Wikishedding1.0Day2

Inkshed 25: May 17, 2008

 * "Burke's perspective by incongruity as a prewriting heuristic"** ... Sean Zwagerman proposes how we can use this concept as an invention strategy in the classroom--“the principle of inappropriateness.” For ex, Burke’s redefinition of “piety”—a sense of what goes with what”—allows us to see “piety” as a motive throughout secular life and to experience transformative perceptions from such redefining. We can generate pragmatic questions about social or daily life as well as revise how we perceive terms/concepts though this “metaphorical extension of perception through incongruity.” In a fourth year class, Sean used “piety” ex as a prompt for students to redefine a common moralistic term that has been co-opted as a stirring symbol or used uncritically. This turned out to be a difficult exercise for the class. One possibility is to move from scenes to terminology instead of the other way around. The discussion following Sean’s presentation was very lively, focusing on the goals or outcomes of such an exercise (Sean’s class concerned Burke, the rhetoric of humour, and the frequency of incongruity in humour) and inventional possibilities—difficult to translate into a teaching/ writing/ inventional/ generative strategy. Sean wondered whether we should think of this as a critical thinking heuristic rather than an inventional strategy.

//Amanda’s attempt at a “transformative” redefinition//: I’m using another term other than the one agreed on by the conference: pimp. Normally, to pimp is an ugly concept: selling the services of, and usually exploiting, a prostitute. TV shows like “Pimp My Ride” tap into the notion of the pimp as a flashy or flamboyant. In the world of fan-fiction writing, however, where writers make no money, to pimp means to publicize your fiction and entice others to read it by including a brief, exciting synopsis or juicy excerpt. In some fan-fic communities, “big name” fic writers or beta-readers (volunteer editors) will quite often pimp a fic on a writer’s behalf, thus not only promoting the work but supporting the writer. In one community, a well-known writer posts weekly “pimpage” lists of other writers’ new chapters or stories that she has beta-read. In this way, the concept of pimping becomes “the act of promoting and/or supporting unpaid creative efforts created solely for others’ enjoyment.”


 * "Genre specific reading practices"** ... George Ross expressed appreciation for not having to do a formal presentation! He described a class in which students had to read papers using quantitative methodologies (ie. statistical analysis). The concept of genre mastery doesn’t really address what happens when students are not trying for mastery—just bits and pieces for practical purposes. Tapping into aspects of genre theory and analysis, George presented three research questions (which he showed us on PPT) and summarized his methodology and findings. He reported that many students were confused at first. Some used “avoidance” strategies, such as skipping the stats and reading the discussion. Others tapped into “aids” like a glossary provided by the instructor as well as class notes and handouts. The instructor also took students through the activity of producing statistics (explicit teaching of formal genre features vs application). George presented conclusions indicating that a strictly reading-oriented approach provides very limited proficiency, but a writing-oriented engagement holds more promise.

//Amanda’s response:// I can certainly relate to the students who reacted with confusion—the “deer in the headlights” look as George eloquently described it! I used to be terrified by numbers, and as a grad student I even begged to get out of taking a research methods course b/c it included stats. Fortunately my advisor refused to budge, and I ended up enjoying and benefiting from the course. I think I did so partly b/c the instructor felt it was his duty to include explicit teaching of the “formal genre features” of statistical analysis; we even had to do some rudimentary number crunching. On a broader level, I appreciate how George has presented a practical application of genre theory.

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