In the article “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy” Thompson describes our new-age writing style as revolutionary and remarkable. His main source, Andrea Lunsford, conducts a massive project called the Stanford Study of Writing. Lunsford collected over 14,000 writing samples from the students; her studies showed that the students were writing more that are earlier generations and tend to use “life-writing” as Lunsford mentions. Lunsford says “I think we’re in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven’t seen since Greek civilization.” Lunsford studies showed that first year students were capable of academic papers; the students never placed texting speak in their papers. Lunsford research team found that the students were remarkably adept at assessing their audience and adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across. Thompson also mentions a professor from University College of London, John Sutherland, who states that technology is to blame for all this narcissistic blabbering, bleak, bald, shorthand, texting, dehydrated language; Sutherland says the students of today have replaced well-crafted essays with PowerPoint and video. Although Thompson does not say so directly, he apparently assumes Sutherland is mistaken. Thompson believes our students are progressing at a level some professors can’t understand or don’t want to admit.
I believe we’re capable of professional writing when push comes to shove. The youth’s fascination with technology is giving us the opportunity to engage the world in a more meaningful way. Information is at our fingertips and we’re developing new ways of writing that helps our intellect expand and grow. Facebook, Twitter, or blogs definitely have a narcissistic view to them, but these are the new hobbies of today; staying connected to the web is crucial for the tech savvy. When Lunsford mentions that we’re in a literacy revolution, I think she was forcing that claim a little too far. We still use the same foundation for writing, but apply them differently for technological tools; using those foundations helps us unknowingly all throughout Facebook, Twitter, blogs, emails and texting.
Professor Sutherland is definitely old-school when it comes to writing. If Sutherland was born in our era of technology, he would most likely use these tools the same way. The outlook of life is completely different since the Internet. Imagine what accomplishments we will make in the future; we will have quantum leaps in technology, medicine, business, government, maybe the DMV but unlikely. Writing will always change according to what drives society, but we can always look back on our foundation. I know the students have potential in writing; we are just adapting the foundation to suit today’s requirements. I write to express my beliefs so everyone can understand my philosophies.
By Ian Wells
Welcome!
Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversations Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! We encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! We encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
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