Scholarly Article #3

When I read the section about word order on page 291, in the article by Gunther Kress, I thought of the image to the left. This is a picture of a coffee vending machine, from my university's cafeteria, in Spain. The person that created this sign meant to say, "You choose how your day is going." Instead, the Spanish translator lost the meaning by saying, "you choose how is going your day." My classmate and I laughed, when we found this sentence. I have empathy because I am sure I make similar mistakes with Spanish grammar.

Although the author argues that images are less likely to have as much ambiguity as words do, images can have open-ended interpretation as well. I mean, look at the pistachios in this picture. Oh, wait, the pistachios are probably coffee beans. Without "coffee" underneath the image, I would probably guess wrong about the theme of this beverage dispenser. Notice the green around the words. Does that not seem pistachio or related?

People process images and words similarly. A document designer has just as much influence as a writer who intentionally uses word order to influence the readers' response. Gunter Kress demonstrates this idea in figure 13-3, with an example of proximity, Even though Kress shows readers can interpret images similar to interpreting words, he discredits document designers' work by not suggesting that images have signifiers too (287). For example, taken out of context, the picture on the coffee machine does not seem coffee related. Based on my experience with cookies and pistachios, I have a different perspective than a coffee-addict would have.

Gunter Kress, and the author of the first scholarly article, agree with Derrida's theory of words as signifiers (287). However, Gunter Kress presents a muddled argument by indirectly referencing ideas related to Derrida's deconstruction and later introducing the idea that authors of novels have more influence on meaning than the reader does (296). The readers have the most influence, from a Derrida perspective because meaning of the text depends on readers' word association. Kress also claims that new media has created a shift from the author having meaning to the reader controlling meaning. Instead, the reader has always had control of meaning. Saying otherwise discredits the ability of people to process information before new media.

New media requires both text and image. However, the author says,"The decline of the book has been seen as the decline of writing" (284).  I do not agree with that idea because there are a lot of writing outlets online. The fact that I am writing this blog post would suggest that the new technology has not killed writing. If anything, people write more because of new media.

Scholarly Article #2

Over the summer, my classmate, Chloe, and I missed our flight from Madrid to Atlanta; so, we booked a hotel. While we stayed in Madrid, she said she wanted to see the Museo del Prado. We searched the museum website and read that the museum offered free entry from 6:00-8:00. We walked through the museum together, but I wanted to see different paintings than she did.

In The Museum of Me, Ellen Ullman says that the internet has replaced the desire for people to go to art museums because people can search paintings online (645). However, my classmate and I used the internet as a supplement for visiting an art museum because we wanted to see original paintings. Ullman also explains that people individualize information through internet searches (641). I agree that the internet allows people to surround themselves with personalized information. However, even without internet, people would find a way to filter information. For instance, people can purposely read different books or choose not to fixate on the same paintings that someone else might.

This summer, I also visited the Art Institute of Chicago. I purposely went alone because I had specific paintings in mind to see. I picked up a map of the museum, and went straight to the painting based on The Picture of Dorian Gray film. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray because it is one of my closest friend’s favorite books. Now, it is one of my favorites too. I searched for information about the painting, after I visited the museum, and I emailed my friend that likes the book.

 I think human interaction is important. I agree with Ullman that the internet can enable people to hermit or be antisocial (640). However, the internet allows people to talk, instantaneously, to each other from long distances. There is also a lot of content online to explore, and I read Ellen Ullman’s article because I used the internet. 

Scholarly Article #1

To the left is a picture of a Neanderthal and me, socializing at the Archaeological Museum of Asturias, in Northern Spain.

 In this article, on page 26, Reid explains that Neanderthals used symbols through cave art to communicate. Now, people use words as symbols to express thought.  Reid shows the complexity of language by alluding to Derrida’s theory of deconstruction, on page 33.  Derrida’s theory suggests that words are subjective; and content changes, based on the reader’s reaction to a word.   

Dr. Jasmine, in his Critical Introduction to Literary Theory class at Dixie State, introduces Derrida's deconstruction by explaining that 

words can trigger different mental images. I will have a unique image for bat, perhaps based on the association I used when I learned the word bat.  Also, bat could mean an animal or baseball equipment.  

In terms of Derrida's concept of binary oppositions that Reid mentions, Dr. Jasmine used the example of a zombie.  A zombie would not exist without the opposites, or binary oppositions, death and life. People grasp the concept of a zombie because of the contrast of two words.  

Writers have influence, socially and technologically through rhetoric shared through New Media, or the internet.  Reid's article is an example of a response to the dialogue about scholarly writing that accumulates because of people's access to the web.  Reid says, “We can regulate many of the external sources of information, though obviously they are not entirely within our control either (35).” External sources of information can mean the sources people use to research. 

New Media creates dialogue among scholars that will clash with other scholars' associations with words.  Since language is fluid, based on a Deconstructionist perspective, writers have to make text as simple as possible to communicate something without suggesting underlying meaning. Deconstructionists, and I'm sure Reid, will tear the text apart to explain that the text means something different than what the words say because of the way people cognitively respond to those words.  However, New Media provides a way for people to interact with society and act based on rhetoric, whether or not a text is able to have a concrete meaning.  

Digital Literacy Autobiography

My family gave me a computer for Christmas, when I was a kid.  My mom says I was 3. Do I seem 3 years old in the picture?  I learned to navigate my computer, with incentive to play games such as: Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, Land Before Time, and Franklin the Turtle.

My first experience with the internet involved listening to the sound of the dial-up connection.  At the time, the sound seemed high tech.  I am not sure exactly when I started using the internet. I remember that I had typing class in 7th grade, though. I used the internet to play games, after I finished my typing homework.

I signed up for Facebook when I was 14.  My mom told me how to sign up. I signed up for Twitter, in college. My friends helped me stop being a noob by helping me change the egg logo to my profile picture.

Supplementary online support is convenient because students can easily find instructions, course syllabi, and class notes on canvas.  Students can message each other about homework-related questions. One disadvantage might include additional coursework for students because teachers and students have an accessible means of communicating outside of class via structures such as canvas.  Another disadvantage is the added screen-time of using online support.  However, I can allocate time spent doing homework online, in order to avoid eyestrain from screen-time and stress from course work.

"Friends come and go like waves, but good friends stay-- like an octopus on your face."  -anonymous