that many people would not think of. These manners include speaking correctly, manners of eating, and one’s overall presence of self. Due to the fact that Brazil is a different culture, it is normal that they possess these different views of what it means to be educated. However, there also exists a tendency to look down upon those who are not as educated as a particular individual, this is known as “literacy shaming” and exists in every culture. Even in the USA, the idea of literacy shaming is prevalent, people of lower education, and even lower class are both shamed and blamed for being below the social “norm”. Bordieu's social practice theory investigates the ways in which social environments shape actors and practices. In his theoretical frame, Bordieu highlights the concept of habitus. Habitus is a result of one's disposition because of previous interactions within social structures. The theory declares us to analyze literary events from a historical perspective, and consider the social forces that have molded one's action in a particular situation. However, Bordieu's theory also fails to examine the significance artifacts created by culture, and the authority these artifacts have in altering habitus. A figured world is viewed as a “realm of interpretations” that is tainted by society and culture, with the contribution of actors and characters that partake in momentous acts. Actors are also utilized with the help of artifacts that symbolize a more significant situation. Artifacts can pose as an actual physical object or an idea or aspect. Artifacts are products of human action, and as a result may become the essential instruments in the procedure of cultural manufacturing. Artifacts are then used to signify a figured world, and are detrimental to the creating and remaking of actors. A member of the cultural historical schooled imposed a new way of envisioning actors and artifacts by infusing the two. This new vision suggests that an actor’s frequent use of an artifact can cause the practice to become “fossilized”.
Bartlett, L. and Holland, D. (2002). Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices. In Ways of Knowing, (pp.10-22),2(1) Brighton: University of Brighton Bartlett, L. and Holland, D. (2002). Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices. In Ways of Knowing, (pp.10-22),2(1) Brighton: University of Brighton In the article, “Theorizing the Space of Literacy Practices” Lesley Bartlett and Dorothy Holland explore different literacy studies and practices and how they are
formed. They use different concepts trying to explain literacy studies. Bartlett discusses her findings while conducting a study in Brazil. She relates their practices and traditions to the idea of literacy practices defined earlier. In Brazil, there are two kinds of “educated” people. The first are educated in books and knowledge, while the others are educated in manners. This is a different idea of education that many people would not think of. These manners include speaking correctly, manners of eating, and one’s overall presence of self. Due to the fact that Brazil is a different culture, it is normal that they possess these different views of what it means to be educated. However, there also exists a tendency to look down upon those who are not as educated as a particular individual, this is known as “literacy shaming” and exists in every culture. Even in the USA, the idea of literacy shaming is prevalent, people of lower education, and even lower class are both shamed and blamed for being below the social “norm”. Bordieu's social practice theory investigates the ways in which social environments shape actors and practices. In his theoretical frame, Bordieu highlights the concept of habitus. Habitus is a result of one's disposition because of previous interactions within social structures. The theory declares us to analyze literary events from a historical perspective, and consider the social forces that have molded one's action in a particular situation. However, Bordieu's theory also fails to examine the significance artifacts created by culture, and the authority these artifacts have in altering habitus. Bartlett and Holland seek to strengthen and specify the domain of literary practices by investigating artifacts and identities in the figured world of literacy. A figured world is viewed as a “realm of interpretations” that is tainted by society and culture, with the contribution of actors and characters that partake in momentous acts. Actors are also utilized with the help of artifacts that symbolize a more significant situation. Artifacts can pose as an actual physical object or an idea or aspect. Artifacts are products of human action, and as a result may become the essential instruments in the procedure of cultural manufacturing. Artifacts are then used to signify a figured world, and are detrimental to the creating and remaking of actors. A member of the cultural historical schooled imposed a new way of envisioning actors and artifacts by infusing the two. This new vision suggests that an actor’s frequent use of an artifact can cause the practice to become “fossilized”. Responding Really Responding to Other Student’s Writing Annotation In the writing, “Responding Really Responding to Other Student’s Writing”, Richard Straub illustrates to students effective ways to revise and edit their peer’s papers. The main focus of much of his work is on reading, evaluating, and responding to student writing. Straub takes a different approach in the introduction, and he points out what most students do wrong when they revise their peer’s paper. He proceeds to tell the readers that they should consider themselves to be a friendly reader. Straub tells the readers to constructively point out problems and areas for improvement. According to Straub the reader should point out problems, ask questions, offer advice, and think out loud with
the writer about their ideas. Richard Straub states that prior to reading their peer’s paper the student should make a mental checklist about the background of the writing. Straub recommends that the readers use marginal comments and not to sound like a judge or teacher while revising. He also expresses to the reader that they need to be very supportive even though they are correcting their peer’s work. Straub continues on to tell the readers to write full statements when commenting, and to explain their interpretations, problems, advice, and questions. Then Straub challenges the readers to write as many praise comments as criticisms. Straub put illustrations in his writing of the correct and incorrect ways to revising and commenting paper. The figures of the different comments help the reader to see what Straub was explaining in his writing. Homework Response to Gee The first thing that I noticed was the Trajectory Approach to reading. The Trajectory Approach is based on the child’s ability to handle every complex language in context areas as school moves on. I liked this approach to reading because it looks forwards and backwards. The second thing that stood out to me was when Gee stated that he believes textbooks should be replaced with texts more specially tied to activities and practice. I agree with Gee because I think it is pointless to read a text if activities and practices are not involved. On page 106, when Gee says that every child develops a perfectly complex and adequate oral language, and that is called the child’s “native language”. That statement stood out to me because I never knew that and I was intrigued by it. The forth thing that I noticed was the introduction of Informal SpecialistLanguage Lessons. These lessons involve teaching and cognitive learning and interactional moves in specialist domains. These lessons stand out to me because I think it is a very detailed approach to learning. The last thing that stood out to me was when Gee was talking about seven year olds and Yo-Gi-Oh cards. Also, this part of the text is starred, so I think it may be important. In his writing, Gee uses vocabulary and vivid images of the seven year olds playing with the cards, so that the reader understands. 1. What is the informal way of teaching? 2. What are the two underpinnings of a trajectory view of reading? 3. What is the phenomenon that all gamers are well aware of?
