Clive Thompson on the New Literacy

Unlike most of the other articles we’ve read, Clive Thompson on the New Literacy is pro online writing. The author starts out by talking about Andrea Lunsford, a writing and rhetoric professor at Stanford. She researched and collected over ten thousand writing samples to evaluate the writing styles of this generation. In her opinion “…technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it…” She found that with today’s generation we write a lot more than any other because of all of the “socialization” that we do online. They say that before the Internet Americans never wrote anything that wasn’t required, and now blogs, e-mails, comments, and chats have us writing more than we realize.

The author then wonders if the writing could be good. Lunsford says it is, the students are extremely capable at assessing their audience and writing in a way that would get their point across. The article also says that the students are enthusiastic about their writing because always doing it for an audience and not for a grade.

1. Why doesn’t reading and writing online seem to register as legitimate text that can be learned from?

2. If reading/writing through the New Media is as effective as this article tries to prove it is, why can’t/don’t more schools try using it?

3. How exactly does reading or writing online cause illiteracy among this generation?

Am I Really Reading Online?

In Rich’s article, Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?, the author calls on the debate of whether reading skills of the average teenager are increasing or decreasing. On one hand Rich says that Internet prowling has caused teens to malfunction in regards to literacy; yet, points out that no matter what one does with the time spent on the Internet they will have to encounter some form of text. “Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures, they say, may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem.” Rich uses Nadia Konyk as an example, though she spends much of her time on the internet, she does mostly read, he mentions her visiting sites such as quizilla.com and fanfiction.net [fictionpress is better] which require the users to be able to comprehend the content of the site. Some say that since technology is a major component of everyday life in this generation, it will benefit children when they are looking for “digital –age jobs.” Some countries are even planning to experiment with digital literacy. Some argue to say that yes, books really are helpful but they give you excess information, whereas online you get just what you need. Which is a great thing for dyslexic people, with the graphics that the online world offers comprehension is not a difficult task.

Opposition to the view that the Internet promotes literacy comes from many more; the people in the article have come to disagree with this. “What we are losing in this country and presumably around the world is the sustained, focused, linear attention developed by reading,” said Mr. Gioia of the N.E.A. “I would believe people who tell me that the Internet develops reading if I did not see such a universal decline in reading ability and reading comprehension on virtually all tests.” he basically implies that though many can say that they are better of reading online as it can be more convenient, it can’t really be proven as an effective way to increase skills. The article also points out that many are incompetent when it comes to rooting out fact from opinion or joke. According to the article, there is a test; iSkills that has been developed to test the way teens utilize the Internet.

So are we really reading online? I think that reading, whether it’s a book or webpage, is different depending on the individual. Some people are better suited to get their reading done with print right in front of them, while others can do it online. Its not that people are incapable of literacy with respect to traditional print, it’s simply a choice they make based on what is convenient for them.

New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word

In the article “New Media and the Slow Death of the Written Word” Mark Zeltner begins talking about how he enjoys the format of newspapers; how it feels in his hands and how well organized they are. He then delves into a story about a discussion he has with one of his classes. He asks them to voice their opinions on the “future of news on paper.” He states that at first he believed they were confused about his inquiry yet they really were questioning his logic. To them I wasn’t a question of “if,” Zeltner states in the article, media would replace the traditional newspaper but rather “when” this change would occur.

Zeltner then begins to defend the benefits of news printed on paper, as well as pointing out weak points, such as computer screens can hurt the eyes, or are not portable…well at the time of this article that is. After unsuccessful attempts to sway his class, he finally had to acknowledge, “print mediums had serious problems.”

Though he has not given up his appreciation for formal print, he enjoys the features that this “new media” offers such as hypertext, because writing online has to fully capture the reader’s attention and keep them from wandering by giving them things to explore. Also in this section of his article he incorporates what critics think of the “new media,” he quotes Sven Birkerts and Neil Postman’s thoughts on how these new forms of media alter the way people look at traditional media. Zeltner states that these two have points, because the media is in fact evolving at a high pace and due to this it is inevitable that the traditional media will “fall out of favor”; however, he also states, there will always be an audience that will want their reading material in traditional text. I would have to agree here because having access to things online is extremely convenient, because when reading if you get tired you can close you’re screen, walk away and come back later to exactly where you left off; with a book you’d have to re-read the whole page to find your exact spot. However, with a book you would never have to worry about your battery dying when you’re getting to the best part of the story. He goes onto explain how the new forms of media introduced in writing such as audio and video clips give greater depth to what is being addressed. Overall, he explains that the new forms of media aren’t really new; they are just the traditional forms that have been put together.

