[An assignment prompt based on this lesson plan, along with versions 1 (08.10.09) and 2 (13.10.09) attached]
We've established that the writing/creation of a text, such as Walt Whitman's poem, Leaves of Grass, can be dynamic, not static--and even continuously dynamic with our, his audience's, own "remixing" of it. But what about our reading/interpretation? Can our reading of the work be just as dynamic--i.e. changing depending on certain contexts? Although there are many variables that can affect our reading (i.e. more internal ones such as your age, race, sex/gender, literacy/literary training, even your mood at the time, and so on) we are here focusing on the space(s) where you may find this text. The most basic example may be hermeneutic differences between reading said poem in a printed book compared to online on a website, and even then there are many variables from book to book, site to site.
Day 1 Readings and Discussion
Before jumping into Whitman's poem, let's get acquainted with the analytical approach and process you'll be using. Text and textuality have been experiencing "the visual turn" in which the ways we have conventionally defined them are more and more blurring with imagery--that is, the way we use media today necessitates a spectrum from the written text using the letters of the alphabet at one end of the spectrum, to the visual images and objects at the other end, to everything in between, such as the spaces the texts are placed in, using different font typefaces for different effects, the way they are manipulated, etc. First, read Purdue OWL's primer on visual rhetoric--it has four pages that you can navigate at the bottom of the page. Then read through Stanford's four examples of reading images--again, navigation on the bottom.
N.B. These readings may be deceivingly elementary, but they will greatly help you with the upcoming assignment. We will discuss these readings in class.
Day 2 Assignment and Discussion
Choose a cultural "text" that you like or are interested in, other than Whitman's Leaves of Grass--perhaps another poem, a photograph or painting, a film's scene, etc. Then think about two or more different spaces where you have seen or can find this text. E.g. How is the Mona Lisa painting (a text) different when we view: the original painting first-hand in The Louvre vs. as a digital image attached to its Wikipedia entry and all that informative text around it vs. as a print pattern on a mass-produced Andy Warhol pop art postcard? You are welcome to use this example or your own chosen text. Be creative in thinking about where you might find your chosen text--nothing is off-limits! Write an informal, bulleted-points list response about how the way you read your chosen text inscribes different meanings and values depending on where you find it and how it is presented.
Day 3 Assignment and Discussion
When you feel that you have a better understanding of how different contexts can affect the way we read/interpret a text or work, write a similar analytical response in a more formal blog-essay with Whitman's Leaves of Grass, again using two or more different spaces where you have seen or can find the poem. The reason I continue to leave this open is so that you have freedom in exploring where the text may appear. However, in case you are hard pressed to find some, here are some suggestions to start you off (feel free to go out and find other, unique, unusual places where you come across this text):
- The original manuscript of the poem;
- Any college "textbook" copy of the poem;
- In bits and pieces, as part of the U.S. Government's Library of Congress' archives;
- A digital copy with pop-up annotations, as part of an academic web text study;
- In a photograph, being read by Marilyn Monroe;
- An audio recording (reading) of the poem by Whitman himself;
- any others.
Further things to think about in your responses: Who has placed the text in that space? And for what purpose--personal, professional, academic, leisure, other? How do you know--i.e. what are the characteristics of the context that make you think so? What meanings and values does the space allow or deny the text?
The big questions to tackle at the end: How does your reading/interpretation shift around depending on where you find a text? What might your analyses say about texts and cultural contexts in general?
hey, Al. this is an intriguing assignment! definitely got me thinking (and wondering what unexpected places Leaves of Grass might show up in). do you imagine the writing assignment(s) for this would be informal/public (like blog posts?), or more formal?
ReplyDeleteThanks... I'm not sure how appropriate/suitable it is in: 1) a lit class, and 2) an undergrad class, but I think it could be done with some tweaks...
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of the "your own text" exercise as informal written response, and the actual Leaves of Grass analysis as a short paper--but, in case Hanley's having us do one anothers assignments like he said he might, I wanted them just to be short informal responses for our practical purposes.
Al - - I like this assignment a lot. I think also that the availability of the Whitman text in so many different "places" makes it a very convenient tool to explore the kinds of questions that you're interested in.
ReplyDeleteA couple of suggestions: you might want to narrow your question down a bit - - from the grander "what difference do media/contexts make?" to something more manageable, e.g. "what difference does digital textuality make?" Narrowing the question down this way doesn't mean you close out bigger media/context questions, only that you start from a more concrete and easier to handle base
My second suggestion: you ask students to "think" about the differences that media make - - and about "how the way you read your chosen text inscribes different meanings and values depending on where you find it and how it is presented." Sounds good - - but what kind of language do students have to understand and respond to this kind of question? I.e. you may need to give them the skills to "read" media and to read the differences that media make.
E.g. What if you did the first part of your assignment focused on a particular object within two different media - -and use that more circumscribed setting as a way to develop students "multiliteracy" skills. I.e. what kinds of skills will they need to "read" differences in media/context? what kinds of things "in" the text will they have to observe? what critical language will they use to represent and understand these differences?
Again, this is a great start - - but think about this from the student's perspective a bit more and about the kinds of "intermediary cognitive processes" you're glossing over . . .
Al, I completely think this assignment is spot on for your undergraduate target. The one 'tweak' I think would make this assignment much more direct for your target audience is, like Hanley wrote, is to perhaps engage with the ways in which folks may "read" these different texts with attention being paid too the necessary skills that this type of assignment necessitates - do the student possess the "skills" to situate something like the picture of Marilyn Monroe reading LoG, because frankly I don't know if I do. Perhaps that's hoping for an approach thats maybe too directed and heavy handed - that said, the fact that you leave the "two different spaces" open to articulation is also a good thing. So I'm contradicting myself, and will stop here.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so from v.2 to v.3...
ReplyDeleteI'm still allowing students to find the text wherever they want. I have, however, added an explanation as to why I've done that. So, if students are frustrated with that level of openness, they can at least understand the reasoning behind it.
I've also added a whole section (which translates to a whole day's class discussion), before setting them off on doing the assignments, that will hopefully prepare them adequately for reading images/spaces.