Literacy in the 21st Century

Remember when we used Etherpad to collaboratively write a poem? Well here’s an interesting cross between collaborative writing (there’s only one person doing it) and screencasting (as Joanne demonstrated in her talk on podcasting). Check out 13 Sentences About Startups. It’s brilliant, but I need to spend some more time with it and see if I can slow it down. Think about this as a visualization of composing and editing, and the way that every change (and every mistake) can be meaningful. Cool stuff.

Then we have yet another take on the future of books — this time, though, the problems we’ve discussed (not simply replicating paper on screens, for instance) is being addressed! The NYT reports on Vook, a new company designed to make electronic books … well, more electronic. Check it out.

This next article was sent to me by a former student (hi, Jay!), and it speaks to many of the things we’ve discussed in class: psychology, tailoring messages to particular audiences, market research, and the way we’re programmed to respond to certain things, but not others. Disney is researching teen boys to develop shows designed to appeal especially to them. That’s not earth-shattering, of course. All companies research their target demographics, but this article gets into some of the details of how detailed they are in their research. It’s creepy. And a fantastic read. You should definitely check it out.

Next, for all of you Blade Runner fans out there, io9 is reporting that Boom! Studios is adapting Philip K. Dick’s classic novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? as a graphic-ish novel. As Graeme McMillan writes:

The series, appropriately titled Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? will include the full text of Dick’s 1968 novel - famously adapted into the movie Blade Runner - alongside brand new sequential illustrations for something more than just illustrated prose.

I’m excited, but I really have no idea what it will look like in the end. Perhaps that’s why I’m excited. The first issue of PKDDADoES? goes on sale in June.

And finally, all is not well in Puppetland. Click the link to read all about the game (it’s a very concise game manual). Click here to download your own puppet character sheet. We’ll be filling them out in class on the 29th, but you’ll be much happier if you’ve thought about your character ahead of time. As we’ll all be taking turns gamemastering, I’ll explain the situation next week so you can also have enough time to come up with a good scenario. Trust me… Punch the Maker-Killer has come up with a truly insidious plan this time!

Quick reminder: next week we’ll be reading Gunther Kress’ Literacy in the New Media Age instead of the Multiliteracies book.  And yes, we’re reading all of the Kress book.

Your Reading Response prompt:  RESPOND TO KRESS.  This is due by 10am on Tuesday February 24th.

Your mission: GET THE MULTILITERACIES BOOK!!!

That is all.

Not to be irreverent, but Lindqvist’s book, A History of Bombing has had me thinking about form and content, about what we use war for. And this is what keeps coming to mind:

If you’re not fluent in New Wave German, here are the lyrics to the English version of the song, but don’t peek at them until after we’ve talked about it.

Here’s a song that didn’t seem to get as much radio play in the US as it was getting in the UK when we were there last summer: The Last Shadow Puppets’ “The Age of the Understatement”:

What I find fascinating about this video, of course, is the way the video director uses the Russian military. If you just listen to the song, it feels more like a Western film, much like Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia”.

I’m also reminded of this classic song from Kate Bush, “Experiment 4″:

This song isn’t about the visuals at all, but rather the story retold by the lyrics.

And lastly, a song by The Skids covered by U2 and Greenday that uses the military (especially the air capabilities of the military) in a different, but still heart-wrenching way. “The Saints Are Coming”:

The lyrics for this one are here, though the visuals are far more arresting, I think.

Note: I think this version of the video is a little more powerful, but embedding is disabled.

… by Cory Doctorow.

• http://craphound.com/?p=2090

So, you’ve all read (or re-read) Frank Stockton’s classic short story, “The Lady or the Tiger.” (And, as I mentioned, there is a sequel: “The Discourager of Hesitancy,” in which a delegation comes from another kingdom to ask the semi-barbaric king which door the lover opened. I highly recommend it.)

Time to settle the question once and for all, my legionnaires of literacy. Which door did the lover of the princess open? And why?

As we discussed, your answer might connect to Stockton’s fascinating (and quite fun) prose, or to your experience with the reading, or to your knowledge of the history of the story, or to… well, you tell me.

The lady? Or the tiger?

As you’ll all be checking this blog regularly to post and to comment, I thought I’d also use it as a reminder for upcoming assignments and readings.

For next week’s class (Jan. 20th):

• Read pp. 1-162 in Proust and the Squid
• Compose Exploration 1 (which, starting next week, I will refer to as “Reading Response” 1, to conform with the syllabus and reduce confusion)
• Read your classmates’ posts (and my posts) on this here course blog and add at least one substantive comment to one of them
• Think about which course text you want to introduce (Discussion Openers)
• Think about what you want to present as your eLiteracy and “Problematic” Literacy report
• And if you find yourself sitting around with nothing much to do, why not head back to the course blog and add another comment? Everyone loves getting comments…

Click the link below for the text of Exploration (Reading Response) 1.

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