Blogging Pedagogy

We've been asking members of the DWRL to respond to a series of questions about the National Day on Writing, which is today, October 20. Remember that today is also the date of Cynthia Selfe's talk on the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives, at 4 pm in the African American Culture Room (4.110) of the Texas Student Union. We hope to see you there!

Today's responses come from Dr. Davida Charney, professor in the Division of Rhetoric and Writing at UT. We'll be posting more responses from DWRL community members throughout the week.

What does the National Day on Writing mean for the DWRL?

The National Day on Writing means that, for one day, every person in the United States, literate or illiterate, is a stakeholder in a rhetorical situation that calls for epideictic rhetoric. By writing in response, we are all realizing through performance just what Congress performatively declared: the importance of writing.

What are some ways in which rhetoric and composition instructors can take advantage of the National Day on Writing?

Assign five minutes of free writing; ask students to create "found poems" from bits of text in their immediate environment; ask students to recall the first occasion they can remember writing; send students to the Ransom Center website to look at the on-line materials on early writing; send students to the Ransom Center to visit the Gutenberg Bible.

What does "writing" mean in this context? And how is the concept of writing changing?

Writing means using durable symbols that continue to convey meaning after the moment of composition/utterance is over. At one time, writing meant impressing symbols onto a physical object. Today, it can means getting pixels to show up. For me, the concept of writing normally involves using alpha-numeric symbol system.  Without those, it would be hard to distinguish writing from art or music.

What, in turn, are some of the ways that literacy is changing?

Literacy has broadened.  It is no longer confined to a skill usually gained in early childhood--it is a matter of life-long learning.

Regarding the DALN, why is it important to begin collecting literacy narratives at this moment? (This is related to the question of why it's important to establish such a central place for writing).

Pixels aren't as durable as clay tablets but they are much more geographically dispersed.  So we need to make sure that we have records of today's and tomorrow's forms of literacy acquisition.