In chapter 16 of Cynthia Selfe's book titled, "Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution" she seems to be describing a "love hate" relationship with technology. Technology usually equals change and a lot of Americans tend to be afraid of change.
Selfe says, "Like most Americans....we remain decidedly undecided about technology and change." As Americans, we hope that technology can make the world a better place. In the English profession, we hope that computers can make teachers and students more productive. We seem to put a lot on technology to make our lives easier and our world better, yet we still are reluctant to welcome this change with open arms.
On another note, Selfe says, "We believe strongly in the beneficial ways technology promises to improve our lives." I don't believe that technology has promised us anything, I do believe that the people behind these new products are promising us this so that they can further sell their product. It still all goes back to people. We have to grow and evolve in our thinking for anything to change. A computer isn't going to all of a sudden change the world.
Further into the chapter, Selfe talks a lot about the American "myths" or stories being passed on through the years about America being the "land of opportunity" and the "land of difference." She uses some advertisements for technology which use these narratives as their selling point. How can we evolve or move forward with change, when the advertisements for this new technology is outdated and still pushing stereotypes into our heads? Some of the ads use the same old story about "keeping up with the Joneses", keeps woman in there stereotypical gender roles.
I see how Selfe's position is hard to pin point regarding whether she agrees or disagrees that technology will help the world. She points out the different narratives used to sell this new technology. Narrative #1 being the "Global Village" and the "Electronic Colony." The global village is where the people of the world are connected. It binds everyone together regardless of race, ethnicity, or location. The electronic colony happens within the discursive venues available to our culture such as TV, or in the classrooms and books. It is a "myth" in where the whole world gets along and lives together as one.
Narrative #2 that Selfe points out is the "Land of Equal Opportunity" and "Land of Difference." This is where the American dream myth comes in. It is about how opportunities are open to everyone; male and female, regardless of color, class or connection. We have all heard these stories before. What is not said is this technology is not available to everyone. These narratives fail to make that point and put it out there as if everyone can use this.
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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