This post is an example of Topic 2 for 1/28.
Jeff and Charissa, both teachers and avowed smarty-pants(es?) and Kara, a computer scientist, turned stay-at-home mom answer the question "What are your earliest memories of reading?"
Jeff:
I don't remember much about learning to read. I can remember having children's books around with gold spines and adolescent books handed down from my aunt. But I don't remember phonics drills, or sounding words out or any of the things commonly associated with kindergarten education. My memories of anything come surprisingly late, and children in my family learned to read early. I do though remember when I decided to love reading.
On my birthday one year, I was given a book about astronauts and cosmonauts and a paperback dictionary by my Opa (Opa is German for "grandfather;" he is from Maine, but he married a German woman. She took his last name, but he took her language. Thus, they were Oma and Opa [German] Munsey [Irish].) Though I had been raised around the thin gold spined books, these were the first that were actually mine and mine alone. This gift, then, represented ownership and this a kind of adulthood.
Also wrapped up in this was the fact that, technically, my Opa was my step-Opa. He is the father of my mother's second husband. And though as an adult I have always considered my step-family my real family (I don't even remember my mother marrying my step-father), I imagine that at that young age I may have still had a childish understanding that this was a new, not-quite-real family. The books then were also a sign of acceptance from a man I really admired, but with whom my relationship must have felt tenuous.
Charissa:
My earliest memories of reading involve my father reading to my brothers and me every night before bed. My favorite book was "Could be Worse." The only thing I remember about the book is that it mentioned orange marmalade. I thought "marmalade" was such a pretty word, and yet sounded so disgusting. I insisted we read the book every night, and before long I had the story memorized and would "read" the book to my baby brother.
Kara:
I was 4 years old in my first memory of reading Dr. Suess' "The Cat in the Hat". I was sitting next to my mother on the couch in the living room of our small house in Dallas, Texas. I knew how to read all the "at" words, but had to sound ou...t others. There were other little books I read in my pre-K school. The one I remember was titled "Matt the Rat". I only remember it because my older brother Matt hated that I kept saying the name of that book over and over again. These memories make me smile, and make me anxious for the days when I can share these moments with my own children.
Reading is a Family Thing:
All three of our narratives mention family members. In both Charissa and Kara's stories, their parents read to them in the home. In mine, I was given books to read by my Opa. Stories like these dominate literacy narratives. Family sponsorship (to borrow the term from Deborah Brandt) is the common theme in literacy narratives. It is also the most noticeably absent among folks who are illiterate. This suggests that literacy may be more closely tied to the home than it is to general intelligence, school teaching practices, or anything else. Thus, a person's literate potential may be closely tied to their home lives, and in fighting illiteracy, the battle is one fought on home soil.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Duchamp: Post Modern Forerunner; Practical Jokester
This blog is an example of Topic 1 for 1/28.
In 1917, while in New York, French artist Marcel Duchamp bought a urinal from an iron works company, signed it "R. Mutt" and called it "Fountain." The piece (if indeed it is one) has been considered a practical joke, but has also been taken quite seriously. Duchamp added the piece to his collection of found art objects which he had titled "Readymades." In 1915, Duchamp began displaying every day objects in artful ways in order to critique the adoration of art and the artist. Though there is as much playfulness in his movement as there is philosophy, his concept of found art, and his statements behind it pre-figured important post-modern ideas, a few decades before post-modernism became all the rage in Europe.
With his found art movement, Duchamp intended to question what defines art. Where does craftsmanship or utility end and where does art begin? What makes one piece of white earthenware featuring graceful geometric curves art, and what makes another a urinal?
Duchamp, who was critical of artist worship, played with the notion that by signing something and putting it in a gallery, one elevates it as art. This is particularly true if the signature is that of a well-respected artist. In fact, what allowed many 20th century artists to experiment with deconstructive styles was that they were already accomplished artists. Picasso's cubism might never have been accepted if not for his more traditional early work, his almost Classical Rose Period, and the aesthetically pleasing Blue Period. But, because he was who he was, he was able to experiment. People would expect the sometimes childish looking work of cubism because it had his name on it.
Duchamp seemed to recognize this ability, and he purposefully questioned this by simply signing every day objects, and placing them in galleries, knowing that folks would therefore call this work art.
This suggests then that the label "art" is arbitrary. The fact that "Fountain" was critically received as art (it was, in fact, named the most influential art work of the 20th century in 2004), suggests this. It's acclaim clearly had nothing to do with the graceful, arching lines of the urinal, or the pure white color, or the perfect classical geometry of its shape. If this were so, it would have been the original craftsman who made the first of these who would deserve credit as "artist." Instead, Duchamp signed a pseudonym on it, included it in a gallery show, and it was art, simply because the right person (Duchamp) put it in the right place (a gallery).
This attack on the arbitrary nature of art is decidedly post-modern. Duchamp questions to what extent art is art because it has some intrinsic quality, or to what extent is art art simply because someone decided that it was. In this way Duchamp is, in 1917, already doing what post-modern thought would do just after World War II, decades later.