Gee Homework Response 1. On Page 114, Gee states that “game like” learning through digital technologies can facilitate situated understandings in the context of activity and experience grounded in perception. Also, when children can spell out information in situation-specific games, it helps them to learn better. It could harm their learning because if they do not read the manual, or they have not played the game before they will not know what to do. 2. On Page 105, Gee states that specialist varieties of language are critically and integrally tied to the workings of specialist domains and access to those domains is severely limited without such language and representational systems. . So specialist varieties of language are connected to literacy because it is the fore ground to literacy. Also Gee says, “ We cannot just move on to reading instruction of the decode and literally comprehend” sort as if it just doesn’t matter that these children have missed out on early specialist language learning. (109) 3. Gee identifies informal specialized- language lessons and practices built around lucidly functional language as the two underpinnings that Gee identifies of a trajectory view of reading. Another trajectory view of reading is situated understanding. Situated understandings are the norm in everyday life and in vernacular language. (113)
Possibilities and Restrictions to Assignment 2 Some ways in which we can go above the stated guidelines include: We have the freedom to choose whichever community we are interested in, we are not limited in selection of location. We can format the finalized assignment in any way we want, being creative and adding extra visuals or whatever we choose. We can add in a map similar to the one we did for Bartlett and Holland, to guide people through the steps of our assignment. Some constraints in this assignment include: We must observe three different times, and witness different groups of people. There has to be at least two interviews with two separate “actors”. There needs to be a summary beforehand stating the characteristics of the figured world and the conventions or rules. We have to add a reflection of the assignment as a whole, these needs to be at least 500 words long. A narrative is required as part of this assignment, and of course we are required to complete all this by the given due date. It is being valued to connect vocabulary used in previous assignments such as the Bartlett and Holland article and Gee’s article. It is also valued to go above and beyond the expectations of the assignment. Also, we have to connect ideas to this assignment to our portfolio. The forum posts we completed on Gee’s article
will help us to complete the assignment. Another value is going beyond academic restraints with our choice of figured world. In this way we will broaden our horizons and discover that we are involved in more than we thought. Assignment 2 Summary Draft The figured world I intend to observe is the Concord Mills Mall located in Concord, North Carolina. Concord Mills is a1.4-million-square-foot shopping mall, and it is one of the largest malls in North Carolina. Concord Mills has over 200 stores to shop in, and the stores range from retail outlets to specialty stores like a perfume store. I decided to observe this figure world because I love to shop. I think shopping is very therapeutic, and it is fun to do. Concord Mills is a busy place of business, and many different people frequent the mall everyday. From businessmen and women to families and even couples there are several different crowds that frequent the mall. Multiple activities such as shopping, eating, talking, and walking can take place at the mall. Also people can go to the spa, go a Nascar themed fun park arcade, and go to the movies. Concord Mills has a lot of activities that can keep people entertained. Appropriate behaviors in the mall can range from walking around to eating in the food court. People come to the mall to have a good time and relax. Acceptable behaviors would be to shop and browse different stores. A loud volume of noise would not be a distraction; it would be expected because Concord Mills is loud. In a mall, multiple people are having conversation, music is sometimes playing, and little children are running around. The forms of communication that are acceptable are talking, using a cellphone, or maybe signing in some cases. Inappropriate behaviors might be yelling, fighting, swearing, or being naked. I expect to see many different discourse communities such as families, business people, college students, high school students, children, and many others in Concord Mills Mall. Assignment 3 Response In assignment three you can go beyond the guidelines by designing your documentary however you want too. You can also pick any type of figured world of your choice. This is a very good assignment to show your creative side to your peers and teachers. The constraints with this assignment are that it has to be 7-10 minutes. Then, you have to conduct an interview with one actor of that community. Also, you have to include vocabulary and phrases from the readings in classes and incorpate it in with our documentary. The reflection has to be done and it has to be 500 words. We also need to have 2 academic journals that relate to our figured world in our documentary, and we have to get them approved. Another constraint of this assignment is that we have to take a stand, and make a statement about the figured world we are observing and documenting.
Personal creativity is being valued in this assignment sheet. Also the assignment is asking us to connect our observation of this figured world to the readings we have done in the class. We have to include specific language from those readings into our documentary. Also going beyond the guidelines and not just doing something related to academics is being valued in this assignment.
