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last.updated 4.2.06

 

Digital Writing

Purpose

Over the last several decades, computer technologies have not only changed the way that we write, they have changed the way that we conceive of writing–or, at the very least, composing. Where publishing, music making, and movie making were once the sole propriety of a specialized industries, these processes have been placed in the hands of anybody who owns a computer and the appropriate accessories. For example, consider how word processing–as produced by Microsoft–has evolved over the last decade. This software package that was once a glorified typewriter now allows you to produce complex multimedia texts. Yet, in spite of this range, some disciplines still see writing as only lexical marks on paper, where others have embraced–sometimes by necessity–the technologies' potential. We will use this class to discuss the changes digital technologies are creating to texts and how these writing technologies have been adopted.

Article Reviews

We will listen to article reviews by Liz and Mary Beth.

Discussion–Bernhardt

We will address the following questions...

  • What questions do you have about Bernhardt's article?
  • We will discuss and define the nine principles that Bernhardt lays out. You will be expected to use modern examples to help illustrate the principle.
  • Bernhardt's article was published in 1993, while the Internet was still quite young and multimedia was still only available to specialists. Which principles that Bernhardt describes still ring true? Which ones seem irrelevant considering the evolution of the technology?
  • If you were to updates Bernhardt's article today, what principles might you add to his list?

Discussion–Spinnuzi

We will address the following questions...

  • What questions do you have about Spinuzzi's?
  • We will discuss what genre ecologies are and compare this term to Popham's boundary genres
  • Likewise we will discuss what activity systems are and compare them to Swales's notion of discourse communities.
  • How does the discipline/context that Spinuzzi describes shape the way that all three activity systems (and each one) adopt the writing technologies that they do?
  • How does the discipline that you most closely associate yourself with perceive various writing technologies? Why?