In 1917, while in New York, French artist Marcel Duchamp bought a urinal from an iron works company, signed it "R. Mutt" and called it "Fountain." The piece (if indeed it is one) has been considered a practical joke, but has also been taken quite seriously. Duchamp added the piece to his collection of found art objects which he had titled "Readymades." In 1915, Duchamp began displaying every day objects in artful ways in order to critique the adoration of art and the artist. Though there is as much playfulness in his movement as there is philosophy, his concept of found art, and his statements behind it pre-figured important post-modern ideas, a few decades before post-modernism became all the rage in Europe. With his found art movement, Duchamp intended to question what defines art. Where does craftsmanship or utility end and where does art begin? What makes one piece of white earthenware featuring graceful geometric curves art, and what makes another a urinal?
Duchamp, who was critical of artist worship, played with the notion that by signing something and putting it in a gallery, one elevates it as art. This is particularly true if the signature is that of a well-respected artist. In fact, what allowed many 20th century artists to experiment with deconstructive styles was that they were already accomplished artists. Picasso's cubism might never have been accepted if not for his more traditional early work, his almost Classical Rose Period, and the aesthetically pleasing Blue Period. But, because he was who he was, he was able to experiment. People would expect the sometimes childish looking work of cubism because it had his name on it.
Duchamp seemed to recognize this ability, and he purposefully questioned this by simply signing every day objects, and placing them in galleries, knowing that folks would therefore call this work art.
This suggests then that the label "art" is arbitrary. The fact that "Fountain" was critically received as art (it was, in fact, named the most influential art work of the 20th century in 2004), suggests this. It's acclaim clearly had nothing to do with the graceful, arching lines of the urinal, or the pure white color, or the perfect classical geometry of its shape. If this were so, it would have been the original craftsman who made the first of these who would deserve credit as "artist." Instead, Duchamp signed a pseudonym on it, included it in a gallery show, and it was art, simply because the right person (Duchamp) put it in the right place (a gallery).
This attack on the arbitrary nature of art is decidedly post-modern. Duchamp questions to what extent art is art because it has some intrinsic quality, or to what extent is art art simply because someone decided that it was. In this way Duchamp is, in 1917, already doing what post-modern thought would do just after World War II, decades later.
Possible Topics for 1/28
Choose one topic as a group and write your blog post on that topic.
Topic 1 involves the analytic moves you have been using in Paper 1, in which you have connected a song to culture. This assignment, should you choose it, is to find another work of art (painting, photograph, poem, song, sculpture, play, etc.) and discuss how this work of art is a reaction to culture.
You are making the same analytic moves you made in paper 1, but you will have less space to make your argument. Come prepared with an idea of a work of art already in mind.
Topic 2 will prepare you for the next paper, where you will compare the arguments of two different essays, both dealing with literacy and multiculturalism.
In this topic, each member should share, in a paragaph or two, your own literacy narrative. What are your memories of learning to read? You should probably label each person's story seperately. Then, write a paragraph or two discussing what similarities there are between your stories and what differences there are if they seem significant. Do these similarities suggest any important lessons on literacy?
Topic 1 involves the analytic moves you have been using in Paper 1, in which you have connected a song to culture. This assignment, should you choose it, is to find another work of art (painting, photograph, poem, song, sculpture, play, etc.) and discuss how this work of art is a reaction to culture.
You are making the same analytic moves you made in paper 1, but you will have less space to make your argument. Come prepared with an idea of a work of art already in mind.
Topic 2 will prepare you for the next paper, where you will compare the arguments of two different essays, both dealing with literacy and multiculturalism.
In this topic, each member should share, in a paragaph or two, your own literacy narrative. What are your memories of learning to read? You should probably label each person's story seperately. Then, write a paragraph or two discussing what similarities there are between your stories and what differences there are if they seem significant. Do these similarities suggest any important lessons on literacy?
Welcome OSU Comp Bloggers
Welcome to OSU Comp Bloggers. Whether you are a student using this blog for directions, a fellow instructor who wants ideas on blogging in the classroom, or a bloke who's stumbled across this blog by happenstance, it's nice to have you reading along. This first blog post is designed to introduce you to the goals of this blog and with what you can expect to see here. Enjoy your stay.
From Jeff Spruill's English 1213 Syllabus:
If you are a teacher or interloper reading along out of interest for our project, you will find here ideas to incorporate in your own classroom, links to the writing done by my students in their blogs, and samples of blog assignments.
Whatever your motivation for being here, happy reading.
From Jeff Spruill's English 1213 Syllabus:
This blog is designed to act as the mother ship for our project. It is a place for students to receive instruction, find useful and interesting guidance, view examples of specific blog assignments and more general examples of academic blogging.Increasingly, workplace writing is being done collaboratively, so that authorship (and the responsibilities that go with it) is shared by several members of an organization, rather than by a lone author working in isolation. Furthermore, professional writing is rarely presented in the traditional, essayist forms typical of academic writing. Rather, modern professional writing often involves mixed media, visual imagery, and other such rhetorical devices.As an introduction to and an initiation into these concerns, students in our class will compose blogs during this semester. These blogs will be open and available to the public. The class will work in groups to compose original blog entries, corresponding to issues we are dealing with in class but written for a general audience. Group members will work together to draw conclusions based on consensus and will work under deadlines to complete these projects.
If you are a teacher or interloper reading along out of interest for our project, you will find here ideas to incorporate in your own classroom, links to the writing done by my students in their blogs, and samples of blog assignments.
Whatever your motivation for being here, happy reading.
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