We are then introduced to ten rules that Zeltner has come up with as a guide to help out beginner writers of “new media.” His rules are all written with the purpose to improve the writing skills for the new media based from his experiences of success and failure with his own writing. They are all pretty straightforward and easy to follow. I like his first rule to keep things concise; get straight to the point. When information is clear it reaches the reader quickly and effectively. I agree with this because I like reading, but I’m not going to go buy every book at Barnes and Noble, and the tiny library in my neighborhood doesn’t exactly have the best selection of books, so I read off of the internet, and it does get annoying when I have twenty minutes to kill before leaving for class and I try to read something and instead of getting a good idea about the story itself I only know what the main character’s hair looks like.

He suggests that breaking texts into parts and organizing thoughts are definitely the way to go and keep your reader from getting a headache. Then he talks about what almost EVERYONE would prefer, the audio and visual aspects of writing, today just about everything has an accompanying sound or image, maybe even both, because they can convey the emotion that actual text can not; but don’t go overboard. He then says that if you are going to use terms that are not common knowledge make sure you have a separate place, but not to lead the readers away from your document, I also think this is a good point because I hate having more than three windows open at once, because I feel might mind might get jumbled just like the screen. Zeltner then talks about hyperlinks, and how they should be used cautiously so that the reader’s attention will stay focused on the piece they are looking at. I don’t agree nor do I disagree, hyperlinks are easy ways to find out what the author is talking about but then they also make new pages appear on the desktop and as previously stated, I don’t like too many windows open at once.

He also talks about the usefulness of sidebars, which is true because they provide you with additional information about the topic without having to go looking for it on your own. Finally, his tenth rule talks about the form your work takes. The author must think about how to organize the contents of their work so that the reader will not get confused with an awkward or random order of information. Overall, I would have to say that I agree with the most of the rules that Zeltner presents, because they make sense and I can understand why he might have written them. But others such as his ‘screenful’ and ‘module’ rules I don’t really care too much about because personally it doesn’t matter to me. If it weren’t pointed out to me I probably wouldn’t notice that there are no breaks in an online site, article, etc.

Nursing Home Abuse

Every year reports show that nearly thirty percent of nursing home facilities have been cited for abuse and neglect of their patients. Nursing homes are very convenient for families that cannot properly care for there loved ones, there isn’t a firm way for them to be sure that their family members won’t be mistreated. The elderly are usually placed in these care facilities mainly because both the residents themselves and their families can no longer care for them; this makes them vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Abuse in this situation includes death, malnutrition, isolation, mental and physical abuse, and insufficient medical attention. In most cases the elder abuse has put residents in serious danger sometimes to a point where it becomes life threatening. Unsurprisingly, many abuse cases go unreported for fear that care takers will do more harm than before. Some argue that workers are stressed because of a shortage of staff and mandatory overtime. Regardless of conditions there is really no excuse for harming people that they are entrusted to look after.

As hundreds of kids enter high school each year almost every one of them is faced with peer pressure. All any of them is concerned about is fitting in. Teens feel pressured into following the crowd and becoming just like others in order to be accepted. Peer pressure can come in many forms such as drinking, drugs, stealing amongst other things putting their health or reputation on the line. Giving in to pressure is mostly caused by lack of confidence or isolation; naturally teens feel that social acceptance must have some catch to it, which causes them to engage in risky behaviors. Many often fall into the wrong crowd and change their personality just to click with others, while others risk themselves under the impression they will make friends only to be ridiculed. No one should feel that they have to do something they don’t want to in order to be liked.

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As parents get older and children grow up, roles are reversed and offspring now must take care of their parents. However, the rate of abuse and neglect within elderly care facilities are alarmingly high. Though they can be very useful for people that need to be physically monitored nursing homes are the last place that any elderly person wants to end up; with all the negative things such as abuse and neglect within facilities it’s no wonder why many would rather not to even see what one looks like.

http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/care_center/nursing_home_statistics.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/30/national/main304038.shtml

http://legalcatch.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/nursing-home-negligence-stories/

Research Topics

Privacy and freedom are two of the most important rights that an American citizen has, yet in some New York City public schools these rights are violated. But now school safety agents take their jobs too seriously. Though the increase in violence in public schools has become an alarming issue in New York City, the precautions taken in controlling it, are often too extreme.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-01-07/columns/the-strip-search-room/1

As foreclosure rates increase signs of a second depression is clear. Economic depression is something that the U.S. has not encountered since 1929, yet things are not looking up for the economy as many lose their jobs and homes, while others are struggling to maintain their average lifestyles. Although many attempts have been made to mend the problems being encountered, not even government funding has helped to prevent the fall from reaching a rough landing.

As parents get older and children grow up, roles are reversed and offspring now must take care of their parents. Though they can have many useful points Nursing Homes are the last place that any elderly person wants to end up; with all the negative things like abuse and neglect within facilities it’s no wonder why many would rather not to even see what one looks like.